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Big Country — In A Big Country
Album: The Crossing
Avg rating:
7.3

Your rating:
Total ratings: 2564









Released: 1983
Length: 4:37
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Ha

I've never seen you look like this without a reason
Another promise fallen through, another season passes by you

Shock

I never took the smile away from anybody's face
And that's a desperate way to look for someone who is still a child

In a big country, dreams stay with you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside
Stay alive

I thought that pain and truth were things that really mattered
But you can't stay here with every single hope you had shattered

I'm not expecting to grow flowers in a desert
But I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime

In a big country, dreams stay with you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside
Stay alive

In a big country, dreams stay with you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside
Stay alive

So take that look out of here, it doesn't fit you
Because it's happened doesn't mean you've been discarded
Pull up your head off the floor, come up screaming
Cry out for everything you ever might have wanted
I thought that pain and truth were things that really mattered
But you can't stay here with every single hope you had shattered

Shock, 1, 2

I'm not expecting to grow flowers in a desert
But I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime

In a big country, dreams stay with you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside
Stay alive

In a big country, dreams stay with you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside
Stay alive

In a big country, dreams stay with you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountainside
Stay alive

Ha

Shock
Comments (452)add comment
 siqbal wrote:


Wise move. RP's eclectic playlist is not for you. Best to listen to a station that caters to your musical tastes.


That's quite a generalization you assumed about me, based on my opinion of one crappy, mainstream, overplayed, non-eclectic song.  Sadly, though, you are right.  I like an eclectic playlist, but Radio Paradise no longer suits me.  I used to like it, but in my opinion it has gone way downhill the last couple years.  It comes on my FM radio every night around midnight, and I endure it until a song I can't stand like this one inspires me to put something else on.
 ZephyrListener wrote:

I can't stand this song.  I'm changing the station.



Wise move. RP's eclectic playlist is not for you. Best to listen to a station that caters to your musical tastes.
The talented Stuart Adamson, gone too soon. I don't know if they were the first band that tuned their guitars to sound like bagpipes but they were certainly the first to popularize that sound. Blew my mind when I first heard it. Traditional Highlands meets 80s new wave. Seems like a terrible idea on paper but sounds amazing!
I was brought up the the 'burbs listening to Top 40 radio.  When I got to college at UVA, there was an alternative station – WTJU.  I went to check it out, and there was some hippy grad student dude behind the controls playing this song.  My intro to alt-rock over 40 years ago...
Brilliant band! excellent tune! Lovely afternoon vibes for me
 mardison wrote:

 

I shall never tire of hearing this one.  Excellent tune.



agree. like it even better than i did when it came out when i was in high school.
 f1ram wrote:

Great tune. If Rush ever start again then take a look at this drummer!!!


What year do you think it is?
I can't stand this song.  I'm changing the station.
Great tune. If Rush ever start again then take a look at this drummer!!!
 thewiseking wrote:

I recall when they launched they were touted as The Next U2
How'd that work out?


Turns out they were better than U2.
EXCELLENT!!  Brings back memories.  Thank You RP!   
 red wrote:

bought the cassette many years ago.



me too, red.  and i just wanted to reply to a post made 20 years ago.  long live RP!
I recall when they launched they were touted as The Next U2
How'd that work out?
I love this tune!! I don't care what anybody says!! ...I don't care about pronunciations  and dialects! ...Screw that! ...It still is a great tune! If you don't like it, hit the SKIP BUTTON!

acferrad wrote:

This song drives me crazy - the word country is pronounced COUNtry not counTRY !!!


 Edweirdo wrote:


Are you from Dunfermline?  Because different dialects have different pronunciations.


After reading this comment, I always hear "in a big cunt tree". WTF!
 acferrad wrote:

This song drives me crazy - the word country is pronounced COUNtry not counTRY !!!


Because meter shifts in song lyrics are totally unheard of.

Saw Big Country open for the Pretenders back when this song was BIG. Great concert from both bands, but I got a little close to the speakers while watching the main act...one of two concerts that definitely cost me some hearing... oh well. Music!
 acferrad wrote:

This song drives me crazy - the word country is pronounced COUNtry not counTRY !!!



