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The Ol Diamondback Sturgeon (Fisherman Chronicles, Pt. 3) Lyrics
The old diamondback sturgeon came swimmin' along
Minding his business one day
Rooting and sniffing and urging to spawn
In the mud flats of San Pablo Bay
A scent came around so he followed his snout
He found what was to his surprise
A golden morsel, a tidbit, a tight bunch of grass shrimp
Was there right before this buck's eyes
He circle round twice and he took a big whiff
Then sucked up this savory meal
Then came a jolt and to the diamondback's surprise
Through his lips cut the cold, barbed steel
In a panic the old diamondback sped to the north
He sped to the east, west and south
But the harder he swam, he still could not break free
From the "tugging" that pulled at his mouth
The old diamondback sturgeon came swimmin' along
Minding his business one day
Minding his business one day
Rooting and sniffing and urging to spawn
In the mud flats of San Pablo Bay
He found what was to his surprise
A golden morsel, a tidbit, a tight bunch of grass shrimp
Was there right before this buck's eyes
Then sucked up this savory meal
Then came a jolt and to the diamondback's surprise
Through his lips cut the cold, barbed steel
He sped to the east, west and south
But the harder he swam, he still could not break free
From the "tugging" that pulled at his mouth
Minding his business one day
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It's another metaphor of Claypool's. We are the sturgeon -- just chillin -- and at anytime...someone could screw with us and take us down...when the whole time we were just minding our own business. Great use of the 6-string, les.
I have actually heard Claypool say in an interviewhow he used to be frustrated when us fans didn't realize the hidden meanings behind their songs. Just look at Ground Hog's Day; that song is just one metaphor of life and how it can shit on your face. Les isn't a dumb guy, and I don't think everything he writes should be taken at face value. Anywho, this song is awesome, and the bass riff after the next to last verse kicks so much ass.
Thankyou SirSquiggly, you are - the masterblaster.
I get frustrated when people brush off Primus' songs as not possessing either hidden, double or deeper meanings than initially appear evident on the surface of the lyrics. Les is a fucking great lyricist IMO - his use of metaphors, puns, paradoxes and black comedy are rarely anything less than golden in my book.
I agree with The Heckler. I read too that Les loves metaphors, and Groundhog's Day even makes it more obvious he uses them - I believe in he does in every song, or at least on the first 3 or 4 albums.
This is 'songmeangins.net' you idiot, Claypool loves metaphors, so work out the meaning or leave...
Anyway, I agree with The Heckler, except I believe that rather than just being that, that it refers to life and death itself - whatever we do we all die sometime, so don't worry about it - hence the happy guitar riff.
i just thought it was the pain of being fish but, i guess i'm not that deep
Yea, i remember hearing that the song is plainly a first person (or fish) account of being caught. But i definitely agree that it could be what TheHeckler said, but I don't really credit Primus on being extremely deep in their lyrics.
@Prog_Rocker You need to pay more attention, then, son. You're missing entire layers of meaning in the vast majority of their work.
@Prog_Rocker You need to pay more attention, then, son. You're missing entire layers of meaning in the vast majority of their work.
I think Heckler is reading into it too much. I really think that Les just wrote this while thinking what it would be like to be a fish and get caught. He was probably fishing one day and thought it up.
Yes, primus songs do have metaphors, but I like this song better as not having one.
Acutally I think he always uses metaphors, just by this stage and especially Tales... they're a lot less obvious compared to the more obvious ones on Frizzle Fry.