49th Parallel - She Says b/w Citizen Freak

Tracks

Side 1

		Track Name	Length
	1	She Says	02:02

Side 2

		Track Name	Length
	1	Citizen Freak	01:40

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Information/Write-up

Released in November 1967, She Says backed with Citizen Freak captured 49th Parallel at their most direct and energetic. The Calgary group was still young, still sharpening their identity, and this first RCA single shows a band pushing forward with confidence. She Says is a tight, fast-moving garage track built on bright guitars and a firm vocal line, the kind of song that would have sounded at home on any regional teen radio show of the era. Later reissue research identified these early sides as defining examples of “Prairie punk,” a sharper, more urgent strain of Western Canadian garage rock that set the band apart from their contemporaries.

The flip side, Citizen Freak, has taken on a special place among collectors. Its pointed lyric about everyday routine and conformity struck a chord with listeners who were beginning to question social expectations. The song eventually became the namesake of this website, serving as an unintentionally perfect description of the dedicated music collector who digs deeper than the mainstream. At the time of release the single received modest regional airplay outside Toronto, helping establish the original six-member lineup as one of Calgary’s most promising young bands.

This single marks the first widely distributed release from 49th Parallel and remains one of their most memorable recordings. Although the band would later explore more psychedelic and melodic directions, She Says and Citizen Freak preserve the raw spark of their early period in Calgary, when a group of young musicians managed to carve out their place in the growing Canadian rock landscape.
-Robert Williston

Citizen Freak Lyrics:
I Get Up Early, Eat Your Oats
Read Your Paper, Go and Vote
Your the Type who Hates Poutine
You Shave Each Morning, Your so Meak
A Day by Day, A Week by Week
We Hate You
Citizen Freak

You Got a Bank Book, I'm Impressed
Bet You Help Your Children Dress
Home At Night You Kiss Your Wife
What a Way to Waste Your Life
Shove Some Health Food Up Your Beak
We Hate You
Citizen Freak

Up at Eight, You Work Till Six
Out Till Ten Get Your Kicks
Buy a Car, Impress the Neighbours
Shoes Are Made of Alligators
Status Quo is What You Seek
We Hate You
Citizen Freak

Not Too Fat, Not Too Lean
Feed Your Children Jelly Beans
Not the Way to Raise Your Stock
Toughest Daddy On The Block
Yes There be a Wife You Speak
We Hate You
Citizen Freak

Dennis Abbott: vocals
Dan Lowe: guitar
Bob Carlson: guitar
Mick Woodhouse: bass
Dave Petch: organ
Terry Bare: drums

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