Added: 4 years ago
From: lauranbri
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  • I am writing you from my lovely hot tub, watching the stars and it's snowing, well hell it's January so that's expected, but I am stil in my hot tub, and it is nice warm and oh crap there's a skunk somewhere around, a little whiffy but still good

  • Only small minds can't wrap their heads around people that are Canadian, most are people that just want to hate, guess what , sucks to be you, we are up here proud to be us, are we freezing are asses off, YEP, but we're having a hell of a time doing it,

  • he was born in Scotland and raised in the Toronto area....thats Canada eh! Saw him play live in Toronto in the 80's, amazing sound! His brother is also very good, have had the pleasure of hearing him as well. Gowan has worked with some extremely well known people over the years but I will leave that research up to the reader...he has his own website for the official bio!

  • Canada/the US / Japan...Gowan is from none of these countries...he is from Scotland

  • @xcaper66 Might have been born in Scotland but after all he achived in Canada and if you followed his career you would know he is widley known in Canada and won some of highest awards in music in Canada, he is truly Canadian.

    Here is one example

    On November 16, 1998, Gowan received the prestigious National Achievement Award from the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN).

    How did Scotland celebrate his career

  • @xcaper66 True, but when he speaks he doesn't have a Scottish accent and he's recognized as Canadian as well.

  • I love Lawrence. (:

  • Quite possibly my favourite song by any Canadian artist ever.

  • Even when I was 5 years old I use to scratch my head at this guy! No word of a lie. lol.

  • ask one who knows me if im reallly so bad i ammmm

  • I like the theatricality of this video. I can see this song fitting right into a superhero Broadway musical. This would be the song that introduces the villain.

  • @ashkayem It would be a hell of a lot better than that dissapointment doctor horrible.

  • LOL on the side it says

    RCMP all worried...

  • this song has been running through my mind all day......but I've been singing the wrong lyrics

  • Lawrence Gowan is a God!!

  • Gowan is classic! don't believe the cool people! shhhhh!!! I'm one but don't tell!

  • I loved seeing him live... keep it going Larry lives forever

  • I think what you had back during this age of music was the New Wave influence still happening and the Canadian artists kind of "Faking" a European sound.  But by that they actually ended up producing some rather original stuff. When you look back on this stuff from today it actually sounds quite unique. Back in the day it was just a "wanna be" sound.

  • @roquefortfiles what is the meaning of this? Something having to do with the death penalty or some guy on trial for committing a murder. Also, it could be the thoughts of what goes through a criminal mind during a courtroom. Thanks for help

  • Extreme corniness and overacting was the definition of the 80s, great song regardless... Gowan's enthusiasm is amusing lol

  • ...extreme corniness and overacting, yes, but this is a rad song...lol

  • the epitamy of GREAT videos

  • great song you lil shits

  • SEXY BEAST!!!

  • @sweiland75 just gotta learn to make the difference between what you like and what the person really does. she's technically flawless and an amazing singer, even tho I or you dont like her songs

  • @sweiland75 Incorporating capital punishment into this video does not necessarily mean that I endorse the death penalty. All I'm saying is that this video is somewhat silly and needs a good serious edge. Putting the 'Gowan' character to death for a murder would stir up more emotion in viewers.

  • Final cut pro (80s edition) + Gowan + lots of acid = criminal mind video. My folks in california had a huge satellite dish in the 80s and I so I got to see this on MuchMusic as a kid...I still haven't recovered.

  • Love this song, got the wife and daughters into it too. It stands the test of time and was before it's time. Gowan always had fun videos. Anyone got his Tin Soldier song?

  • Can I just add that the new youtube sucks donkeys, as does Mark Zuckerberg, who needs to be violated by a double ended DRM, the other end in Rupert "The Aussie Son Rapist" Murderk.

  • @velvetfog Murdoch I believe, in any case, definite agreement on this weirdo youtube thing, it's crap, and what's with the "comment pending approval" sh*t?

  • Masonic symbolism much Gowan?

  • @truthtribe yep, they like geometry...but it doesnt work, cause its a myth

  • Masonic symbolism much?

  • I love this song!

  • Love this fucken song! so good!! cant stop playin it today!!!

  • The US MTV vid had the full-length song, in 1984. Why is this one cut?

  • at once both reflective and haunting

  • the 80ss best damn decade of music, way to go to ya all good folks putting these great 80s tunes on here,

  • i still love the 80's nice song...

  • Music videos were so cool back then.

