In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
The Red Chins in their millions
Will overspill their borders
And chaos then will reign in our Rael
The country of my fathers
A proud land overloaded
Like a goldfish being swallowed by a whale
Rael the home of my religion
To me, the center of the earth
The Red Chins in their millions
Will overspill their borders
And chaos then will reign in our Rael
My heritage is threatened
My roots are torn and cornered
And so to do my best I'll homeward sail
And so to do my best I'll homeward sail
Now captain, listen to my instructions
Return to this spot on Christmas day
Look toward the shore for my signal
And then you'll know if in Rael I'll stay
If a yellow flag is fluttering
Simply held against the morn
Then you'll know my courage is ended
And you'll send your boat ashore
But if a red flag is flying
Brazen, bold against the blue
Then you'll know that I am staying
And my yacht belongs to you
Now captain listen to my instructions
Return to this spot on Christmas day
Look toward the shore for my signal
And then you'll know if in Rael I'll stay
He's crazy if he thinks we're coming back again
He's crazy if he thinks we're coming back again
He's crazy if he thinks we're coming back again
He's crazy anyway
If a yellow flag is fluttering
Sickly held against the morn
Then you'll know my courage is ended
And you'll send your boat ashore
Will overspill their borders
And chaos then will reign in our Rael
The country of my fathers
A proud land overloaded
Like a goldfish being swallowed by a whale
Rael the home of my religion
To me, the center of the earth
The Red Chins in their millions
Will overspill their borders
And chaos then will reign in our Rael
My heritage is threatened
My roots are torn and cornered
And so to do my best I'll homeward sail
And so to do my best I'll homeward sail
Now captain, listen to my instructions
Return to this spot on Christmas day
Look toward the shore for my signal
And then you'll know if in Rael I'll stay
If a yellow flag is fluttering
Simply held against the morn
Then you'll know my courage is ended
And you'll send your boat ashore
But if a red flag is flying
Brazen, bold against the blue
Then you'll know that I am staying
And my yacht belongs to you
Now captain listen to my instructions
Return to this spot on Christmas day
Look toward the shore for my signal
And then you'll know if in Rael I'll stay
He's crazy if he thinks we're coming back again
He's crazy if he thinks we're coming back again
He's crazy if he thinks we're coming back again
He's crazy anyway
If a yellow flag is fluttering
Sickly held against the morn
Then you'll know my courage is ended
And you'll send your boat ashore
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It's about some Crusader knights in Medieval days fighting the Saracens in the Holy Land (Rael). If things get hairy, the Venetian galleys are supposed to pick the Crusader forces up and take them to safety. But the treacherous Venetians take the money and run, leaving the Knights to be massacred by the Muslims. This is close to what really happened. It was absurd that the Europeans wanted to annex Israel, it wasn't even theirs. The Venetians mock their folly and crazy bravado and leave them to their quixotic fate. Gabriel claims that he never heard of this song when he named his NYC hero Rael, but, ahem, that's a hell of a coincidence, Peter. The other Peter was probably extremely annoyed.
@54markl I think that Pete originally wrote Wretches, but was told the Arabs might object. So he changed it to Red Chins, thinking the Chinese wouldn't mind. As it happened, a Chinese army led by Mongolians did invade Palestine in the 1100's, only to be defeated at Ain Jalut by Egyptians toting, are you ready for this, the first hand-held gunpowder weapons ever seen in the West! Some Chinese gunners had deserted the Mongols and taught the Egyptians the technology. Maybe Pete's Crusaders blindly walked into the midst of this battle and got all shot to hell. Perhaps that's what the Tommy music signifies, the Crusaders getting shot off their horses. Perhaps the deaf, dumb, and blind boy saw all of this in a vision. Anyways, they all die at the end, it's a sad song about the delusionality that always accompanies war. Meanwhile, the Venetians sail to France and enslave their orphans. Nice guys.
@54markl The Mongol commander had guns too, but he left them back in his camp at Baghdad thinking they woudn't be needed. This proved to be a fatal error. The Mongol army was shocked and demoralized when they discovered that the Egyptians had procured guns of their own, and the Mongol Knights were picked off their horses by the score. The Mongols were utterly routed, and soon guns had spread everywhere in the West.
I think the yellow flag is a "sickly herald against the morn" not "simply held"
I don't believe that the song is about any specific occupation, but rather a sort of mythic archetype of an advanced civilization that's surrounded by more populous but less civilized neighbors. Something like the ancient Hebrews, or the Athenians might have seen themselves.
Pete was developing this into a larger concept. He didnt compelte it but he used some of the music on Sparks.
do you think Rael influenced Genesis with Rael on 'Lamb Lies Down On Broadway?'
any experts welcome to answer.
The enemy in the song is clearly the Saracens fighting the Crusaders in the Holy Land, in days of old. Red Chin could be a sly reference to the Mongol army which did invade Palestine in the 1100's. But the Mongol invaders were met by an Egyptian army with stolen Chinese firearms who shot them all to hell. This battle at Ain Jalut was the first use of firearms in the Western world, and the first serious check that the Mongols ever received. Perhaps our Crusader heroes wandered right into the middle of this battle and got shot off their horses by the gunners. Moon's drums sound like gunfire at the end.
this was Pete's 2nd mini-opera
I rarely listen to this one, because I think most of the songs past I Can't Reach You are pretty weak, by Who standards, but I did notice that the end of this one sounds just like Sparks from Tommy. I thought that was kind of odd. But The Who rocks, and that's what really matters.
I read somewhere it's supposed to be about the Red Chinese (Red Chins) invading Israel (Rael). That dosen't make much sense of course, seeing as how China and Israel are seperated by a few thousand miles of land. Well that's all I really know. It is Pete's second mini opera.
Seems to be about a guy from Rael who is out traveling the seas in his boat when he hears that the Red Chins have invaded his homeland. He decides to take action and tells the captain of his boat to drop him off and return on Christmas, if the yellow flag of Rael is flying, that means he has won and they are to moor the boat. If a red flag is flying, then the Red Chins have prevailed and the guy is dead, hence "in Rael I'll stay," and they are to take the boat and get out of there. His men seem to think he's crazy, too.
I think it's the opposite. Yellow = "my courage has ended," meaning he's given up the fight/has been overrun and needs rescue. It seems that at the end, the captain of his ship doesn't return ('he's crazy if he thinks we're coming back again") but the singer is overrun and sends up the yellow flag (the last verse is repeating the yellow flag verse) but there's no one there to save him. Presumably he's overtaken and killed by the invaders... which may be why "Rael 2" almost seems to be about the afterlife?
@TheFranzFerdinand I absolutely agree with @Vallam's take. "my courage has ended"....He's given up. To me, the red flag symbolizes victory, which, by the end of the song, clearly wasn't the case.
It's the same guitar riff from Sparks and Underture, I've just realised.