Deke brought this band up the other day and I started to listen to their songs. Deke likes a lot of harder bands so I was expecting screaming guitars but this band is close to Sloan to me or power pop…which yea…I kinda like!
The band was formed in the small border town of Tsawwassen, BC. Musically they were influenced by British invasion and post-punk and American roots and punk rock. They got their name from a reference to a US political slogan from the 1840s (“Fifty-four forty or Fight!”) that called for the American annexation of what is now British Columbia.
The band started in 1978 when Neil Osborne and Brad Merritt met in Sought Delta High School in Tsawwassen, British Columbia. They released their first album in 1984 called Set The Fire and their second album in 1986 was a self-titled album also called The Green Album. That is the album this song is on.
The album 54-40 peaked at #91 on the Canadian Album Charts in 1986.
The song was covered by Hootie and the Blowfish and did well on the charts in 1996-97. It peaked at #13 in Canada, #2 on the US Adult Top 40, and #22 on the US Adult Contemporary in 1996-97.
I Go Blind
Every time I look at you I go blind
Every time I look at you I go blind
Every time I look at you I go blind
Every time I look at you I go blind
In the morning, I get up
And I try to feel alive but I can’t
Every time I look at you I go blind
I don’t know what it is
Something in me just won’t give it a chance
I think it’s that I feel more confused by the deal
Love has shown me
Little child, did you know that there’s a light
And it’s gonna shine right through your eyes
What do you think that life is like?
Every time I look at you I go blind
I go blind
Somewhere over there
There’s a purpose, there’s a care for free
In me there’s nobody
No one planned, no one stand to be free
I think it’s that because I have seen all the fuss
And it’s no big deal
No big deal
Hold me, hold me
‘Cause I wanna get higher and higher
Higher than
Hold me hold me
‘Cause I wanna get higher and higher
Higher than
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So our friend DeKE’s going soft now? 🙂
It’s a nice song. I can definitely picture Hootie and the Blowfish cover this!
LOL… no that won’t happen! This band has a lot of cool sounding songs… and they were pretty big in Canada.
I thought this WAS Hootie.
This song has a lovely beat, and I am pretty sure this will be stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
They have a lot of catchy songs.
Nice look to the north, Max! 54-40 put out some really good records, and according to Deke are also a good one to catch live. Three are a lot of their songs I like better than this one but I was delighted for them that Hootie did it and made it a hit and I’m sure, earned the band a lot of loot consequentially. I heard back in the day that Darius Rucker was a huge fan of 54-40 (how he, down in SC would have come across a Canadian band that had no real presence in the States I don’t know) and would often have Hootie play various covers of theirs in the live shows, though I never had that confirmed.
As soon as I started to listen to them…I thought yea they are right up my alley. I never heard the Hootie cover before…hell I had no clue until I started to write it up.
He probably had a Canadian connection somewhere.
presumably so.
‘Miss You’, ‘Baby Ran’ ‘Baby Have Some Faith’ are three that come to mind as ones I like better by 54-40, but this one ain’t bad. It was on the ‘Friends’ soundtrack and a portion of it was played in that show when three of the friends go see Hootie in concert (though we just hear the song, the band doesn’t appear.) That gave it great exposure.
I just started to listen to them and this one came up….and I thought….I like this one! I still haven’t heard a lot of their stuff. Oh I’m sure their cover version boosted them…
New one on me- nice incessant melody.
Never got seriously into the band myself but I really do like this song and anything I heard on the radio ( thank you CanCon)
Well I looked up CanCon…I know what that is now. Again for the 50th time…the old phrase…these guys should have been big over here.
deKE steered you well. CB loves this band. Saw them in the early days. Very cool song (along with a truckload of others. Didn’t I say that once already today?). When I was actively shooting my mouth off with posts I did a couple on this band. deKE and I talked about how 54-40 can rock out live.
All of these Canadian bands like these guys who sounded better than what was on the radio at the time…like The Hip and others. I saw a few clips of them live…they sounded great…not as good as being there.
I was lucky to have a bunch of these bands in my backyard. The reason I found out about these guys was I worked with a guy who’s brother was in the band. Went and caught them live and was hooked.( If you like I can send a few other under the radar bands that I know you’d dig)
CB….I think you either posted something or sent me a link about these guys when we first started talking.
Of course CB! I’m always open as you know.
Probably both. I really like them. They have a social conscience without hitting you over the head plus they just make catchy tunes.
I’ve still got that vinyl in my collection! “Baby Ran” was my favorite from the record…It was a college radio staple in these parts. Great memories!
Thanks for reading…I just found this band really….a friend of mine blogged on it.
Swell tune. I remember Hootie and… cover but never heard this one before.
An appropriate lyric for my current optical state Max!
When do you get seen by a Doctor Bruce?
I saw a doctor last Wednesday who was shocked because I couldn’t read even the big letter at the top pf the chart! So I get it done on 13 December. In the meantime, I’ve been in hospital with pneumonia! Am home now.
I’m glad you are home Bruce. Pneumonia really sucks…I’ve had a light case but nothing like you did.
Hopefully you will be able to see soon.
This is nice. Reminds me of something… Can’t put my finger on it!
It is a nice song…it was covered by Hootie and the Blowfish…but I just started to listen to this band a while back…very successful in Canada.
Am I wrong, or was ‘alt’ music more popular, and more succesful in Canada in the 80s? Compared to the US.
Hmmm….I would probably say yes…maybe slightly but it was popular in the colleges in both places….and for people like me who didn’t like mainstream.
Nice pick Max and its good to fool everyone now and than with something that isn’t full out hard rock.lol. These guys are a great act and they still keep going at it which is fantastic. I’m really glad you picked them and thanks for the shout out.
I know the Hootie version, as my sister had the Friends soundtrack. This version sounds better though. Also a couple of Westerberg tracks on the Friends soundtrack.
Hey thanks for flagging this, I wasn’t familiar! It reminds me quite a bit of Hoodoo Gurus. The jangle also makes me guess they liked Murmur and Reckoning (:
Thanks for stopping by…now that you mentioned it…they do sound a bit like the Hoodoo Gurus.