| Archers of Loaf – Web in Front Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| That's by far the best read of this song I've seen yet. Really good job, and it totally makes sense. Well done! | |
| Archers of Loaf – Web in Front Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I've spent a long time obsessing about those two lines at the end - I've listened to (and watched) dozens of versions of Eric Bachman singing the song (solo, with Archers, and with Crooked Fingers). "buck my lip"? what? After a lot of views, I finally figured it out. The image there is "hook and latch" - a mechanism that fits together and locks things up. The lips are the hook ("You're a hook, my lip") and the latch is the line the lip speaks ("You're a latch, my line") - the two things locked together are the "web in front of a favorite lie") that have "kept" his mouth "shut." The imagery all fits actually: And a mouth kept shut with a tongue twist-tied (play on the phrase "tongue-tied") -parallels- You're a hook, my lip - you're a latch, my line (both twist-ties and latches hold things shut) (Possible to switch "lie" and "line" here, and it still makes sense) The auto imagery is a good call - hadn't thought of that angle before. I had always heard it as more medical than automotive, though. A "pin in your backbone" is a spinal tap (which, if you've ever had one, causes a very real and literal "pain in the ass") Bachman was an English major - I always thought the "Spoke you down from there" might be a reference to William S. Burroughs and the "guy who taught his asshole to talk" bit from Naked Lunch. English major, literary reference. The "magnet in my head" - more medical imagery - think about an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) - it "sees" inside your head. So, when he says he's got a "magnet in my head" - it's like someone is seeing into his brain, knows what he's thinking. Taken all together, this seems to be in the same vein as a lot of Bachman's other songs (especially Crooked Fingers songs) about the inability of people to be honest with each other, and really, really sour relationships. Those are my thoughts, anyway. Thanks for listening. |
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