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Happy Family Lyrics
Happy family, one hand clap, four went by and none come back.
Brother Judas, ash and sack, swallowed aphrodisiac.
Rufus, Silas, Jonah too sang, "We'll blow our own canoes,"
Poked a finger in the zoo, punctured all the ballyhoo
Whipped the world and beat the clock, wound up with their share of stock.
Silver Rolls from golden rock, shaken by a knock, knock, knock.
Happy family, wave that grin, what goes round must surely spin;
Cheesecake, mousetrap, Grip-Pipe-Thynne cried out, "We're not Rin Tin Tin."
Uncle Rufus grew his nose, threw away his circus clothes
Cousin Silas grew a beard, drew another flask of weird
Nasty Jonah grew a wife, Judas drew his pruning knife.
Happy family one hand clap, four went on but none came back
Happy family, pale applause, each to his revolving doors.
Silas searching, Rufus neat, Jonah caustic, Jude so sweet.
Let their sergeant mirror spin if we lose the barbers win;
Happy family one hand clap, four went on but none came back
Brother Judas, ash and sack, swallowed aphrodisiac.
Rufus, Silas, Jonah too sang, "We'll blow our own canoes,"
Poked a finger in the zoo, punctured all the ballyhoo
Silver Rolls from golden rock, shaken by a knock, knock, knock.
Happy family, wave that grin, what goes round must surely spin;
Cheesecake, mousetrap, Grip-Pipe-Thynne cried out, "We're not Rin Tin Tin."
Cousin Silas grew a beard, drew another flask of weird
Nasty Jonah grew a wife, Judas drew his pruning knife.
Happy family one hand clap, four went on but none came back
Silas searching, Rufus neat, Jonah caustic, Jude so sweet.
Let their sergeant mirror spin if we lose the barbers win;
Happy family one hand clap, four went on but none came back
Song Info
Submitted by
ruben On Jun 09, 2002
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That is correct, the song is about the Beatles.
Judas- Paul McCartney Jonah- John Lennon Silas- George Harrison Rufus- Ringo Starr
Beyond that, the metaphors are unclear to me except for the obvious ones. "Nasty Jonah grew a wife" refers to when Lennon married Yoko Ono, a move McCartney didn't like ("Judas drew his pruning knife").
I haven't really put my mind to it yet, but my friend told me that this song represents the life of the Beatles.
First verse is about drug use, obviously the aphrodisiac is acid and the canoes are slang for joints, the final line referring to Johns comment about being better known than Christ. Second verse is about Apple Corp. the Beatles becoming a viable money making entity. Knock knock knock I am assuming is the taxman. I believe that Imperfect Stranger is correct about the character pairings and the third verse as a whole. The final verse of course is their demise... George went on a religious search, Not too sure about the Ringo reference here but John was just plain fed up and Paul tried to put a happy face on it all.
and of course, we all know what 'one hand clap' is... it's a slap in the face which is the way a lot of people felt about the Beatles breakup.
@CJPMUGSR999 And ’one hand clap’ also may refer to a famous koan: “Two hands clap and there is a sound. What is the sound of one hand? (隻手声あり、その声を聞け).”
@CJPMUGSR999 And ’one hand clap’ also may refer to a famous koan: “Two hands clap and there is a sound. What is the sound of one hand? (隻手声あり、その声を聞け).”
This song is delicious nonsense intended to create paintings in your head. Also there are a lot of references to masturbation. Can I say that? It's true.