| The Tragically Hip – Fiddler's Green Lyrics | 5 years ago |
|
@Leppy Leroux At a guess (more than a decade after you asked), Falstaff is a well-known and well-liked recurring (fictional) character of Shakespeare. He was cheerful and fun at parties. He also was mentioned to have died in Henry V, in the following lines: "Nay, sure, he’s not in hell! He’s in Arthur’s bosom, if ever man went to Arthur’s bosom. He made a finer end, and went away an it had been any christom child. He parted ev’n just between twelve and one, ev’n at the turning o’ th’ tide; for after I saw him fumble with the sheets and play with flowers and smile upon his finger’s end, I knew there was but one way, for his nose was as sharp as a pen and he talked of green fields." So, my guess is he is one of the souls inhabiting Fiddler's Green and waiting there for any others who might join him. You know, in a symbolic kind of way... |
|
| The Tragically Hip – Fiddler's Green Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| @[Singalo:29345] Well said. I agree with you. Another advantage of the Hip's having had a limited commercial success in the U.S. was that a lot of us got to see them in more intimate venues than arenas and stadiums. Between '92 and '02 I saw them play a number of times in cities that include Tucson, AZ; Birmingham, AL; Atlanta, GA; and Dallas, TX. All of those shows (especially the first handful in Arizona) were small enough that a girl could stand pressed close to the stage, feel the music throb through her body, and be hypnotized and held in the palm of Gord Downie's hand along with the rest of the people in the club/bar/converted movie theatre. Every show was a magical experience. I didn't become a legitimate fan until I'd seen them perform live. There are not a lot of bands (especially these days) who aren't a lot better in the studio than they are on stage. | |
| The Tragically Hip – Fiddler's Green Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| @[heartbeats_xxx:29344] ooooooooooooh! Nice. That works. | |
| The Tragically Hip – Fiddler's Green Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| @[Blue_Man:29343] I always wondered if G.D. was familiar with that Gaiman story. Of course, both times I met him I was too star-struck to be anything other than an incoherently babbling idiot. So I missed my opportunities to ask and won't get another. (Well... perhaps in Fiddler's Green?) | |
| The Tragically Hip – Blow At High Dough Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| When I saw them in 1995 in Atlanta, right before the Olympics was held there (the third of six times I got to see them live: thrice in Tucson; Once in Birmingham, where the lovely Rob Baker took me by the hand and led me around--even onto the tour bus!--to get everyone's autograph; and once in Dallas), Gordie changed the lyric to "move so fast, move so fast, into that Olympic thing." The city was mad for all the Olympics money it thought it was going to make at the time and it made living there (more) difficult. The lyric switch worked perfectly. | |
| The Tragically Hip – At The Hundredth Meridian Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| @[IvoKent:29181] and we do... :( | |
| The Tragically Hip – 38 Years Old Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| @[nogoldhear:29180] Except that the man whose sister got raped was also one of the escapees (the narrator's brother). This song reminds me of a story from Pat Conroy's Prince of Tides. It is very similar. I met Gordon Downie twice. You got a lot more access if you ARE an American fan (I'm half Canadian, technically) since they played smaller venues here, and I was with the media at the time, another bonus. However, both times I was far too star-struck and tongue tied (and a bit drunk) to ask him about it. I said dumb things instead. That chance won't come again. :( At least I spoke to him. All of them. And got their autographs on a CD. | |
| The Tragically Hip – 38 Years Old Lyrics | 5 years ago |
| @[buildatree:29179] That works. It's posted under the wrong song title, but it is an astute analysis. I read it as some famous "big" guy trying to get a gal into bed, but yours is the same idea taken much farther and it definitely works. | |
| Talk Talk – Give It Up Lyrics | 6 years ago |
|
@[sonoflife:23954] Hollis tends to use religious imagery, but not always in a favorable light. He often shows great scorn to the very religious "little sheep" (example: Happiness is Easy is a straight up shot at folks who give up thinking and embrace the church, willing to go to war or hate or die for the supposed after life). While Hollis has said that he isn't especially religious (more humanist), he has shown a public interest in the welfare of the animals who share our planet. To me, this song seems clearly to be about the environment ("Watching rivers run black and the trees that are vacant to greed") and the real and difficult lifestyle changes people need to make in order to stop the world going to hell "gotta give it up" (coal, cars, plastics, etc.). Also, it touches on the phenomenon that occurs as soon as anyone starts talking about "save the earth." The trendy and wealthy young things immediately start in with their 'hippie' jibes ("and the jokes just started.") and no one takes it seriously, but it's up to us all to take it very seriously. ("You can do it") Everyone can pretty much find their own meaning in any song. I do think this one is pretty clear, but I'm me and you are you and so we will see things differently based on our own experiences. |
