| Patti Smith – Land: Horses/Land of a Thousand Dances/La Mer(de) Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| The popular interpretation's of rape, stabbing, suicide and heroin do seem pretty logical when considering the text on it's own. But now that Patti has released her memoirs it turns many of those assumptions on their heads. First off, to burst the bubble of the heroin interpretation, at least as far as it being the main theme of the song, according to her book Patti has needle phobia and whilst many people at the time simply assumed she "shot up" the truth is she was never really interested in it and seemed to be fairly wary of drugs in general. She didn't experiment with drugs until her late 20's, years after coming to NY. She was inspired to try a little marijuana after seeing The Harder They Come. Later on her closest friend Robert Mapplethorpe persuaded her to take a trip with him, his drug of choice being LSD. According to this book it was what she experienced during that trip that sparked the overall shape of the song. So unless we were actually inside her head at that moment we'll probably never fully understand all the imagery. That being said she does identify the Johnny as Robert, perhaps also making some correlation between him and several musicians she personally knew who's names all started with J and who all baring one died young. The horse she identifies as William Burroughs, bet you didn't see that one coming! Maybe that's an inside joke, or to do with the fact that I believe he famously hated horse. She also refers to Burroughs as a "Guardian Angel". Anyway Roberts hustling is probably rapped up in it somewhere, and maybe there are references to heroin. But I think it can all only really be linked together in an abstract sense by what ever she experienced on that fateful LSD trip and only she is privy to that experience. | |
| NOFX – Jaw Knee Music Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Just thought i'd add that SLF did a awsomely stupid (i mean that in a good way ;) ) cover of johnny was right at the end of Inflammable Material but it's just as likely to be a reference to Marley considering their obvious love of ska. there's nothing quite like the glory of an out of tune guitar or a singer who can't sing. Its stupid and politically incorrect, and its also childish and immature, rascally and dumb, but at the same time it mocks the music industry with its stupidity and shows us all up as being far to full of ourselves. any old boy band sissy can be the best guitarist in the world but it takes real skill to be the worst. Awesome song terrible band, but u gotta love em. |
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