Are you from Dunfermline?  Because different dialects have different pronunciations.
Love this song!  Takes me back to when I was a junior in college, when life was fine!
 Only 'crazy' Scots can pull off some tunes like this. Easy 9.
Geez, folks; listen to the song without picking it apart! Great beat and melody and a helluva hook. And it makes you yearn for open spaces.
This song drives me crazy - the word country is pronounced COUNtry not counTRY !!!
Absolute gem. Well I heard it growing up in Canada, so -- a big country, indeed; with winter sun aplenty, especially when it's particularly cold. And lovely Scotland nevertheless has nothing on the mountains of Canada. And we've heard a bagpipe or two up here, too. The song gives me shivers.
Amazing song. Here's Randy Bachman with the origin story of the song: 
 treatment_bound wrote:



 

And not one of them played on this track. No bagpipe in here.
 jp33442 wrote:
 janac13 wrote:
Saw these guys last July at the Zoo here in Brisvegas and as I said to my missus "fucken Scots" which in Australian means brilliant. What a great live band can't wait for them to come back.
 How much are they paying you to say that 

 
I wish they did
Nice!
Proving just how incredibly good these guys actually were. No production, no playback, just the REAL DEAL. Watch this.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM9I6ZtpThM
 janac13 wrote:
Saw these guys last July at the Zoo here in Brisvegas and as I said to my missus "fucken Scots" which in Australian means brilliant. What a great live band can't wait for them to come back.
 How much are they paying you to say that 

Saw these guys last July at the Zoo here in Brisvegas and as I said to my missus "fucken Scots" which in Australian means brilliant. What a great live band can't wait for them to come back.
Another overplayed song going to hit the next button
This song is so dated; that drum machine sound is unbearable. Never really liked this back in the day and can't stand it now.
 10
 tinypriest wrote:

I shall also not. It is quite so.
 

Also I.
I also remember adjusting my flanger pedal to get close to that bagpipe sound he gets on the guitar. Great song then and now.
Plenty of RP-worthy songs from this band. Love to hear a wider range of them here.
 mardison wrote:
 

I shall never tire of hearing this one.  Excellent tune.

 
I shall also not. It is quite so.
Lovin' the E-bow. 
We used to have a big country...

Maybe we will again someday.
Takes me back to my time in Spokane. I want to live in Canada for some time.
The band '.moe" does a great cover of this song, released on their 2001 album 'Dither'

'In a Big Country'
performed by Big Country
from their album 'Big Country' (it was renamed The Crossing later I believe)

Classic!
Ah, the days of running into the room when this was on and yelling, 'HOCK'!
 
Probably the other way around - this song came out several years prior to I Am The Man.

Spiderwoman wrote:
The intro made me think "are they playing Anthrax's I'm The Man" ?!?
 

More Scottish music!!!
 MrsTom wrote:
The only thing worse than bagpipes is guitars that sound like bagpipes. 

 
Depends who's playing. Here's a pretty decent player for you by the name of Steve Morse. "Guitars that sound like bagpipes" really get going at the 2 minute mark.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE-JjVowRHI
 God's own country. Not Texas... Scotland source of magic music since the 80's

 
The intro made me think "are they playing Anthrax's I'm The Man" ?!?
I wasn't very fond of this tune when it came out.  My opinion hasn't changed over the years.

 

I shall never tire of hearing this one.  Excellent tune.

Shock!
 loop6719 wrote:

dude U2 must have copied them since this was out way before u2 was a thing

 
U2 were 1976, Big Country 1981
 jbuhl wrote:
Poor man U2

 
dude U2 must have copied them since this was out way before u2 was a thing
 jbuhl wrote:
Poor man U2

 
                                           

                                                      U2 should sound so good !


Poor man U2
We be singin' in the kitchen!
i finds imma no sauguad  8 +
Image result for big country, in a big country gif
Yes.  Best bass and drum duo in the 80s.  
Ahhh...the early MTV days :^ )
 Proclivities wrote:

This song (which does not have any sampling at all) came out four or five years before that Anthrax tune.  Anyhow, It's a pretty standard, "rock"  drum beat.

 
ouch.
Unlike many 80's songs (and I'm an 80's music fan), their music holds up quite well. Never get tired of this and other Big Country songs. R.I.P. Stuart
Take a look song, artist takes a step further if you please.
I remember hearing this (and Owner of a Lonely Heart) advertised repeatedly on the radio. The tag on this: 

GUITARS!!!! 
The only thing worse than bagpipes is guitars that sound like bagpipes. 
 LawDude wrote:
Love the way they made the guitar sound like bagpipes.