  • Why do they change the second verse in the live version?

  • The radio and video version started like this one, with "I stand accused before you"...I'm trying to remember if my album version opens with "You see my hands are steady".

    They may have just been cutting it for length. Even with the No-Man prelude gone, this version is about 4:36.

  • 2:48 The penalty for art theft is... BUKKAKE

  • lol thats funny shit

  • That's fucking hilarious!!!!

  • Good one ! lol

  • best Gowan cover of this at derekd2112

  • Styx remade this?!

    Now THAT'S criminal.

  • Yeah 'cuz Gowan is in Styx now.

  • Oh? I didn't realize that. Very interesting.

  • I only found out recently myself. But it is true. You can see vids here on youtube. :)

  • Ah, catch up there little snoozy! Gowan has been in styx for over 10 years and did not remake it, they play it and recorded it live! Music 101> you fail!!!!

  • What planet have you been on?

  • I posted a video response. Its a song my uncle wrote/recorded in the late 80s. It reminds me a bit of Gowan.

  • the piano is so bomb and unique

  • i saw the sample of this song with gowan in it and in the music video for a rap song... and i must say the original is better....

  • There are songs that you haven't heard for years, but you're still vaguely aware of them. Not this one -- it had totally receded from my memory.

  • Oh who cares they are both good songs I hate it when people have to go over a song with a fine tooth comb we are not comparing apples and orange here it's a freakin song

  • Lolsh how odd, my last name is Gowan too :D

  • If you like this...I urge anyone to seek out the version live with Styx in Pittsburgh from 2001....it eats the original alive...

  • Anything with STYX eats the originals xD

  • Yes your right the live version with STYX is incredible but its kinda like comparing apples to oranges> you can't!! The old studio version and video which is a Canadian classic can't be compared to a modern live version. Their completely 2 different things! Both good! If your American it would have little meaning to you as you did not grow up with it loke we did here in Canada!

  • I was living in T/O when this came out...yes, I love this version, too....

  • beaches friend

  • my dad used to blast this song in his nova god i miss that car and he is an old jail bird so it fits him to a tee this is one of his favorite songs problem is he kinda rubbed off on me a bit i tried to emulate him as a kid and he whopped my ass for it basically not all jail birds are bad to the core they do care they dont want to see a new generation end up where they were i have never been to jail and i have my dad to thank for it

  • Then, when those prisoners are released, you have 20 shellshocked/crazy individuals who are now completely incapable of coexisting with normal society.  Job well done!

  • thats when you put them to sleep like dogs.

  • shellshocked/crazy individuals who are completely incapable of coexisting with normal society.... hmmmm , sounds kinda like the ones we release now.

  • I think the point of prison is "rehabilitation".

  • your a dreamer. Rehab my but! They go inside, play cards, work out with weights, and join their kind, fights, kill each other and there are no meetings or nothing inside. Rehab...HA! Your a retard.

  • note the quotes ;)

    I don't beleive a word of it either.

  • wow you are so insightful, please tell me what else TV and movies have taught you about prison

  • so let's execute them instead.  It would save a lot of money

  • yes why don't we? Lets start with serial killers, pedophiles, rapist, and cold blooded killers that are not serial killers. Great way to save our tax dollars. I wish I was in power.

  • one of the best songs of the 80's

  • woo musique plus

  • woo bs à l'extreme

  • I AM!

  • im pretty sure Headlock by Imogen Heap uses this is the background

  • See Gowan with styx and be prepared to be amazed!!!

  • This does have a nice melody

  • my uncle was in jail in the 80's. and they used to rock this song all the time in the courtyard playing sport.

    when he came out thats all he listened to, and said it was a huge hit in there (Drumheller)

    and changed many lives, including his.

  • word.

    the only crime is getting caught.

  • Timeless

  • Fuck this is a great song.

  • what an amazing tune, so melodic, dark and beautiful.

  • As an US citizen, I was stunned when Q107 played this back in 2002 while visiting Toronto. Canadian music is freakin' awesome stuff!!!! With Exceptions of Celine Dion, Alanis Morrisste, and Anne Murray.

  • our lady peace, MOIST/david USHER, I mother earth, are freakin awesome top canadian angst riddled music aswell)

  • wiggertronix, no offence, just my opinion. i find that stuff boring and not memorable at all, poor chords and structuring, very generic and tasteless.

  • Our Lady Peace and I Mother Earth had some solid stuff in the mid-90s!!!!!

