THIS IS EROSION ROCK: Inaccurately yet affectionately dubbed “the Godfather of Alt. Country” by the British press, Tucson, Arizona-based musician Howe Gelb has remained the sole epicenter and creative force behind the ever-fluid configurations of Giant Sand for over a quarter century, giving birth along the way to an extended musical family tree that fostered the likes of The Band of…Blacky Ranchette, The Friends of Dean Martinez, OP8, and Calexico.
"Giant Sand is a mood," explained Howe, as if to simplify the dizzying breadth of his prolific output as an artist. With an impressive catalog of material that stretches back to 1983, he can easily claim some 40 albums to his credentials as both a band leader and a solo performer, each of which maintains its own genre-defying singularity while also drawing on the not-so disparate threads of country, southwestern roots, lo-fi, jazz, and punk--or the “yippity and happenstance“ that arises to inspire the soundscape of
whatever project Gelb is involved in creating.
But Howe’s initial signposts were planted crookedly in Pennsylvania during the 1970s, among them being the rock opera ZEQE 24,088 which was recorded in 3 hours at a PBS radio station. In 1972, when floodwaters claimed his hometown and family house, ultimately sending him downstream to Arizona alongside the debris of his parents’ divorce, the song “Steadfast” was born as an articulation of that disaster. Soon upon arriving in Tucson, he met his sonic soul mate in the guitarist Rainer Ptacek, and as a result the two went on to form the Giant Sandworms. After releasing only a handful of singles and recordings, the worms were finally put to rest, making room for Giant Sand to bubble comfortably from the soil by the early 1980s. From that time on, in one manifestation or another, an album of Howe’s music has been recorded and delivered every 4 to 8 months.
Now following a nearly four year hiatus, Giant Sand returns with the release of proVISIONS on September 2, 2008. Produced by Howe and Kent Olsen (Arizona Amp
and Alternator, Marie Frank), the album’s 13 tracks were recorded during a summer in Denmark, and features the Danish musicians Thoger T. Lund (bass), Peter Dombernowsky (drums), and Anders Pedersen (slide guitar). As with past incarnations of the band, the current lineup utilizes a more natural form of playing, relying heavily on improvisation and “on the fly“ problem solving, as well as exploring melodic variations within Howe’s songs.
Also lending themselves to the casual mix are a host of talented friends/collaborators--such as Neko Case, M. Ward, Isobell Campbell, Henriette Sennenvaldt, Lucie Idlout and Lonna Kelley--all of whom ease warmly into the passenger seat to ride shotgun for a while on an album thick with musings scattered by the desert winds and soaked with eroding guitars or dusty piano.
Providing an alternate route around box-store labels like “Alt. Country” while ruminating on love and loss in the socio-political climate of a modern world at odds with itself, proVISIONS is a creeping cruise down a dark desert highway, forging another surprising and welcome byway in the completely unique musical legacy of Giant Sand.
~ bio by Mitch Cullin
Can't Help Falling In Love
Howe Gelb Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I can't help falling in love with you
Shall I stay
Would it be a sin
If I can't help falling in love with you
Like a river flows surely to the sea
Darling so it goes
Take my hand, take my whole life too
For I can't help falling in love with you
Like the river flows surely to the sea
Darling so it goes
Some things were meant to be
Take my hand, take my whole life too
For I can't help falling in love with you
For I can't help falling in love with you
Howe Gelb's song "Can't Help Falling in Love" is a heartfelt ballad that captures the essence of love at its most powerful. The lyrics start with an ancient proverb, "Wise men say only fools rush in," which serves as a warning against the dangers of impulsive behavior. Yet, the singer in the song can't help falling in love with someone, even though they feel that it might be considered sinful or inappropriate.
The next few lines of the song beautifully describe the reality of love, "Like a river flows surely to the sea, darling, so it goes. Some things are meant to be." This imagery reveals that the love between the singer and their beloved is beyond their control; it is meant to be and as natural as the flow of a river. The song's refrain - "Take my hand, take my whole life too, for I can't help falling in love with you" - speaks to the singer's desire to give themselves wholly to their beloved.
Overall, the song captures the essence of love's power and inevitability, and it shows how love can sometimes cloud our judgment, making us do things that might be considered foolish or inappropriate.
Line by Line Meaning
Wise men say only fools rush in
According to wise men, it's unwise to jump into love quickly
But I can't help falling in love with you
But I cannot resist falling in love with you
Shall I stay
Should I continue to pursue this love?
Would it be a sin
Is it morally wrong to continue loving you?
If I can't help falling in love with you
Even if I cannot control this feeling of love
Like a river flows surely to the sea
Just as a river naturally runs its course to the sea
Darling so it goes
This is how things happen, my dear
Some things are meant to be
Certain situations are destined to happen
Take my hand, take my whole life too
Please accept me completely, including all of my life
For I can't help falling in love with you
Because I simply cannot stop the feeling of falling in love with you
Contributed by Evelyn O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.