Melbourne’s Hunters & Collectors started as an arty new-wave band, but ‘Holy Grail’, released in 1992, is slice of Australian pub rock. There’s plenty to critique; it’s based around the straightforward I – IV – VI – V chord progression, most famously utilised by Boston’s ‘More Than A Feeling’, while Mark Seymour’s lyrics are often a series of unrelated cliches strung together (“We were full of beans/But we were dying like flies”).
But it’s the details in the arrangement that make ‘Holy Grail’ work. The rhythm guitar part livens up the familiar chord sequence, the keyboard part adds a memorable motif, and the horns add body. As well as a horn section, the band’s official membership also includes their live sound engineer.
While it’s been co-opted as an Australian football anthem, the song’s lyrics are actually about Napoleon’s failed conquest of Russia in 1812, paralleling the band’s unsuccessful attempts to find success in America.
Woke up this morning, from the strangest dream I was in the biggest army, The world has ever seen We were marching as one, on the road to the Holy Grail
Started out, Seeking fortune and glory It’s a short song, but it’s a Hell of a story, when you Spend your lifetime trying to get Your hands on the Holy Grail
Bud have you heard of the Great Crusade? We ran into millions, and nobody got paid Yeah, we razed four corners of the globe, For the Holy Grail.
All the locals scattered, They were hiding in the snow We were so far from home, So how were we to know, There’d be nothing left to plunder When we stumbled on the Holy Grail?
We were foolish beings But we were dying like flies And those big black birds, they were circling in the sky, And you know what they say, yeah, Nobody deserves to die.
Oh I, I’ve been searching for an easy way to escape the cold light of day I’ve been high, and I’ve been low But I’ve got nowhere else to go There’s nowhere else to go
I followed orders God knows where I’d be But I woke up alone, all my wounds were clean I’m still here I’m still a fool for the Holy Grail Oh yeah, I’m a fool for the Holy Grail
Graham Fyfe is probably the only music blogger to appreciate Neil Diamond and Ariana Grande. Aphoristic Album Reviews features reviews and blog posts across a growing spectrum of popular music.
3 Comments
Not, perhaps, my favourite H&C song, but certainly neo-iconic. Still love ‘The Slab’ and of course ‘Throw your arms around me’. Great to see them getting a para.
Yeah, I can see how on some levels it’s like featuring ‘Kokomo’ for The Beach Boys (late period, accessible hit), but it’s the one that I’m old enough to remember hearing on the radio, and it’s stuck for that reason. ‘Talking To A Stranger’ is pretty cool though.
Aphoristic Album Reviews is almost entirely written by one person.
Graham Fyfe is probably the only music blogger to appreciate both Neil Diamond and Ariana Grande. Based in Fleet Street (New Zealand), he's been writing this blog since around 2000. Aphoristic Album Reviews features reviews and blog posts across a growing spectrum of popular music.
Review Pages
Read about the discographies of musical acts from the 1960s to the present day. Browse this site's review archives or enjoy these random selections:
With their dazzling instrumental chops, lengthy songs, and lush harmonies, Yes perhaps defined 1970s progressive rock better than any other band, despite illustrious competitors like King Crimson and Genesis. At their peak, Jon Anderson’s high pitched vocals delivered unintelligible pseudo-religious lyrics, while Chris Squire’s rumbling bass and harmony vocals anchored the […]
The Stone Roses were formed in Manchester in 1983, around singer Ian Brown and guitarist John Squire. Drummer and backing vocalist Reni (Alan Wren) signed up in 1984, while Mani (Gary Mounfield) joined in 1987 on bass. Despite a scant discography, the band are loved. Their 1989 debut album was […]
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Introduction The punk and new wave movements lowered the barriers to entry to a musical career, promising a more egalitarian future. Yet with the occasional exception, like Debbie Harry, The Go-Gos, and Tina Weymouth, guitar-based music remained a largely male domain in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Raincoats […]
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California’s Tom Waits is effectively the patron saint of this website. My Waits album ranking was the first post from this site to become popular, and it’s still one of its most-visited posts. With recently accounted reissues of Waits’ peak albums, it feels like a good time to make a […]
The members of The 1975 met at Wilmslow High School in their teens, playing at gigs organised by a local council worker. They started as a punk band, with Matt Healy, the son of two prominent actors, on drums. With the addition of George Daniel, Healy moved to lead vocals, […]
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Liverpool’s second-most famous band, Echo & the Bunnymen arrived in the post-punk era; they released their debut single in 1979. Their early career mirrors U2‘s – both released their first four albums between 1980 and 1984. Both were enjoying mainstream success in the UK by 1984 – Echo & the […]
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Joni Mitchell peaked in the 1970s with a terrific sequence of albums, particularly from 1971’s Blue to 1976’s Hejira. But she also released six studio albums in the 1980s and 1990s. None of these compositions would force their way into my favourite 10 Joni Mitchell songs; her songs are longer […]
Not, perhaps, my favourite H&C song, but certainly neo-iconic. Still love ‘The Slab’ and of course ‘Throw your arms around me’. Great to see them getting a para.
Yeah, I can see how on some levels it’s like featuring ‘Kokomo’ for The Beach Boys (late period, accessible hit), but it’s the one that I’m old enough to remember hearing on the radio, and it’s stuck for that reason. ‘Talking To A Stranger’ is pretty cool though.
It sure is. Another fave.