| The Tragically Hip – Poets Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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"Superfarmer" is a reference to Agiricultural Business, it was a buzz term around the time of the albums realease to depict big Agro-Biz as more "human" rather than corporate. Large farms designed to mass produce for the masses. Global warming was just becoming an issue and was listed as a possible cause for draughts that were affecting Agro-businesses' profit margin, cleverly Downie says "lava flowing in Superfarmer's direction". Global warming here is cleverly depicted as a slow moving lava flow (heat from the earth-global warming inverted) moving towards "Superfarmer". Poets are generally seen as reflections of their time, I think in this song though Gordon is poking fun at the media, or the reflections of our time. "those Himalayas of the mind" or the high-minded, "the epitome of vague" in that the words they write are so removed from any real meaning so as not to offend readers or corporate sponsors and advertisers. The "porn speaks to it's splintered legions" is both commenting on "fringe" news or news outlets with a strong bias, it being like porn for those who seek it to satiate their viewpoint. Think Fox News for example, today. "The universe is altered" for many when they find out their heroes have "sold out" because we like to believe they do it for the enjoyment or the art or the love etc.... It's really just a comment on this phenomena and a mocking of that behavior of naivete. The last verse refers to a law passed in Ontario just before this album came out allowing women to go topless. Many news reports for some reason featured file footage of women cutting grass bare-breasted, I suppose because they were hot from the exertion and because you don't want to show women just lying bare-breasted on the beach, that'd be gratuitious ;) Anyway the summer came and went and nary a bare-breasted woman was to be seen. But in the build up to that summer, for many men and boys it seemed like there was "more that you need now". But the beach bleached women kept their towels within reach ;) |
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