It’s shown in one of his best songs, “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues,” which is about the Great Depression. Even though they are a little depressing, songs like these are important because they tell us our history and roots and they also have relevance in every day in age. killing floor. “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” is also completely relevant to today’s issues and economy. I mean ooh, just say what you mean I mean ooh, just say what you mean I mean ooh, child, what you gonna do With them bleach blond bottle blues. It’s total artistry and the ability to know exactly what’s right for that song.” The Killing Moon rose into the UK Top 10 and stayed in the chart for six weeks. That's why i don't like living there. It's rough, rough, rougher than ever befo' [RL's interview part] Two brothers, and my father did get killed in chicago. As the emotion laden minor chords of Hard Time Killing Floor are playing in the background, representative of the real hard times of the African American laborer in the Jim Crow south, the down-and-out trio of ne’er-do-wells in the movie dream of finding a million dollar bounty of stolen booty in a lonely valley that they don’t realize is soon to be flooded over. Released in January 1984, it was a haunting song fed by Les Pattinson’s ominous bass pattern, the clever use of strings and a voice thick with portent. Then we went out for a curry and when we came back, producer David Lord had looped it up and punched it back in. A brief tour of Iceland and Denmark preceded a curious swing around the Outer Hebrides, before they finished up at the Royal Albert Hall. James was discovered in the early 1930s and recorded a handful of songs for a record but was soon forgotten by the music industry thanks to the horrible economy. He was rediscovered by the music industry in the early 1960s but died in 1969 and became even more popular after his death. "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" Hard times are here and everywhere you go Times are harder than ever been before Ohh ohhh ahhh Ohh ohhh ahhh People are driftin' from door to door Can't find no heaven, I don't care where they go Ohh ohhh ahhh Ohh ohhh ahhh … Cypress Grove Blues #10. Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer, Martin Rubashov releases video for Lights Of July, Oceans Of Slumber release video for acoustic version of The Colors Of Grace, Soen release video for new single Monarch, Spinal Who?! Editors Contribution (0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition: killing floor. Our awesome collection of The song’s title refers to the active area of a slaughterhouse. BY CHRIS THOMAS KING GUITAR TUNING Dm (LOW TO HIGH) D A D F A D Dm7 Am F Dm F/C Dm 1. De Freitas adapted his usual hard-thumping style into a softer canter, using brushes. Hard time here and every where you go e|- “We were really into Scott Walker records and [Love’s] Forever Changes at the time, so we wanted to make some sort of grand work,” explains guitarist Will Sergeant. It’s got real power.”. They also stopped off at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, where McCulloch, in a twist of Lennon, declared the band “more popular than Henry the Fifth”. Washington D.C. Hospital Center Blues #4. “I knew that it was the greatest song already,” McCulloch marvels, “but Will’s outro guitar is unbelievable. I was thinking that when we got back we should maybe try a Velvets tom-tom thing, do a Mo Tucker on it. This song is basically about being poor and having to move from door to door, or home to home, job to job. The previous year had seen the band’s stock rise on the commercial front, scoring their first Top 10 hit single with The Cutter and following up swiftly with Porcupine, the third and easily most successful album of their career so far. So I came back a little freer about what I had to say. Metaphorically it just means place of turmoil, possibly their apartment. Louder is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. The pair booked an all-night session at Amazon Studios in Kirkby. Wolf uses it as a metaphor for his relationship predicament.”. We all thought it sounded great. It made a good film theme too, Ask Ian McCulloch what he thinks is the greatest song of all time and the response is unequivocal. You can download my recording of “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” at Bandcamp or Soundcloud for free if you like to add it to your digital music library. Hmmmmmmm, hmmmmmm, hmmmmmm, hmmmmmm... the smell of the world that burns, Hard time killing floor Say you got money, well you better be sure. You might expect it to be something by one of his heroes – Bowie, Lou, Velvet Underground, Leonard Cohen maybe. The Killing Moon was breathtaking. Hard Time Killing Floor. According to blues guitarist and longtime Wolf associate Hubert Sumlin, the song uses the killing floor – the area of a slaughterhousewhere animals are killed – as a metaphor or allegory for male-female relationships: "Down on the killing floor – that means a woman has you down, she went out of her way to try to kill you. And a mysterious presence in a crazy rabbit suit – a mad bunnyman, in effect – was one of the film’s key characters. Thank you for signing up to Louder. How Bad News became the original spoof metal band, This is The Hu’s recipe for traditional Mongolian dumplings you need in your life. “It’s more than just a song, it’s about everything in life.”. Levee Camps God should get a songwriting credit on it because it felt like it was divine. He woke up one morning to find the words ‘Fate, up against your will’ lodged in his head: “It was in me and [ex-wife] Lorraine’s first house. Then I got a bad cold. Yet by the latter half of ’83, the Bunnymen were deliberately going the other way. Illinois Blues #7. Repeat the process and we reach suicidal, higher skills required and, this time, you gotta prove you can be an effective element for your team. It was a fruitful time. Fantastic song, as is the whole soundtrack. “David Lord was a load of crap and a tosser, the most unaptly named bastard you could meet,” says McCulloch. “I remember thinking: ‘He’s got it right!’ We knew what we had was very special, we were at the peak of our powers as a group. Howlin' Wolf recorded "Killing Floor" in 1964, which Chess Records released as a single. May also refer to urban schools where firearms and violence are common. Our awesome collection of The previous year had seen the band’s stock rise on the commercial front, scoring their first Top 10 hit single with The Cutter and following up swiftly with Porcupine, the third and easily most successful album of their career so far. But no, it’s one of his own. 427 3. more tracks from the album Blues Singer #1. Sickbed Blues #3. Cheeky bastard! 58,931. Sign up below to get the latest from Louder, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! It's rough, rough, rougher than ever befo' Hard times 'ere, and evry'ere I go. He gave us this pittance one-off fee for the use of the song, saying it was just a little indie film, but forgot to mention that Drew Barrymore was behind it, who had more money than Howard Hughes. I never wake up that lively, but I just sat up and the words to the whole of the chorus were there. BTS Reveals the Meaning of 'Be' Album Title | Billboard News ... Jones' "Sometimes" and Skip James' "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues." McCulloch’s cryptic lyrics imbue it with the same sense of yearning as a Jacques Brel torch song. “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” speaks so much to me in it’s simplicity and emotion. “No one else has a song like The Killing Moon, not even Bowie,” he says, with the typical immodesty that’s been a hallmark of his 35 years fronting Echo & The Bunnymen. Copyrights krystal. Ken E., May 4, 2004 #4 Hard Time Killing Floor Blues #2. Catfish Blues. He effectively captured the hard times of a nation during the great depression with this song. a "Killin' Floor" is old 30's slang for a Slaughter house where the blacks would often have the worst jobs of all. Suddenly interested again, McCulloch now gave it his full attention. Financial expert talks about the cost of divorce. Per the 'net, a killing floor is one on which any animal is slaughtered for human consumption; most notably cows/steers, hogs and chickens. Not only is McCulloch on killer form on the track, but Sergeant is inspired too, conjuring up an atmospheric middle eight and one of the most expressively beautiful codas you’ll ever hear. James' song "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" was featured in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou? The Killing Moon served as a major statement of intent by the Liverpool quartet. and included on the soundtrack album. It was a fruitful time. HARD TIME KILLING FLOOR BLUES FROM "O' BROTHER WHERE ART THOU? You better watch your six … Their biggest seller to date, it’s often cited as the Bunnymen’s masterwork. So I grabbed a guitar and started working out the rest.” Prior to decamping for Paris to record Ocean Rain that November, the Bunnymen went into Crescent Studios in Bath for The Killing Moon. Delta blues are some of the most emotional blues and this song is a perfect example. One might argue that Wolf picked up the use of killing floor to mean slaughterhouse from “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues,” which was recorded by influential Delta bluesman … That song is actually the answer to the big question. When a Man meet a woman and want to take her to bed for his satisfaction. The tune itself just wasn’t coming together. Great as it is, he should at least have given us a credit for the idea.”. Submitted by anonymous on May 10, 2020. The Killing Moon was breathtaking. I think it took me 25 years to realise that not only was it about pre- destiny, it was about everything. She at the peak of doing it, and you got away now ... You know people have wished they was dead – you been t… Crow Jane Lyrics: Note: hyphen=unsung word / Crow Jane, Crow Jane / Don't you hold your head high / Someday baby, you know / You got to die / You got to lay down an - / You got to die, you got to “One of the reviews afterwards said: ‘Something wonderful this way comes,’” McCulloch recalls. Rujo Boots and White Buffalo Republic GIVEAWAY! There was a problem. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. James was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Bentonia, his hometown. © BA1 1UA. Hard Time Killing Floor #2. All rights reserved. From the movie O' Brother Where Art Thou, this is the song Hard Time Killing Floor Blues, by Chris Thomas King. “One of the great things about the song is that it still surprises me when I sing it live. Intrigued by a macabre title—Hard Time Killing Floor Blues—he asked the shop’s owner to play a nearly pristine 78 with a Paramount label. Hard times are here And everywhere you go Times are harder than They ever been before Hmm, hmm Hmm, hmm You know, people are driftin' From It wasn’t all so smooth, though. Three months later came parent album Ocean Rain, a sumptuous record whose dark metaphors were given grand scale by a 35-piece string section. Hard Time Killing Floor Blues Tab by Soggy Bottom Boys. In this week’s video, I cover his great song, “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues,” and salute a great bluesman who lived a hard life. