David Rose Lyrics
And as he rode his head did shine like the sun in mid-July.
In a tiny farm house by Brunswick piano
He warmed his boots by the fireplace and read aloud from Samuel.
The armory that sat between the Potomac and Shenandoah.
The engine house flung open with report of several guns
When it was done he looked upon the bodies of his dying sons.
Compelled to illustrate our dreams and hopes
Victors hang in pictures, losers from ropes.
Regardless they all swing in the same boat.
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah
Nat Turner prayed and the cornstalks swayed
A voice rose up and a text was raised.
In the planter's steak house they went from room to room
When it was done they rode along to liberate Jerusalem.
Compelled to illustrate our dreams and hopes
Victors hang in pictures, losers from ropes.
Regardless they all swing in the same boat.
Clutch made 3 different presses of The Elephant Riders. Each with a different song hidden after "The Dragonfly." This is one, the other two being "05" and "Gifted and Talented." My CD came with 05 and I have heard Gifted and Talented. yet this one is impossible for me to find. It is probably the only clutch song I have yet to hear, so impossible to find. And I don't feel like buying every copy of elephant riders I come across until I get this one track. So it will forever be a mystery to me.
I have this song and I didn't realise there was three different versions of Elephant Riders. Mine doesn't have this but I got the mp3 from the nice people at the pro-rock forums. No idea what it means, but it's a great song.
John Brown was a general in the Civil War who fought for the Norh, He led a battle in Bleeding, Kansas as well as a raid in Harpers Ferry West Virginia (at that time it was Virginia. He was caught by the Southern army and hanged in 1860. I would think the David/Phillistine reference is to the David and Goliath in the bible, where david kills Goliath with a rock and a sling (thus John Brown's army was "david" and the forces he was against was "goliath)
John Brown was a general in the Civil War who fought for the Norh, He led a battle in Bleeding, Kansas as well as a raid in Harpers Ferry West Virginia (at that time it was Virginia. He was caught by the Southern army and hanged in 1860. I would think the David/Phillistine reference is to the David and Goliath in the bible, where david kills Goliath with a rock and a sling (thus John Brown's army was "david" and the forces he was against was "goliath)
Side Note, Clutch lived in Harpers Ferry when they recorded...
Side Note, Clutch lived in Harpers Ferry when they recorded this album which was most likely the inspiration. I love clutch and have yet to hear this song as well, but the lyrics make sense to me as a Civil War Buff. Oh yea I'm also from West Virginia
: )
John Brown was an abolitionist who led slaves to take over an armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia pre-Civil War. (first 2 verses)
In the Old Testament book of Samuel there is a story of a shepard boy David who kills the Philistine giant Goliath with a sling and 5 smooth stones to free the Jewish people from slavery. (chorus)
Brown was considered both a revolutionary and a terrorist and was hanged after the armory was retaken by farmers and Marines. (verse 3)
Nat Turner was a slave who led a revolt in Virginia that led to the killing of some 55 men, women and children in Southampton County, VA. The last line blurs the line between the slaves and Jewish people (When it was done they rode along to liberate Jerusalem.) (verse4)