| Shriekback – Nemesis Lyrics | 3 years ago |
| I was watching Apocalypse Now yesterday and realized that Kurtz\'s monologue is woven loosely into these lyrics. | |
| The Tragically Hip – Wheat Kings Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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Like so many Hip songs this one has at least two layers of Canadian history and politics. It's pretty well accepted that the song is partly about David Milgaards wrongful imprisonment and eventual release and pardon. But it's also about small town prairie future. Wheat Kings would have been successful what farmers back in the days of family farms. The high school, pictures of our parents prime ministers, weathervane Jesus, all paying the picture of a simple but prosperous and god-fearing life, now gone. Instead, there is agribusiness, nothing to do... No one cares about something you didn't do... |
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| The Tragically Hip – The Dire Wolf Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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So many of the Hip's songs have layered meanings to me. I hear Canadian history and politics. On one level this is about ships lost at sea. The "Lifeboat" reference with Tallulah Bankhead and Canada Lee is just one of the references. Those actors are no longer acting. That's part of it and leads to the next thing. The next thing is the changed words; THE Tallulah Bankhead and Canada Lee. These suggest fishing boats to me. They are lost but not necessarily lost at sea. Although none of the lyrics say so explicitly, I felt from the very beginning that it was a lost way of life. An extinction. The loss of the cod fishery and Newfoundlanders way of life. The dire wolf is extinct. The Newfoundlander dog isn't extinct, but like the fishermen, his way of life as a working dog is. He can't save the fishermen now. He's been paused. That's in there too. "Better boats done by less water". Doesn't matter how seaworthy the boat is. If I think about this song as political commentary, it all fits beautifully for me. I felt that way about it even before looking closely at the lyrics. Does anyone else feel this? |
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