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Skip James lived a life of blues. Unlike 80s contemporaries U2 or Simple Minds, whose blustery stadium rock seemed ready made for the US market, the Bunnymen were much more ambiguous. Sick Bed Blues #2. You can slice that lyric up wherever you like, but it’s as profound as ‘To be or not to be…’ It’s almost like a soliloquy delivered by a priest. It is clearly a song about a jaded ex-lover, and a how he has no time for her Killing Floor is the grounds they butcher animals on. Here’s Skip James’ original version of the song. Hard Time Killing Floor. “I would have loved Sinatra to have had a go at The Killing Moon,” McCulloch confesses. I’d also like to add that this song may sound sad and have a sad topic but, man, does it feel good to sing. All Rights Reserved | Theme by Spiraclethemes, A Song for Valentine’s Day: “Sincere Dreamland”, Why Everyone Should Experience Wine Tasting in Arizona. This is a song that will always have meaning to people of any generation so I felt it necessary to record my own version to help keep the song alive and maybe bring it to new ears. The others suggested I re-sing it when we got back to Liverpool, but I said: ‘I’m not doing it. It’s ruined.’”. Back home, it was drummer Pete de Freitas who finally convinced McCulloch to revisit The Killing Moon. As well as being covered by Pavement and Grant Lee-Phillips, The Killing Moon was on the soundtrack of Richard Kelly’s surreal 2001 flick Donnie Darko. So it’s understandable why even Wikipedia reports that “Howlin’ Wolf recorded ‘Killing Floor’ in 1964. “Like with a lot of our stuff, we were trying to avoid the current trends in sound. “I’d mentioned somewhere that The Killing Moon was about pre-destiny,” says Ian McCulloch, “and he wrote the whole fuckin’ film about it. I spent the next 20-odd years trying to remember how I did it.”. It’s shown in one of his best songs, “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues,” which is about the Great Depression. The Skip James song “Hard Time Killing Floor” lends credence to Sumlin’s assertion that Wolf was using the phrase “killing floor” to refer to depression. James was discovered in the early 1930s and recorded a handful of songs for a record but was soon forgotten by the music industry thanks to the horrible economy. Oh you gotta ride Feel the fire like a first kiss Oh you gotta ride at your own risk You gotta ride at your own risk Oh you gonna die So go and live it while you get it A beginners starts with normal, and they can learn basics, consolidate their skills, reach higher perk(s) level, and then move to hard. Please refresh the page and try again. Hard difficult, which should open a new challenge. Visit our corporate site. Exact meaning unknown. Y'all I say what I mean. Figuratively, it is a fairly common blues motif, denoting a state of high distress or hopelessness (see Skip James' "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues," and Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor"). Skip James was able to write this song and make you feel his pain and the pain of others. "Hard Time Killing Floor" Hard time's is here An ev'rywhere you go Times are harder Than th'ever been befo' Um, hm-hm Um-hm Um, hm-hm Um, hm-hm-hm You know that people They are driftin' from do' to do' But they can't find no heaven I don't care where they go Um, hm-hm Um-uh-hm Mm-hm-hm Hard times 'ere, and evry'ere I go. In 2020, James' song "Devil Got … “It was all going wrong so I went to the boozer with Adam Peters. The slow, mournful dirge hooked Spottswood. He was rediscovered by the music industry in the early 1960s but died in 1969 and became even more popular after his death. At the the Bunnymen's peak, Ian McCulloch wrote a lyric evoking vintage Scott Walker and posing the question of destiny vs. free will. My experience with the blues leads me to believe he may have had Skip James's song "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" floating around in his head when he put pen to paper. Cherry Ball Blues #9. Sally Mae. "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" is a song written by Skip James from Larkin Poe's new album 'Venom & Faith', out now! Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues #1. I knew that I didn’t want it to sound like U2, that was the main thing.”, The distinctive, vaguely Spanish-sounding guitar intro on The Killing Moon was a happy accident, Sergeant reveals. You will receive a verification email shortly. The man is thinking in his mind he gonna take a women to bed and have sex. General CommentThere are great contrasts between versions of this song, the 1931 version you can hear skip james singing this song like he means it, and it is very contemparary to his period in time. Bath Buddy Guy - Hard Time Killing Floor Lyrics. Lyrics to 'Hard Time Killing Floor' by Skip James: Hard time's is here An ev'rywhere you go Times are harder Than th'ever been befo' Learn to play guitar by chord / tabs using chord diagrams, transpose the key, watch video lessons and much more. Another term that recurs repeatedly in the blues is the “killing floor.” Though the popularity of the expression has been identified with the slaughterhouses of Chicago’s stockyards, [4] James used it in his 1931 “Hard Time Killing Floor,” (see song 2) one of the rare … Reference in certain blues and rock songs. Factor in another hit single, Never Stop, and the world’s enormodomes seemed theirs for the taking. It’s incredible where he goes. Black Cat Blues #10. Now meant to refer to school playgrounds where social heirarchies and roles are exercised and determined. Devil Got My Woman #5. Everyone else was wearing cowboy hats and playing stadiums, and we were rocking the cobbled streets.”, McCulloch is at least humble enough to thank God for his part in The Killing Moon. Crawlin' Kingsnake #8. “It was just something I did when we were tuning up. It was at the Shakespeare Theatre that they first unveiled The Killing Moon. 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