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Gord Downie & Bob Rock - Greyboy Says

Wailing guitars and an uplifting message make this a winner.

Gord Downie & Bob Rock - Greyboy Says

By Kerry Doole

Gord Downie & Bob Rock - Greyboy Says (Arts & Crafts): The much-discussed collaboration between Canadian rock hero Gord Downie and superstar producer Bob Rock (Metallica, Motley Crüe, Bryan Adams) finally reaches full bloom on May 5, with the release of their double album, Lustre Parfait.


Advance tracks already out have fuelled the excitement, and now here's Greyboy Says, the opening cut and the last the pair created. In a label press release, Rock explains that "Because of what Gord wrote, I had to make the music better. That says a lot about the way that Gord wrote the lyrics. I can't interpret them, I only have what I hear in his words.

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"The first line of the chorus is 'Greyboy says – do what you love,' and I think that sums up the song. Greyboy is somebody that has wisdom, that brings positivity, and belief in the future, to go out and find it, to not be scared or sidetracked by all the things life throws at you.”

The track is a bona fide winner, with a wall of wailing guitars behind Downie's typically lusty and expressive vocals. Both the song's tone and the lyrical mantra of "you can do it, and if you can't, I'm here" are uplifting, and footage of the band in the studio cutting the song enlivens the video.

Assisting Downie and Rock on the song are guests Dexter Holland and Noodles from The Offspring, along with Abe Laboriel Jr., the longtime Paul McCartney drummer, and bassist Jamey Koch on bass, who both feature on the album. 

Links

Gord Downie online

Lustreparfait.com

Website

Twitter 

Facebook

Instagram

Publicity: Ken Beattie, Killbeat

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Music Streaming Illustration by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Music Streaming Illustration by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

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LyricFind Sues Rival Musixmatch in Antitrust Suit Over ‘Unprecedented’ Warner Licensing Deal

The lawsuit claims that a "first-of-its-kind" agreement between Musixmatch and Warner Chappell means streamers like Spotify will have "no choice" about where to get lyrics.

LyricFind is suing Musixmatch over allegations that its rival struck an exclusive licensing deal with Warner Music Group (WMG) that’s “unprecedented in the music industry” and is aimed at securing an illegal monopoly for providing lyrics to streamers like Spotify.

In a complaint filed Wednesday (March 6) in San Francisco federal court, the Canadian-founded company LyricFind accuses Musixmatch and private equity owner TPG Global of violating federal antitrust laws by signing the deal with Warner Chappell Music (WCM), the publishing division of WMG, claiming it was designed to crush competition.

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