Whiteout Conditions

Content warning:
This post mentions mental health issues.

Whenever I hear a song by the Vancouver, Canada-based indie supergroup, The New Pornographers, I marvel at just what a super group they are. And every time we have another spring snowstorm here in Winnipeg, Canada, where I live, I think of the title, “Whiteout Conditions,” a power pop song by them.

Last night a winter storm warning was in effect for our region, forecasting a significant snowfall. Yeah. In mid-April. However, I awoke this morning to see little more than a dusting; much of it has melted as I sit here writing to you while our grandson has his nap. So we were fortunate this time, as the storm mostly passed by us.

“Whiteout Conditions” has an uptempo, catchy beat and melody, with bandleader A.C. Newman (b. 1968) and Neko Case (b. 1970) singing the chorus in melody while Newman fast-talks his way through the word-heavy verses on the studio recording. In addition to these two, Kathryn Calder is another main vocalist. It’s somewhat unusual to see three primary singers in a band; it’s another appealing feature of this musical collective.

The song starts up with a synthesizer line and rolling drums that lead into the main melody carried on an undercurrent of arpeggiated synthesizer programming.

“I’m flying and feeling the ceiling
I’m barely dealing and the faces, the faintest of praises
Are too revealing, such a waste of a beautiful day
Someone should say, it’s such a waste of the only impossible, logical way in
A fly-in in la was open
I wasn’t hoping for a win, I was hoping for freedom
You couldn’t beat ’em so you crumbled, you doubled your dosage
You wanna go, said the inhibitor blocking the passage
That thing is massive

And the sky will come for you once
Just sit tight until it’s done
The sky will come for you once
Just sit tight until it’s done

Got so hooked on a feeling
I started dealing in a stage of grief so demanding
I got a stand-in every radio buzzing, it wasn’t the dream of the moment
Wasn’t the current that carried me, keeping me going

Only want to get to work
But every morning I’m too sick to drive
Suffering whiteout conditions
Forget the mission, just get out alive
Only want to glean the purpose
Only to scratch the surface, raise the plow
Suffering whiteout conditions
Forget your mission, just get out somehow

Everyone suddenly busy
Suddenly dizzy you’re so easy, it’s pushing you over
You’re taking tours of a treacherous strip of the badlands
You have your demands maybe you riot for nothing, it’s just a bad hand

Only want to get to work
But every morning I’m too sick to drive
Suffering whiteout conditions
Forget the mission, just get out alive
Only want to glean the purpose
Only to scratch the surface, raise the plow
Suffering whiteout conditions
Forget your mission, just get out somehow

Flying and flat on the ceiling
I see myself and the revival, it suddenly hits me
It’s going viral such a waste of a beautiful day
Someone should say
It’s such a waste of the only impossible, logical way in
Got so hooked on a feeling
I started dealing but the days spent kicking the cages
Are too revealing so committed to your misfortune
But still a cheater such a waste of a beautiful day
Wish you could be here”

“Whiteout Conditions,” by A.C. Newman.
Lyrics retrieved from notes in the YouTube post of the studio track.

The song’s uptempo beat belies its meaning: When asked in a 2017 article in Rolling Stone magazine if the song is about depression, Newman says, “I don’t know. Depression and anxiety are weird things. Some part of you wonders if it’s just the human condition. When I wrote the song, I was going through a rough thing because my sister was dying of cancer last year. I wrote it a month and a half before she died. So it was situational depression, where you have a tough time dealing. I was trying to get out of a space where I was thinking, ‘I should be sad, but I shouldn’t be quite this sad. I shouldn’t let things get to me where it’s making me incapable of seeing the world for what it is, which is not a horrible, tragic place.’ That’s what the song is about.”

To me, the urgency created by the quick tempo effectively portrays the tension between emotional challenges and one’s viewpoint of the daily grind of the outside world when the impending loss of a loved one overtakes the heart and mind.

There are numerous videos of live performances of the song for radio stations and programs, including KEXP Seattle and National Public Radio in the USA, 102.1 The Edge Toronto, Indie88 Toronto, CBC Music, and CBC’s q and the Current on 89.3 in Canada, among others. Demonstrating their versatility, the band members trade lead vocal roles in some performances, with a combination of Calder, former member Simi Stone (b. 1979) and, occasionally, drummer Joe Seiders (b. 1980) joining Newman on the chorus. I read that this is because, despite singing on the studio recording, Case’s solo career has prevented her from being a touring band member.

So, after the little one’s nap and lunch, soon we’re off to The Leaf indoor conservatory at Assiniboine Park to sate our curiosity and savour the beauty in the tropical butterfly garden. And it’s snowing. Again. But it’s far from whiteout conditions…

“Whiteout Conditions” is the title track from the band’s seventh studio album, released in 2017.

Now you know a little about why this is my Song of the Day for Today. Thanks for joining me here.

Here’s the official audio from The New Pornographers YouTube channel:

And, here’s a live performance for the CBC Music feature First Play Live, featuring singers Newman and Calder backed up by Seiders:

With warm wishes,

Steve

A note to readers: If you’re struggling with mental health, there is help. Please refer to the notes at the bottom of this post for a list of resources in North America.