Big Sugar officially formed in 1988 in Toronto, Ontario, consisting of vocalist and guitarist Gordie Johnson, bassist Terry Wilkins, and drummer Al Cross, though the three musicians had already played together for several years as a supporting band for Molly Johnson's jazz performances and as an informal jam band with members of the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir. After Molly Johnson returned to rock music with Infidels, she helped her former bandmates to secure a record deal; their eponymous debut album was released in 1991 on Hypnotic Records.
After Wilkins left the band in 1993, Big Sugar recorded the album Five Hundred Pounds with the help of guest musicians, including harmonica and tenor saxophonist Kelly Hoppe, also known as Mr. Chill. Hoppe brought a blues and old-school r'n'b influence into the band's sound. Hoppe would become an official member of the band in September 1994. He would later add keyboards and melodica to his sideman responsibilities. In July 1994, bassist Garry Lowe joined the band. Lowe had moved to Canada in the mid-1970s from Kingston, Jamaica. Soon after arriving in Toronto, he became an in-demand bass player for touring reggae recording artists. He often accompanied them at Toronto's famed Bamboo club on Queen St.W., among other venues. Lowe was a founding member of "Culture Shock", a popular Toronto reggae band. Johnson, an avid reggae maven (and one-time bass player), had been a fan of Lowe's and was overjoyed when he agreed to join Big Sugar as a full-time member.
Big Sugar had slowly built a reputation as an outstanding live band, and Five Hundred Pounds consolidated it; the album sold 10,000 copies in Canada on the strength of their live shows without any real publicity or radio airplay. During this time, Gordie Johnson also recorded an album as Don't Talk Dance, with Tyler Stewart of Barenaked Ladies and Chris Brown of the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir.
In 1995, the band released two EPs; Dear M.F., which featured a cover version of Traffic's "Dear Mr. Fantasy"; and Ride Like Hell. Following the release of these EPs, Stich Wynston left the band and was replaced by Walter "Crash" Morgan. During the band's tour that year, however, Morgan suffered a heart attack, collapsed, and died on stage during a show in Iowa. Longtime band associate Raffa Dean was enlisted to finish the tour, and former Odds member Paul Brennan subsequently joined as the band's new drummer, appearing on one of their most commercially successful albums, 1996's Hemi-Vision.
Hemi-Vision's single "Opem Up Baby" was a notable first for the band, who recorded a French version of that song, "Ouvres-Toi Bébé", for radio stations in Quebec. The song gained widespread airplay in the province, and for their next album, 1998's Platinum-selling Heated, the band recorded a French version of each single they released; the French songs were collected on the 1999 EP Chauffe à bloc. Also that year, Johnson and Hoppe performed several acoustic shows as a duo under the names "Little Sugar" or "Two Fools on Stools".
Cross returned as drummer in 1999. The band also added a new rhythm guitarist, Mojah. In July of that year the band performed at Woodstock 1999.
In 2000, the band released a dub album, Extra Long Life, under the stage name Alkaline.
In 2001, Big Sugar released Brothers and Sisters, Are You Ready? Taking their abilities in writing and performing French material to its logical conclusion, a complete track-for-track French version, Brothers and Sisters, Êtes Vous Ready?, was released the same year. Only the English album concluded with a blistering rendition of "O Canada".
The two-CD compilation Hit & Run, featuring a greatest hits disc that included a special edition, limited run live concert performance disc, was released in 2003.
Big Sugar, known for its thundering rock shows performed without set lists, played their last concert before splitting up on December 31, 2003, at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta. Gordie "Grady" Johnson immediately formed the Austin, Texas-based band Grady and later joined Wide Mouth Mason as their full-time bassist, and also started the gospel dub duo Sit Down, Servant!! when he began playing steel guitar. Kelly Hoppe formed Mr. Chill & The Witnesses, a roots music group. Mojah and Garry Lowe went on to form Truth and Rights Revue, a reggae band, and have released one album to date.
The band reunited in 2010, playing their first show since 2003 at Telus World Ski & Snowboard Festival in Whistler, B.C. on April 23, with tour dates through summer 2010. A new studio album evolved and was released in June 2011, titled Revolution Per Minute. This recording included Stephane Beaudin "Bodean" on drums and new full-time band member "DJ Friendlyness" as the fifth member of Big Sugar. Revolution Per Minute was released on both cd and vinyl with the vinyl album containing bonus "Alkaline" dub remixes and additional songs. 2012 was the first ever DVD release when Eliminate Ya! Live!, a double CD/DVD set that included a new single covering Al Tuck's "Eliminate Ya!" was released.
In 2014, Big Sugar released an album called "Yard Style" which contains uplugged versions of nine of their original songs, plus four previously unreleased songs.
