And if Venice Is Sinking

"And if Venice Is Sinking" is a song written by John Mann and Geoffrey Kelly for the Canadian folk-rock band Spirit of the West. Spirit of the West recorded the song on their studio album Faithlift. It also appeared on their greatest hits album Hit Parade, both in the original studio single and as a live recording with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

Content

The song is about Mann's honeymoon in Venice with his wife, Jill Daum. Infatuated with the city, Mann expresses his desire never to leave by alluding to the sinking of the city and asserting that he'll go down with it: "And if Venice is sinking/Then I'm going under". The song also references Marino Marini's sculpture "Angelo della Città":

We made love upon a bed

That sagged down to the floor
In a room that had a postcard on the door
Of Marini's Little Man
With an erection on a horse
It always leaves me laughing

Several of the band's friends and family members, as well as producer Michael Phillip Wojewoda, also appear on the track as backing vocalists on the song's final chorus, and are credited in the album's liner notes as "Venetian Choir". Daum herself can be heard laughing in the background after the word "erection".

Chart performance

It proved to be Spirit of the West's most successful single on the Canadian pop charts, reaching #30 on the RPM Top 100 singles chart the week of November 20, 1993,^[1] and #12 on the adult contemporary charts the week of January 31, 1994;^[2] it was also the band's only single ever to appear on the magazine's country charts, peaking at #93 in the week of October 9, 1993.

However, some radio stations played an edited version with the words "with an erection" blanked out.

Chart (1993–1994)	Peak position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)^[3]	30
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)^[4]	12
Canada Country Tracks (RPM)^[5]	93

Year-end charts

Chart (1994)	Position
Canada Adult Contemporary Tracks (RPM)^[6]	95

References

↑ RPM Volume 58 No. 19, November%2020%201993 - RPM
↑ RPM Volume 59 No. 2, January%2031%201994 - RPM
↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2305." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. November 20, 1993. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
↑ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 2369." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. January 31, 1994. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
↑ "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 2261." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. October 9, 1993. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
↑ "RPM Top 100 Adult Contemporary Tracks of 1994". RPM. December 12, 1994. Retrieved August 5, 2013.

Spirit of the West

John Mann Geoffrey Kelly Hugh McMillan Vince Ditrich Tobin Frank J. Knutson Linda McRae Daniel Lapp Matthew Harder

Studio albums	Spirit of the West (1984) Tripping Up the Stairs (1986) Labour Day (1988) Save This House (1990) Go Figure (1991) Faithlift (1993) Two Headed (1995) Open Heart Symphony (1996) Weights and Measures (1997) Star Trails (2004)

Compilation albums	Old Material 1984–1986 (1989) Hit Parade (1999) Spirituality 1983–2008: The Consummate Compendium (2008)

Singles	"Save This House" "Home for a Rest" "D for Democracy" "Political" "And if Venice Is Sinking" "5 Free Minutes" "Sadness Grows" "Is This Where I Come In" "Tell Me What I Think" "Williamson's Garage" "Soldier's Boy" "July" "Bulembu"

Related	Spirit Unforgettable

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