 
This.
Something about the key means I can't listen to this 
HOLY MEMBERS ONLY!  Love it.
Liked the photo,, found the music album
 
Not a bad song. Not the best on the album. Seriously overplayed in other venues. Not too bad hearing it here.
Awesome

 
Loved it then, love it now.
I will always stop what I'm doing and listen.  
Love the way they made the guitar sound like bagpipes.
Great memories. My brother was working on a radio at that time and was recording me cassettes of his broadcast.
Thanks Bill!
 fredriley wrote:

On Scots Gaelic, which is a strong interest of mine, sure - see my collection of Celtic language resources. I'm not very good on Scots, sadly but have a search for "scots dictionary" and you'll get plenty of starters. The oral history project Tobar an Dualchais / Kist o' Riches is also a good source of authentic material on Gaelic and Scots. Which, of course, are two very, very different languages, with completely different roots: Gaelic from the Celts, Scots a Germanic language. Or ye could tek a wee donner (trans: go for a walk) in Glasgow and hear Scots in its live form... :)

 
Thanks much, fred! I PMed you a while back about books or resources that explored the Germanic roots of Scots. Would these two sites do the trick or can you suggest other stuff?
They nailed it...message and music...
 
 dsd wrote:
When this one comes on I get a jolt of happiness then I think about Adamson and the sadness comes.
 

 
I'm with you there.
Reminds me of when I was 13. Used to Love this song.
Always enjoy hearing this.  Played the grooves off of Big Country back in the day ... 'Big Country,' 'Lost Patrol,' 'Fields of Fire' ....
{#Music} 
 
I like this song.  Maybe because the sound reminds me of a bunch of garage bands from western Canada.  {#Mrgreen}
Lord, what a vision, what a band.
Great memories from this one.  This whole album is fantactic.
 Lazarus wrote:
Everybody in my mushrooming multitude of homeless camps loves this groovy song...  we be dancing in the forests and fields from sea to shining sea like bowlegged gypsy muleskinners...

 
{#Cheers}
When this one comes on I get a jolt of happiness then I think about Adamson and the sadness comes.
 
Everybody in my mushrooming multitude of homeless camps loves this groovy song...  we be dancing in the forests and fields from sea to shining sea like bowlegged gypsy muleskinners...
 Webfoot wrote:

Thanks. I just need help with Uigeadail. Good whether I hack the pronunciation or not.

 
I'm not familiar with that word, though apparently it's the name of an Islay loch and Ardbeg whisky. However, the root 'uig' is very common in Gaelic, and is a common placename - have a search for 'uig' at the definitive English-Gaelic dictionary faclair.com.
I just returned from a short but incredible trip to Scotland, for the first time.  The West Highlands are a Big Country and so beautiful, with people as friendly as the land is amazing!  This song was on my playlist, certainly.
Yea it was over played originally, but I do enjoy hearing it now and again.  Like now.
 fredriley wrote:

On Scots Gaelic, which is a strong interest of mine, sure - see my collection of Celtic language resources. I'm not very good on Scots, sadly but have a search for "scots dictionary" and you'll get plenty of starters. The oral history project Tobar an Dualchais / Kist o' Riches is also a good source of authentic material on Gaelic and Scots. Which, of course, are two very, very different languages, with completely different roots: Gaelic from the Celts, Scots a Germanic language. Or ye could tek a wee donner (trans: go for a walk) in Glasgow and hear Scots in its live form... :)

 
Thanks. I just need help with Uigeadail. Good whether I hack the pronunciation or not.
Society has ruined this song for me
{#Snooty} 
{#Heartkiss}  Love it, love it, love it
Resurrecting distant memories of a day in 1983 at Phoenix Park Racecourse, Dublin with Big Country, Eurythmics, Steel Pulse, Simple Minds and U2.
Big Country were great, unfortunately it was the only time I got to see them live.
 kcar wrote:
Fredriley, can you point us to any good Websites about the Scots language? 

 
On Scots Gaelic, which is a strong interest of mine, sure - see my collection of Celtic language resources. I'm not very good on Scots, sadly but have a search for "scots dictionary" and you'll get plenty of starters. The oral history project Tobar an Dualchais / Kist o' Riches is also a good source of authentic material on Gaelic and Scots. Which, of course, are two very, very different languages, with completely different roots: Gaelic from the Celts, Scots a Germanic language. Or ye could tek a wee donner (trans: go for a walk) in Glasgow and hear Scots in its live form... :)
Yikes, has it really been 30 years since this was released?  Song always gave/gives me a lift; great for running too. Or crazy ass dancing. {#Bananapiano}  High on the all time favs list.
Thought this was cheese when it came out in the 80s but like it more with time ....
 MackStar wrote:
Saw them supporting David Bowie on his 'Glass Spider Tour' at Wembly.

They were better than Bowie who was very disappointing. 

Shia Ha Cha. 

 
Absolutely right.  Saw it at Cardiff.  Terrible security on the way in to the arena, too.  We were right against one of the gates waiting to get in, being pretty crushed by the crowd behind us.  An ambulance edged its way through and a column of people attached itself to the back of it.  They pushed right into the front.  People were passing out with the pressure and nothing was done about it.