The song "Police Bway A Vampire" appeared as a reworked electric version under the name "Universal Vampire" on their next studio album "Calling All The Youth", which was released in 2015 on Bread & Butter Records.
In May, 2017, two long time members, Kelly Hoppe and DJ Friendliness, left Big Sugar. Hoppe is now a freelancer, frequently performing live and in-studio with various artists, while Friendliness likes to concentrate full-time on his other band Human Rights. They were replaced by Ray Arteaga and Gordie Johnson's wife Alex.
Garry Lowe died of cancer on July 7, 2018.
Heart Refuse to Pound
Big Sugar Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You're resting on my mind
And running through my head
While I'm laying up in my bed
I don't sleep no more
Wonder what I'm living for
How long 'till I have
If I thought you felt the same
I would walk until I was lame
Across four thousand miles
Just to hold you for a while
How long 'till I have
How long 'till I have you?
How long 'till I have
How long 'till I have you?
When my heart refuse to pound
And they lay my body down
I'll be lying there alone
And you'll be staring at my stone
But if you hear me call your name
I'll be with you just the same
How long 'till I have
How long 'till I have you?
How long 'till I have
How long 'till I have you?
How long 'till I have
How long 'till I have you?
The lyrics to Big Sugar's song Heart Refuse To Pound speaks about the feeling of longing and missing someone, and the desperation of wanting to be with that person. The singer of the song seems to be unable to sleep, as the person they are missing is constantly on their mind. They wonder what their purpose in life is, as they feel incomplete without the person they are longing for. The lyrics "How long 'till I have you?" is a repeated question throughout the song, emphasizing the singer's yearning.
The song also speaks about how far the singer is willing to go to be with their loved one. They mention that if they knew the person felt the same as they do, they would walk thousands of miles just to hold them for a while. This portrays the extreme lengths the singer is willing to go to be with the person they miss.
Towards the end of the song, the lyrics take a somber tone. The singer speaks about when their heart stops beating, and they are laid to rest, but they will always be with the person they miss. This shows that the singer's love for the person is eternal and will last regardless of life or death.
Line by Line Meaning
As I lay awake I find
I'm lying awake and thinking
You're resting on my mind
I can't stop thinking about you
And running through my head
Thoughts of you are constantly on my mind
While I'm laying up in my bed
While I'm lying in bed
I don't sleep no more
I can't sleep anymore because of you
Wonder what I'm living for
I'm questioning the purpose of my life without you
How long 'till I have
How much time until I can have
How long 'till I have you?
When will I be able to have you in my life?
If I thought you felt the same
If only I knew you felt the same way about me
I would walk until I was lame
I would walk for miles and endure pain just to be with you
Across four thousand miles
Traveling a long distance for you
Just to hold you for a while
If only I could hold you, even for a short time
When my heart refuse to pound
When my heart stops beating
And they lay my body down
When I die and am buried
I'll be lying there alone
I'll be alone in my grave
And you'll be staring at my stone
I hope you'll come visit my grave
But if you hear me call your name
But in the afterlife, if I call your name
I'll be with you just the same
I'll still be with you, even if only in spirit
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: GORDIE JOHNSON, PATRICK BALLANTYNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@bearsie13
I wonder how many people don't know about the finale on the end of this song ? I was listening to the CD way back and then got a pleasant surprise out of nowhere when I didn't change the CD to something else before seeing that it was actually still playing. Well done Big Sugar.
@keithlangman2081
This was MY CD, everyone has that CD that bring with them on a trip and can listen to every song well ya this was that CD for me. I could bring this CD and run it and listen to everyone song on it. Love Big sugar
@CHodgy
I used to play this on the jukebox, to get my money's worth.
@kevinfisher5492
Saw these boys sitting at Ethel's one night. Just enjoying a beer and a Junior Ethel burger before the next show. Those were the days.
@kokanee2010a
I have been searching for this mighty song on youtube for such a long time. It is definitely one of their better songs . Thank you
@sYd6point7
Thank you for the upload, so many good memories and concerts!
@erinlauzon5939
YESSS! I heard this song, holy shit I forgot how much I used to love this whole track!
@MichelleSmith1991
Super happy that you have the WHOLE 12 minute version as it was on the cd too!
@Flamsterette
Awesome!
@ravenouscolonelhart
wow only 300 views. I own this album (actually all big sugar albums, but I bought this one when it came out), this is a canadian rock classic, it should have 3 million views not 300! This is one of my favourite songs on the album. My favourite is Kickin' Stones. Those two songs, are really the only sad (and by that I mean actually depressing) songs that G. Johnson has ever done, despite his blues history. I remain curious as to what his life was like at this time.