  • Also, Neil Young, Barenaked Ladies, Rush, Crash Test Dummies...

  • The Jeff Healey Band!

  • You will notice that the Canadian music that is the worst is the music that is huge in the US...

    Celine Dion, Anne Murray, etc.

    It's much like green tea that the Japanese export the worst, and keep the best for themselves.

  • I deeply agree. The cheeiest stuff hits the top of the charts while the best are in the deep archives of listening to Q 107 and Much More Music. I got hooked on AOR rock in High School and found about this while being a fan of Styx and being in Toronto. Great stuff!

  • @250zt1fcdpymrnk Is that an indictment of Canadians or Americans?

  • @250zt1fcdpymrnk Celine Dion is an amazing singer and you can't deny it

  • @250zt1fcdpymrnk Eg: The tragicaly Hip. Best Canadian band ever

  • @250zt1fcdpymrnk but i gotta tell... Im a french canadien and i swear to god that we dont keep the best for ourselves...You should hear music that doesnt pass our frontier !!! lol

    Sorry for my english

  • @evlaf Hahaha c'est tellement vrai!

  • @250zt1fcdpymrnk actually we love celine dion here in quebec (canada)

  • @250zt1fcdpymrnk Indeed.. grew up in Toronto but spent 6 years in the U.S. in college.. Bands like the hip, Tea Party, I mother earth, Saga, Triumph, Sam Roberts, Big Wreck, Our lady peace make no impact at all... All they about us is Tom Cochrane and Nickelback. Sad. The strange thing is, Rush is under appreciated in this country but a massive hit in the U.S. and they are an extremely talented and smart band.. everything U.S.music goers usually shy away from. That one must be a blip.

  • @250zt1fcdpymrnk you sir are an douche.

  • @250zt1fcdpymrnk i wouldn't say Anne Murray or Dion are the worst. They're amazing talents but just not your (or my) taste.

    I would say Americans prefer our sappiest music. Our good stuff doesn't get play there... never really has.

  • @250zt1fcdpymrnk Way totally.. I way agree!! We had a fake country artist named Shania Twain and.. uggg look at Alanis Morriset..and again I say uggg!!!

  • @250zt1fcdpymrnk had to read it twice,,,,, a1 i was hoping it had that ending

  • @250zt1fcdpymrnk

    You forgot Nickelback, the harbingers of doom.

  • @250zt1fcdpymrnk justin beieber...

  • @250zt1fcdpymrnk Because they figure the majority of people have low enough standards that they can easily feed them the worst and they will like it! They were right. Those leaders are genius as much as they are selfish. Genius for this world we live in, not genius in reality.

  • @250zt1fcdpymrnk I mean, not genius logically.

  • @250zt1fcdpymrnk So which one is Gowan? In your opinion.

  • @250zt1fcdpymrnk You forgot Justin Beiber

  • Don't be stunned> this song is a staple on radio all accross canada! You fine american folks missed out on a ton of great music from canada in the 80's. Its really kind of sad.

  • I had a school work on that song.

  • good song...

  • it's the better music i ever listent

  • One of the greatest music videos of all time.

  • anyone else think he reminds them of Zach from Canadian Idols judge panel? LMFAO!! HA HA

  • lol i find that a few faces he make remeinds me of robin williams

  • this was so my favourite song when i was littler.. i got a signed picture of Gowan for some fundraiser i had to participate in at school.. it was one of the lowest point prizes and I didn't try hard cus that's all I wanted lol. Screw the stereo and bike, I wanted the GOWAN SIGNED AUTOGRAPHED PICTURE! I do also feel bad for Americans who don't understand what great music we have up here. Our Lady Peace, Rusty, BNL, Sloan, GOWAN, Corey Hart.. need I continue? LOL

  • YES! Corey Hart is the best. I still love Gowan though, and this video is so cool XD I love his earring in the shape of a 'G'.

  • dear nicole i would love to marry you ,but unlike other countries 14 is a bit too young ,even though you have a mind of a sophisticated 30 year old babe !

  • would yeah wait for me to get older

    lol and thanks

  • wuv you babe

  • This song was awesome!

  • i love Gowan, such good music

  • L O L "sore criminal eyes" ? what thu fu ?, give me a criminal break , REALY SO BAD...I AM...da da da, love dis criminal song ...SUE ME!

