- And if Venice Is Sinking
"And if Venice Is Sinking" is a song written by John Mann and
Geoffrey Kelly for the Canadian folk-rock bandSpirit of the West . Spirit of the West recorded the song on their studio album "Faithlift ". It also appeared on their greatest hits album "Hit Parade", both in the original studio single and as a live recording with theVancouver Symphony Orchestra .The song is about Mann's honeymoon in
Venice with his wife, Jill Daum. Infatuated with the city, Mann expresses his desire never to leave by alluding to the sinking of the city and asserting that he'll go down with it: "And if Venice is sinking/Then I'm going under". The song also referencesMarino Marini 's sculpture "Angelo della Città":"We made love upon a bed
"That sagged down to the floor
"In a room that had a postcard on the door
"Of Marini's Little Man
"With an erection on a horse
"It always leaves me laughingSeveral of the band's friends and family members, as well as producer
Michael Phillip Wojewoda , also appear on the track as backing vocalists on the song's final chorus, and are credited in the album's liner notes as "Venetian Choir". Daum herself can be heard laughing in the background after the word "erection".It proved to be Spirit of the West's most successful single on the Canadian pop charts, reaching #30 on the "RPM" Top 100 singles chart the week of
November 20 ,1993 [ [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.2305&volume=58&issue=19&issue_dt=November%2020%201993&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=ccntousk30frf6h4jsn237nm12 RPM Volume 58 No. 19, November%2020%201993 - RPM ] ] , and #12 on theadult contemporary charts the week ofJanuary 31 ,1994 [ [http://www.collectionscanada.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.2369&volume=59&issue=2&issue_dt=January%2031%201994&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=ccntousk30frf6h4jsn237nm12 RPM Volume 59 No. 2, January%2031%201994 - RPM ] ] . However, some radio stations played an edited version with the words "with an erection" blanked out.References
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