"The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" by Traffic

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

"But it wasn't the bullet that layed him to rest, `twas the low spark of high heeled boys."

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drf600/f610/f61098pph7b.jpg

Just what the fuck is this song talking about? I love it, and have done for all these many years, but I'll be damned if I know what Steve is singing about. Glam rock? Cross dressing? Static electricity?

Anyone?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 21 December 2002 02:58 (twenty-three years ago)

C'mon alex think!
the "low spark"???

***************************************************************

― Dan I., Saturday, 21 December 2002 03:24 (twenty-three years ago)

Honor the spark! I actually think the whole album is pretty underrated ("Light Up or Leave Me Alone" = fab) -- I forget, is it the last actual Traffic record?

I really really REALLY like that deranged buzzy whirry syntho-thing solo near the end. And that cover is everything I (guiltily) love about early-mid '70s graphic design.

― Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Saturday, 21 December 2002 03:32 (twenty-three years ago)

Oops, I guess not. (There's also the '90s reunion stuff but as with all 'classic rock' acts that shouldn't count for anything ever.)

― Nate Patrin (Nate Patrin), Saturday, 21 December 2002 03:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Just what the fuck is this song talking about?

Some notes on the lyrics can be found here:

http://www.azstarnet.com/~bobbieg/lyr-ref.htm#lowsp

― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 21 December 2002 04:07 (twenty-three years ago)

That guy is full of it. It's a song about ass sex, plain and simple.

― Dan I., Saturday, 21 December 2002 04:13 (twenty-three years ago)

As is every other Steve Winwood song.

― Dan I., Saturday, 21 December 2002 04:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Obviously.

― Dan I., Saturday, 21 December 2002 04:21 (twenty-three years ago)

seventeen years pass...

Damn, this album is sounding fantastic tonight - particularly Rick Grech's bass.

― Ngolo Cantwell (Chinaski), Friday, 31 January 2020 22:22 (six years ago)

So classic

― brimstead, Friday, 31 January 2020 23:54 (six years ago)

Listened to 'John Barleycorn Must Die' today at work. 'On the Road' also got a couple of recent listens. That's a good live record, but they play Low Spark really fast compared to the studio take.

― earlnash, Saturday, 1 February 2020 00:05 (six years ago)

I've just listened to the first three albums tonight!

― (includes digression on farting) (Tom D.), Saturday, 1 February 2020 00:06 (six years ago)

Weird band.

― (includes digression on farting) (Tom D.), Saturday, 1 February 2020 00:07 (six years ago)

According to Wikipedia, Jim Capaldi credits Michael J. Pollard with the line that became the title:

Pollard and I would sit around writing lyrics all day, talking about Bob Dylan and the Band, thinking up ridiculous plots for the movie. Before I left Morocco, Pollard wrote in my book 'The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys.' For me, it summed him up. He had this tremendous rebel attitude. He walked around in his cowboy boots, his leather jacket. At the time he was a heavy little dude. It seemed to sum up all the people of that generation who were just rebels. The 'Low Spark,' for me, was the spirit, high-spirited. You know, standing on a street corner. The low rider. The 'Low Spark' meaning that strong undercurrent at the street level.

― by the light of the burning Citroën, Saturday, 1 February 2020 00:20 (six years ago)

It's a long way from Evesham.

― (includes digression on farting) (Tom D.), Saturday, 1 February 2020 00:24 (six years ago)

Winwood really gets into some ungodly organ sounds during his solo... love the big grumbly off-key chord he ends it with

― brimstead, Saturday, 1 February 2020 02:12 (six years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.