The Blue Messiahs were just foolish.  Bowie's new album was poor to say the least and the concert reflected this.  Appearances by Peter Frampton and Toni Basil couldn't redeem it. 
I'll just call this a guilty pleasure song for me. Whoo hoo!!! {#Dancingbanana_2}
 Spiderwoman wrote:
Help! The intro is sampled from Anthrax's I'm The Man. But who did Anthrax sample from? 

 
"I'm the Man" came out in 1987. This song came out in 1983 so I don't think Big Country sampled Anthrax. 
 Spiderwoman wrote:
Help! The intro is sampled from Anthrax's I'm The Man. But who did Anthrax sample from? 

 
This song (which does not have any sampling at all) came out four or five years before that Anthrax tune.  Anyhow, It's a pretty standard, "rock"  drum beat.
Help! The intro is sampled from Anthrax's I'm The Man. But who did Anthrax sample from? 
 fredriley wrote:
I've been hillwalking in Scotland for the past 25 years, and I can assure everyone that it really is a big country, far bigger than it looks on the map. Even if I were able to spend my remaining active years in full-time hillwalking I doubt that I'd manage to climb every mountain and hill in the Highlands, let alone in the Borders. Just 5 million people and scoodles of open space.

 
And there's no way you'd utter all the known Scottish slang in those five years...

Fredriley, can you point us to any good Websites about the Scots language?  

 MackStar wrote:
Saw them supporting David Bowie on his 'Glass Spider Tour' at Wembly.

They were better than Bowie who was very disappointing. 

Shia Ha Cha. 

  
I posted this elsewhere but...I saw them in Sunderland (I think; at least nearish Newcastle) on the same tour. Screaming Blue Messiahs opened. After Big Country finished its set and before Bowie came on, about a third of the audience left. Scotland was well represented that day. 
 fredriley wrote:
I've been hillwalking in Scotland for the past 25 years, and I can assure everyone that it really is a big country, far bigger than it looks on the map. Even if I were able to spend my remaining active years in full-time hillwalking I doubt that I'd manage to climb every mountain and hill in the Highlands, let alone in the Borders. Just 5 million people and scoodles of open space.

 
like
I've been hillwalking in Scotland for the past 25 years, and I can assure everyone that it really is a big country, far bigger than it looks on the map. Even if I were able to spend my remaining active years in full-time hillwalking I doubt that I'd manage to climb every mountain and hill in the Highlands, let alone in the Borders. Just 5 million people and scoodles of open space.
 leafmold wrote:




 

But now you are enjoying the sun in OZ.  Next shout of New is on me.
Saw them supporting David Bowie on his 'Glass Spider Tour' at Wembly.

They were better than Bowie who was very disappointing. 

Shia Ha Cha. 
 Clark_Novato wrote:
Takes me back to my first year in college and my first exposure to a much wider array of music.  good stuff!

 
Same! Loved it then, still love it now - brings back wonderful memories and emotions {#Dancingbanana}
Takes me back to my first year in college and my first exposure to a much wider array of music.  good stuff!
Ho Ye! ....Crank up that volume boys!!!
up & at 'em music. 

 
Scots wha hae!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(just a shout out to my guitar-playing Gaelic brothers) 
Not very appropriate with a quiet saturday, at noon. That's probably where the jetlag is the most sensible
Wow! A real blast from the past. Sad that Stuart Adamson (the lead singer) is no longer with us.
 hencini wrote:
Great song.  This one never seems to get old despite the fact that it's from an era of songs that did not age particularly well.  : )
 
That's a common misconception, all eras have many songs which do not age well - the '80s have no more or less, really.  Great tune, at any rate.
 
Fife—the most beautiful place I've ever seen.
Robbiem65 wrote:
My home town band from Dunfermline, Fife. Makes me a bit homesick as now living 12000 miles away in Sydney Australia. Hi to all Fifers. Used to all dance wildly to this at Woodmill High School. Memories...
 


My home town band from Dunfermline, Fife. Makes me a bit homesick as now living 12000 miles away in Sydney Australia. Hi to all Fifers. Used to all dance wildly to this at Woodmill High School. Memories...
 Galateea wrote:
always makes me feel happy to hear it.
 


wahoooo!{#Dancingbanana}
I like lots of different kind of music. I like this a lot although I wouldn't think of it if I was making a list of my favourite songs ever. Nevertheless, if I was ever going to write and record a song, I would very much like it to sound like this. Huge, passionate and timeless. Does that make sense?