| The Pogues – The Body of an American Lyrics | 5 years ago |
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My thinking... There were very few, if any, cadillacs in Ireland at this time. I think that the song refers to cadillacs in the plural- the lyrics provided say 'cadillac' which is incorrect. So the wake is taking place in America. He took his final trip to the old country as his spirit returned there after death. The song is concerned with the life of Jim Dwyer, an Americanised Irishman, a man of principles, and a gifted boxer. It is also concerned with the great Irish diaspora to the New World, and the heartbreaking separations within families and between lovers that this resulted in. I think that ultimately, Jim Dwyer's view was that the price was worth paying. This is why 'I'm a free born man of the USA' is repeated; and this is also the narrators view when he addresses his own lover with whom he has been forced to part. A beautiful song. |
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