| Camper Van Beethoven – That Gum You Like Is Back In Style Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| The title of this song comes from "Twin Peaks" and the famous dream sequence with the dwarf. So, this song is about a dream. But first, some explanation about the CD, "New Roman Times." The protagonist is a dumb kid who enlists in Iraq and comes back freaked out and disillusioned. But before he goes over, he dreams about the good things in his life, and his best friend, and all the dumb but innocent things he likes, and that's what "That Gum You Like Is Back In Style" is about. He is dreaming, and it is about his innocence. Note the sample of the birds chirping. Listen closely. It comes right after the lyric, "Who could be calling waking me from my dreams?" Fast foward to the title track, "New Roman Times." Here, the soldier has freaked out from the killing and destruction. "I'm sitting in the sand staring at my shoe/the birds they sing tweet tweet, but I don't hear their tune/ the sergeant says something close to my face/the bells they ring and ring and ring." You'll again hear that same sample of the birds chirping. And so, the answer to the question, "Who could be calling waking me from my dreams?" is .... the sergeant. The enlisted solidier is awakened from his dreams -- and his innocence -- by the reality of the war. The sergeant is screaming at him because he's flipped out -- lost touch with reality -- retreated into what was good about himself in the face of all the killing. These are the things that make Camper (or David Lowrey, to be exact) so brilliant. If you can cut through all their gimmickry, you'll be rewarded richly. | |
| Wilco – Hell Is Chrome Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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“Hell is Chrome” and “Theologians” definitely go together. Hell is “chrome” because it is fake and shiny. It is seductive, but cheap. It covers what’s real, with the patina of something expensive, but it’s really just crap. I think the song is about American culture. The lyric, “You must go” is vaguely threatening, or coercive. We are all seduced by the chrome, and if we don’t take part, we’re “weird,” we’re left out. But if we give in to the chrome – if we buy that fancy car, or expensive clothes, whatever -- we are seen as successful, and we find acceptance (“I was welcomed with open arms”). It’s the easy way out – the devil is seductive, but it’s also a trap. “Theologians,” by contrast, is about not giving in. It’s about integrity, free will and rebirth. (“No one’s ever gonna take my life from me/I lay it down/ A ghost is born … I’m a cherry ghost.”) I doubt Tweedy was thinking about this, but I’ll note that the Greek word “chromos” means color. So if you look under the chrome – or, in this case, look past what we think of “chrome” to its etymological roots -- we find color. The “cherry ghost” is what’s real. Cherry rhymes with “merry,” and clearly “Theologians” is about finding what’s good inside you, what’s real – your soul. And you find it by disregarding what the culture or the authorities (the “theologians” = “devil”) are trying to tell you is real. Note the gospel rave-up chorus on “Hell is Chrome” -- “come with me/come with me.” It’s like being in church, isn’t it? But don’t let it fool you. The theologians don’t know nothing about (your) soul. |
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