| R.E.M. – Radio Free Europe Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Gymmo, thanks for the info. It seems to me this was on TV before 1971, but i will take your word for it, as the rest of the description fits perfectly. | |
| R.E.M. – Radio Free Europe Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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My take on the Lyrics: I thought the first line was :"Decide yourself if radio's gonna' stay", leaving it up to the listener if radio, tightly formatted as rock 'n' roll radio was at the time (precursor to Classic Rock, though much tighter, as there was no room even for headlining acts such as the Clash or the Pretenders on the FM rock outlet up here in Maine), should endure. The 2nd line i heard as: "it isn't we can polish up the grave." I'm not saying this was the actual line, but you can see that it is in line w/ my take on the 1st line. The "in transit" part i hear as "intrinsic" with the full line being: "call it all intrinsic", which i took as an implication that music's value was within itself and not dependent on commercial success or any of that other evil stuff (a sentiment somewhat in line w/ Rush's "Spirit of Radio"). "Raving Station besides yourself" i heard as "Radio station/ the dark conversation." I still don't hear "beside yourself" in that part. I do see immigrant concern imagery, along with "straight off the boat..." etc., and could swear the 2nd verse went: "every other country in the world/ sees the forces leading us absurd", & "that this isn't country at all" i heard as "that this is a country at all", reflecting a sentiment, shared by many, that the US is not a legitimate country, based upon her origins. I also hear "put that put that put that before all/ that this is a country at all." At any rate, i did find it, and other early REM, as thought provoking. In the same interview, the point was made that the lyrics were meant more to convey a mood that tell a story, so i learned early, i guess, to just surrender to the music, rather than try to attach any significance to it. and, BTW, "What's the Frequency Kenneth" is an allusion to a c.1986 incident when then CBS news anchor Dan Rather reported that he had been assaulted by two men who approached him on a NYC sidewalk, asking that question. When he, according to his story, told the men they "must be mistaken", one of them punched him on the side of the head. Knowing this, i can better understand the repeating chorus of that song, "I never understood/ what that was all about". The reason i remember that incident so well is because it happened a short time after i had read a commentary lamenting the influx of "Ken and Barbie lookalike news anchors", and joked that the attackers were attacking Rather since he kind of fit that bill. |
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| R.E.M. – Radio Free Europe Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I can remember Stipe, in an interview with either CREEM or Rolling Stone, at the time, saying that he remembered an old TV Public Service Announcement on which a radio announcer is introducing a song "on Broadway" in an eastern European tongue, and he wondered why anyone in that part of the world would care about anything on Broadway. Since i, too, remembered that TV spot, plugging Radio Free Europe, i remember that. He also commented something like it being a "friendly" way to spread Imperialism. i had a completely different take on the lyrics at the time. One person told me that he had heard the song was about getting nukes ("radio_-activity) out of Europe. Since the lyrics were as murky as they were, i guessed this was possible. |
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| Chicago – Harry Truman Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Warner 67 is spot on. There are many similarities between Bush and Truman, mainly that both men worked in the private sector before entering politics, both were lampooned for lack of intellect by people who had less, and both were rumored to have lost an election that they actually won. On top of that, both were heavily second=guessed for making a difficult decision that lesser men would have avoided. If only Bush would take a cue from Truman rather than from his timid advisors... |
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| Television – Venus de Milo Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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also, i recently heard the opening licks of this song, as of all things the bumper music to a RedSox game returning from commercial break. It's been in my head ever since, and i just had to hear it again. Along w/ "See No Evil", it is the most memorable song on the critically acclaimed album. I didn't discover this until the early 80s, being up here in Maine & all, when mentions of Verlaine in magazines i was reading (CREEM etal) peaked my curiosity. I got hold of everything by Verlaine i could, including his solo albums. Tho i rarely knew for sure what he was going on about, it always sounded deep and oddly urgent. I saw REM back in '85 at the civic center in Portland and it struck me and my few friends who were into this kind of stuff that they did a version of "See No Evil" as part of their set. Other than that, even in my years in New York in the mid-80s, meeting up w/ people who were familiar w/ Television has been rare, tho i've met more who were familiar w/ Richard hell. BTW-- when he says "Richie said" in VDM, i always assumed he was referring to bandmate Richard Lloyd, tho knowing his history w/ Hell it makes sense now that it was probably him to whom he was referring. |
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| Television – Venus de Milo Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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i, too, think guttorm is right. Tactile night makes more sense than "tight toy night", and much more than what i had thought: "type of" "type two(?)" or "tight wove" (which makes sense, tho not proper English, but close enough for rock'n'roll). I also never thought about this song from a kid's point of view, just thought it represented the feeling of seeing NYC w/ a clear head, "all like/ some new kind of drug/ my senses are sharp/ and my hands are like gloves." The notion of falling into the non-existent arms of a famous statue seemed to me some kind of metaphor for submitting to the charms of the city. I was amused by the way Tom pronounced "Mee-lo", but my sister-- a Greek scholar of sorts-- set me straight that this pronunciation was actually correct, and that it was originally "Aphrodite of Milos." |
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