| Squirrel Nut Zippers – Ghost Of Stephen Foster Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Stephen Foster was the first American songwriter to actually make a living off of his songs... so it seems fitting first of all for modern songwriters to mention him in their music; they owe him a lot really. But the appearance of "Camptown Races" in a minor key and the lyrics surrounding it imply a chastising tone... what I instantly think of regarding this is that Foster wrote minstrel tunes, and while he worked hard to depict a different (better, more humane) image of blacks than the songs of the day did, he was rather naive about slavery (he only visited the Deep South once, after all). He never really was able to show the suffering the slaves endured in his music, for which he has been criticised. The lyrics in this song indicate that the speaker is telling the ghost of Stephen Foster essentially "how it is" and that's why it reminds me of that criticism. The reference to whiskey ("whiskey made for drinking") refers to Stephen Foster's problem with alcoholism after he and his wife separated. Since he was trying to drown out his worries with alcohol, the song says "if we were made of cellophane we'd all get stinking drunk much faster" - like "too bad you couldn't just absorb the alcohol straight into your body, it'd be easier..." I like the dark harmonies and minor chords; after all, Foster's life was not happy like many of his songs depicted happy, carefree lives. His death was incredibly tragic - he died at the age of 38 after gashing his face on a broken wash basin. My question is, why is the hotel called the "Hotel Paradise"? Foster was living at the American Hotel when he had his accident... maybe it's some kind of subtle irony... America/paradise... who knows. |
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