Go Figure (album)

Go Figure
Studio album by Spirit of the West
Released	1991
Recorded	1991
Genre	Folk rock
Label	Warner Music Canada
Producer	Joe Chiccarelli
Spirit of the West chronology
Save This House (1990) Go Figure (1991) Faithlift (1993)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Go Figure is a 1991 album by Spirit of the West. It was the band's first rock album, and their first with drummer Vince Ditrich.

The album was a breakthrough success with Canadian fans of alternative rock, although it was controversial among the band's traditional folk music fan base. The album includes a rock rendition of "Political", one of the band's best known songs. During the concert tour to support this album, fans in one city actually presented the band with a petition requesting that they play the old version of that song.

The album was only a modest success on the charts, however, peaking at #45 on RPM's Top 100 albums chart.

A recurring theme throughout the album is disaffection with the government of then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. "D for Democracy", "Pulling Lame" and "Far Too Canadian" are all anti-Mulroney songs, reflecting the widespread popular opposition to Mulroney among the Canadian public which led to the 1992 defeat of the Charlottetown Accord and the Progressive Conservative decimation in the Canadian federal election, 1993. However, "D for Democracy" is not about Mulroney alone, as the song also touches on other contemporaneous stories of political malfeasance, such as the drug controversy surrounding Washington, DC mayor Marion Barry.

"D for Democracy" was the band's first mainstream chart hit. That song, "Goodbye Grace" and "Far Too Canadian" are among the enduring fan favourites at the band's live shows.

Track listing

All songs by John Mann and Geoffrey Kelly.

1. "D for Democracy (Scour the House)" – 4:37
2. "Big Head" – 4:04
3. "Spot the Difference" – 4:17
4. "Pulling Lame" – 5:04
5. "Let's Make a Mystery" – 5:01
6. "Goodbye Grace" – 5:57
7. "Just Another Day" – 4:17
8. "Polaroid" – 4:47
9. "Political" – 4:34
10. "Ship Named Frank" – 4:28
11. "Far Too Canadian" – 6:33

"Political" was also released as a CD single, with the B-sides "Sad But True" and "Again and Again and Again".

References