The Great Divide - The Big Country Podcast

We have reached our 100th episode! The best possible way we could mark the occasion is with a definite Bruce Watson interview, where every activity and happening with the band is discussed. This includes tributes to Mike Peters, thoughts on the recent band split and the new line-up, the coming book and documentary, the chance for a 40th Anniversary edition of The Seer (including the Robin Millar mix), the Restless Natives musical, news on Eastworld (the coming b-sides/re-recordings album), unreleased songs from the Mike Peters years, as well as plenty of musings from your podcast hosts. Enjoy!

After two and a half years, Tom and Svein have finally arrived at the fourth song from their selection of songs from the Wonderland EP. Heart And Soul is one of the earliest Big Country songs, and it fascinates the hosts how much of the song would show up in later works thematically. Expect the usual deep-dive into the song's history, lyrics, and music.

Tom and Svein take another sidestep as they do a PSA about Svein's new book "Rocking In the Norselands, part 1". Find out what the book is all about, how it was like to put it together, and several reflections on the power of stories about music. Thanks for indulging us, and we'll be back with the next part of the Wonderland deep-dive series soon.

We have reached the third part of the Wonderland deep-dive, which continues with its track-by-track approach. This time Tom and Svein takes a thorough look at All Fall Together, and rarely have they been so in sync about being jubilantly positive about a track. Expect some song background for both Giant and All Fall Together, an overview of different versions, as well as the usual dissection of music and lyrics. And if you're a fan of the movie Streets of Fire, apologies in advance!

The Wonderland deep-dive continues with this second part, which is wholly devoted to the track Angle Park. This is the first Big Country song that Stuart and Bruce finished in 1981, with its roots going back several years before that. We delve deep into the timeline of the track, its lyrical meanings, and the actual location in Dunfermline that named it. Wonderland may "just" an EP, but after just two songs we have spent more time on it than we have some of the albums!