  • lol a criminal break lolol god i wanna merry you thats awsome ----> criminal break hehehe

  • OMG Lawrence in a cage!!

    yay

  • la grande fraternité blance

    golden dawn

    i am that i am

  • i hate the old school sound quility lol good old early 90's music

  • This is not 90's, it's 80's!

  • Does anyone know who directed this video?

  • Great artist!! Love this video..my all time favorite.

  • The video is a bit lame. The song rocks though! They should have had the main actor (Gowan) walking the green mile with various flashbacks leading up to the present, maybe ending with him being executed by lethal injection.

  • We never did get to hear much Gowan down in the US, unfortunately.

    I caught this vid late in the middle of the night in the 80s on some obscure show.

    I'd never heard anything like it. Talk about theatrical!

    Anyway, over time I got my hands on about four Gowan albums (rare as hen's teeth here, I tell ya) and loved the hell out of the tunes.

    Larry's pretty brilliant, I'd say -- writing a bunch of haunting, atmospheric songs like this. Great voice to carry them with, too.

    Awesome.

  • It's a shame that allot of the great Canadian music just doesn't get played in the states. Glad you like this song.

  • y does it mean so much that it gets played in the states, dont think any less of an artist cuz the"u.S.a" cant accept it , We got great artist and we support our artists,

  • Wow i remember this video...i first saw it on 4o clock rock...ha ha do any Canadians out there remember 4 o clock rock??

  • hey, hardrokminer, i definitely remember 4 oclock rock. and this video was very good

  • I think it's more about survival and the basic needs a person has along with the risk one will take to get by. But either way the piano rocks this song.

  • Ultimately its really all in how we treat it.

    Downloads and stealing with a "Criminal Mind" Don't Help to Back up your plea

  • The video is goofy but the song really hits home. It takes away all this talk on reform and shows rebellion at it's heart.

  • K-Rock 103.9 FM in Corner Brook, NL plays an edited version of this song...it fades out about a minute sooner than this full-length version, which is a lot better overall.

  • Hm... Actually, this video version is even shorter than the album version (the beginning part is longer). Myself, I like full-length versions. When a song is cut short, I feel I'm missing out. I mean, do museums cut paintings in pieces because they are the wrong format, or too big? Music now is treated like a standard product, not like art. I want to hear a song like the band/artist intended it. Plus, if it's a kick-ass song like this one, the more the better! ;)

  • I saw Gowan In Concert with STYX it was awsome

    he had a spinning piano lol

  • awesome song from the 80s

  • Gowan for President

  • you mean prime minister ha ha

  • Now i didnt just come in on patch of turnips

  • I always pictured the criminal in this song to be a murderer or a psycho, I think its interesting he decided to portray a theif. Also, I think its good that they went light and goofy with the video, its the music that matters.

  • You don't get it man

    Gowan doesn't think this is goofy at all.

    He thinks this video is an artistic masterpiece full of symbolism and metaphore.

    This makes it all the more humorous.

  • I see, you reside in larry's mind then?

  • its actualy a song that was based upon a real criminal that was put in jail and the jail that she's in secures her so she cant harm anybody, true story.

  • who r thhe styx????\

  • This song was always so dramatic and serious on the radio, but with the video....lol

    BTW, anyone think Gowan looks a little too much like Cathy Jones?

  • tres bonne chanson des annee 80 je l adore

  • this song always makes me think of Sauron. u know fantasy/mythological villans. stuff like that.

  • dude ur wierd

  • yeah i know. but proud of it!

  • weird

  • thank you

  • it's so sad that we dont'hear nothing more of this artist ever, because that song is great and the kinda comic book video was awesome.

    a great song ever!!!

  • well gowan is now in styx so that ledgendary band just got better

  • Ce que j'aime cette chanson

  • tu as tout a fait raison cette chanson est super bonne

  • Aren't 80s videos awesome? I completely forgot about this video until today... it's a classic! :) Great song and great artist!

  • totally!!!!!! Its so nice to see someone else who appreciates the 80s!!

  • Listened to this CD at work today and it still ahs the same feeling as 20 years ago, rock on Gowan!

  • when this came out it won so many awards

  • yeah it sure did but like any REAL good song u have to give it a chance and listen to the words closely but I agree Gowan is absoulutely amazing

  • brilliant video, brilliant song

  • gowan u da man!

  • thanks for uploading. waiting for better audio.

  • It was the first whole album I owned and I've been a dedicated Gowan fan since. My mom thrives on showing the pic of me at Xmas holding the album up with a stupid grin on my face. Thanks for posting it!!