hugh cornwell - bear cage

[jeevesthepunk]

is it wrong for me to prefer this to the stranglers' original?

[gizzytiersen]

@jeevesthepunk Not all. I really like The Stranglers but the drummer is great and Caz Campbell is an excellent bass player I think

[birdycannyfly]

ur an arsehole. great camarawork..

[sphereballs]

Call me an arsehole but if he's going to play Stranglers songs why doesn't he just stay with the Stranglers?

[SteveResin]

@sphereballs He wrote the fucking thing, he's entitled to play it

[JohnDCox]

Caz is as good as JJB

[smokehogg]

still cool after all these years,excellent rendition ! *****

[1105rain]

HC in "Song by Song":

Lyrically, the letters "GmbH" mean "limited company" in Germany. From hearing GmbH, the words "Bear Cage" came into my head. The bear is the symbol of Berlin and there's the Russian Bear. I was thinking of East Germany being in a cage of the Russioan Bear and the lyrics are written from the viewpoint of a young man living in East Germany. He's living through the disgrace of the generations before, from the first and second World Wars.

[MoveOverCasanova]

by the way, does anyone know something about the lyrics?

somehow it seems to be about germany___

"G.m.b.H."--- is the german abbreviation for what english call "limited liability company".

and also he sings about a "summer in dresden. man.:-)

Any info ?

[1105rain]

the song is about berlin

[MoveOverCasanova]

why do you guess that?

[1105rain]

HC in Song by Song:

The young man I imagined ends up a victim of commerce, selling cars. People end up on a treadmill, joining the rat race and saving up for a decent life. They work hard and save money and have to be careful of those who try to exploit them. Then there's a reference to the Russian presence in Dresden and the drawing of boundaries in Germany after World War Two. The lyrics show my sypathy for the East Germans."

[MoveOverCasanova]

massive version - this sounds almost like it was done at "25 o´clock"!!!

[radiolux]

Great version. Hugh is playing guitar better and better, and improvising new things instead of doing the same solos again and again like (unfortunatly) the Stranglers do. Robert Williams fantastic on drums. Caz great as usual.

[FIFTY2WEEKS]

Caz Campbell has lovely rhythm and a great smile. I could........oooooooooh!!!!!

[AcDcAiRbOuRnERoX]

The best yet very underated artist!!!!!!!

[flemwad]

Saw him last night at The Lemon Tree with my mate, and we actually spoke about the version of 'bearcage' that he played in the Tunnels....AND HERE IT IS....wow thx for posting.... this is soooooooooooperb

[FIFTY2WEEKS]

I love all of it - that driving drum and bass and Hugh's psychedelic guitar. He still has it. Great post - faved

[jangenk]

there's not much left of the punky edge of the original EP stranglers version... the guitar solo tends to hardrock... no good

[HughCornwall]

As much as I love the Stranglers I always thought that the original Bear Cage was a pretty good reason for their downfall. However I got to see Hugh et al play this live and was blown away. This is the way it should have been!

[krazycreeperkat2000]

bad ass

[clamtard]

God bless you Hugh.

[beachred]

W O W !! that was fantastic

[howlsfish]

nice one hugh and thanx for posting

[atomicFlyer]

Great version. Thanks for posting!

[HughCornwall]

Yep, nice job. Hugh's live version of Bearcage is much better than the original!

[tonedial]

robert williams seems to have brought out the nosferatu in hugh.Beautiful stuff.Better than any time I've heard the stranglers play it. thanks for sharing.

[ChrisGoulstone]

I know that this is edgy. R W sets H G in a state that we havent seen for while. Hugh is good backed into a corner like all great artists! Robert W is a crazy strange guy ...but is an awesome drummer and a real musician - some of the greatest moments in music happen with some kind of confliction.....does anyone know where the nearest laundrete is Matt?

[scottinblack]

this is classic hugh cornwell

thanks for sharing