Grass for Blades

"Grass for Blades" was written by Jim Pembroke and first released on Wicked Ivory (1972) as Hot Thumbs O'Riley, at 3:53, then became a Wigwam live staple. MusicBrainz lists many versions: a live Yle radio broadcast on November 7, 1973 (9:42, issued as Pop-Liisa 3 in 2016), a 15:20 take from June 1974 on Live Music from the Twilight Zone, a 9:16 Dark Album sessions version on reissues, an 11:03 live version from 1976 on Live in Denmark 1976 (2026), an 18:17 Tampere performance of November 24, 1977 as "No New Games / Grass for Blades" and a 12:35 reading from the Tavastia Club in 2001.

On the 1973 broadcast the line-up was Gustavson and Pembroke on vocals and keys, Pohjola on bass and Osterberg on drums, and Gustavson's sleeve note calls it one of the best live performances of that line-up. Kieron Tyler of the Arts Desk singled out the song, with "The Moon Struck One", in his review of the 2017 reissue of the live album. On setlist.fm it has been played 42 times credited to Wigwam, fourth among their songs behind "Do or Die", "Bless Your Lucky Stars" and "Just My Situation". SSRI covered it on Dreamjunk Surrealia (March 2026). Which version our upload is was not established, and no statement about the song's meaning was found.