|
| Talk Talk – It's My Life Lyrics | 6 years ago |
| @[law4:23836] You weren't wrong. | |
| Talk Talk – It's My Life Lyrics | 6 years ago |
| @[xdvr:23835] Yep, yep. Exactly so. | |
| Talk Talk – It's My Life Lyrics | 6 years ago |
|
@[owennnnnnnnnn:23834] Except the band has gone on record about why they did the video the way they did. Hollis, at that point, had a real problem with what he saw as the commercial nature of music videos, and a problem with lip-synching to his songs--except, apparently, in the "Such a Shame" video, which had an actual concept behind it, so was okay. (A pity he didn't like lip-synching; that video proves he was amazing at it). So, the first video they shot for "It's My Life" was apparently completely unacceptable to the record company because of the piss-poor and (apparently, I've never seen it and don't think it's available) sulky lip-synching. So they were told to shoot it over again and went back in and did, in their words, "a total piss-take on lip-synching." The bars over Hollis mouth represent a stand against lip-synching more than anything else (and catch the wink at the very end; a giant FU to EMI; that relationship just went uphill from there. Not.). It signified nothing more than that. I think they used animals in the video because they LIKED animals and didn't want to spend a fortune to make another "commercial" video of a pop band hopping around "selling themselves." (They used critters in "LIfe's What you Make It" as well, and were proper pissed when someone with the record company went back and cut images of the band into the video without their consent.) While I've not seen anything concrete, I don't have any difficulty believing they gave (at least some) profits from the song to animal rights groups; that would be very in character. As would it be for them to allow such groups to use the song in their PSAs. |
|
| Talk Talk – It's My Life Lyrics | 6 years ago |
|
@[heatherfer:23833] An "extreme" choice? Perhaps. But music was never about fame or riches to Hollis and he knew he could continue to make music while being at home with his family, even if no one ever got to hear it except for his family and friends. I think he wasn't wrong. Most pop stars and celebrities pretty much phone it in when it comes to parenting, letting their spouses (usually soon-to-be-exes) take over most of the burden of actually raising the children. He made the choice a real man should make, in my opinion. It was a great loss to the music world, but a huge win for his kids and his relationship with those kids (I'm betting). They were certainly his priority and I doubt he has any regrets. I liked your analysis/interpretation. Interesting; and it fits nicely. I never know how important lyrics really are to Talk Talk; they frequently seem (especially in later works) to be more about the "sound" than the meaning. That said, I do enjoy the lyrics and think their ambiguity makes it easier for the listener to assign his/her own meaning to each song. Did you have as much trouble with EMI as Talk Talk did? Actually, did anyone? The record company wanted a pop-band and got... actual MUSICIANS! Oh, the horror!! ;) |
|
| Talk Talk – Dum Dum Girl Lyrics | 6 years ago |
| @[mindy11234:23832] Sorry, meant to mention that "dummy" as in "pacifier" is frequently changed to "dumdum" in the vernacular. So, "pacifier' would be a more common British meaning than "stupid person." Especially in the '80s when there wasn't as much slang crossover. I think I've got to go with that interpretation, as it fits the lyrics. Calling a prostitute "stupid" would just be cruel and I've got to believe that a lyricist as socially plugged-in (or "woke" as the kids say today) as Mark Hollis would have a more sympathetic take on the circumstances that might lead a girl (or bloke) to take up such a profession. | |
| Talk Talk – Dum Dum Girl Lyrics | 6 years ago |
|
Is it worth considering that "dum dum" only means "stupid" in American English? There are other meanings in British English, one being a hollow point bullet that expands upon impact, to cause more damage. And a "dummy" in Brit-English is a pacifier (as in a dummy nipple/fake nipple), which would make sense in terms of the prostitute analogy: she's a fake lover/substitute for a "real" girl. Just a few thoughts. The band was English after all. Of course "dum dum" is also frequently used in lyrics in the same way "la la" is used, as a sound filler... The use of "the" before the refrain seems to belie that intent here however. |
|
| Talk Talk – Dum Dum Girl Lyrics | 6 years ago |
| @[owennnnnnnnnn:23831] That makes sense to me. Sort of how I saw it... not even so much as convincing herself it is honorable, but learning to turn herself off emotionally in the process of surviving. | |
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.