| Baltimora – Tarzan Boy Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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So, I don't know anything about Baltimora or Jimmy McShane personally, but combining the music video with the lyrics, and the fact that McShane died of AIDS in 1995, it seems to me this is about a gay man looking for a lover. "Jungle life I'm far away from nowhere On my own like Tarzan boy" As a gay man in the 80's he's outside of mainstream society, 'out in the jungle' so to speak, and it's wild out there. And lonely, because most gay men are still closeted. "Hide and seek I play along while rushing 'cross the forest Monkey business on a sunny afternoon" 'Hide and seek' could refer to all the closeted gay men trying to find each other without outing themselves. He 'plays along', with the gay men who want to stay in the closet, as life goes rushing by. 'Monkey business' is standard slang for sex. So he's playing 'hide and seek' to find partners, 'playing along' with their charade of staying in the closet, but still engaging in 'monkey business' with other men. "Jungle life I'm living in the open Native beat that carries on" So unlike those other closeted men, he is 'living in the open' (i.e. not closeted), which he refers to as 'Jungle life'. I would guess the 'Native beat that carries on' is his true heartbeat, living true to who he is, unlike those who are hiding. "Burning bright A fire blows the signal to the sky I sit and wonder, does the message get to you?" So he's living his life openly 'in the jungle', and he's trying to tell other gay men that it's okay in the jungle, you can come to the jungle too. It's outside mainstream society, but I'm here and doing okay. He's sending smoke signals and wondering if anyone sees them and will come join him. "Night to night Gimme the other, gimme the other" "Chance tonight" "Gimme the other, gimme the other world" This refrain couldn't be more plain. 'The other' is both slang for sex, and slang for same-sex relationships (as in 'playing for the other team'). So night after night he is seeking sex with other gay men, or at least longing for it. And every night there is a chance. 'The other world' could perhaps be one where gay men live openly, or 'the other world' could be civilization vis a vis 'the jungle' where he is living, so he's longing for contact with other people who may still be living in 'the other world', and closeted. "Jungle life You're far away from nothing It's all right You won't miss home" So living the 'jungle life' as an openly gay man, you're away from mainstream society perhaps, but you're actually 'far away from nothing', because mainstream society isn't offering you anything worth having, and you won't miss it at all. "Take a chance Leave everything behind you Come and join me, won't be sorry It's easy to survive" Here he's inviting other gay men to 'take a chance' and come out of the closet, to 'leave everything behind' and live openly as he does, and he's assuring them that they'll be okay if they do, that 'it's easy to survive' as an openly gay man. "Jungle life We're living in the open All alone like Tarzans, boy" And now it's plural, there are many gay men 'living in the open', out of the closet, living the 'jungle life' outside of mainstream society (i.e. civilization). And this explains why other interpretations get confused as to why he says 'like Tarzans, boy" instead of as in the song title, like 'Tarzan boy'. Because this is referring to multiple men each living like his own Tarzan in the jungle, and the comma clearly indicates that 'boy' is now a form of address to the men he's talking to, which is the final confirmation that this song is indeed addressed to other men, and that it's about gay men, not straight men breaking with society. So that's my interpretation, and I think it makes good sense. Feel free to let me know what you think. |
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| The Offspring – One Fine Day Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| What amuses me most are the posts on here by people who don't realize the song is a SATIRE, as are so many of The Offspring's best. Despite being brilliantly catchy and fun, the actual content of the song is SATIRE, not a glorification of football riots. The point is that it's sad, pathetic really, that people think of this sort of thing as "one fine day." As with a majority of The Offspring's work, this song is a piece of social commentary about yet another thing that's wrong with people and society. The crowning line comes toward the end: "I believe it's my God-given right, to destroy everything in my sight." It doesn't take a dedicated fan to get the message from their other work that they clearly don't believe that, any more than they believe that it's really "Cool To Hate." I guess that's the danger of satire: there's always someone out there stupid enough to not notice that it's satire and take it at face-value. | |
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