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Stratford-On-Guy Lyrics
I was flying into Chicago at night
Watching the lake turn the sky into blue-green smoke
The sun was setting to the left of the plane
And the cabin was filled with an unearthly glow
In 27-D I was behind the wing
Watching landscape roll out
Like credits on a screen
The earth looked like it was lit from within
Like a poorly assembled electrical ball as we moved
Out of the farmlands into the grid
The plan of the city was all that you saw
And all of these people sitting totally still
As the ground raced beneath them thirty thousand feet down
It took an hour, maybe a day
But once I really listened, the noise
Just went away
And I was pretending that I was in a Galaxie 500 video
The stewardess came back and checked on my drink
In the last strings of sunlight, a Bridgette Bardot
There's a hat on my headphones
Along with those eyes that you get
When your circumstance is movie size
It took an hour, maybe a day
But once I really listened, the noise
Just went away
It took an hour, maybe a day
But once I really listened, the noise
Just went away
Watching the lake turn the sky into blue-green smoke
The sun was setting to the left of the plane
And the cabin was filled with an unearthly glow
In 27-D I was behind the wing
Watching landscape roll out
Like credits on a screen
The earth looked like it was lit from within
Like a poorly assembled electrical ball as we moved
Out of the farmlands into the grid
The plan of the city was all that you saw
And all of these people sitting totally still
As the ground raced beneath them thirty thousand feet down
But once I really listened, the noise
Just went away
The stewardess came back and checked on my drink
In the last strings of sunlight, a Bridgette Bardot
There's a hat on my headphones
Along with those eyes that you get
When your circumstance is movie size
But once I really listened, the noise
Just went away
But once I really listened, the noise
Just went away
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So does it have any meaning other than as a well-done image of what she experienced approaching Chicago by airplane? I assume that the Stratford-On part is a reference to William Shakespeare's hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon, and Phair is comparing herself to Shakespeare (how's that for an expression of self-confidence?). I assume the Guy part is her referring to Chicago (or its music scene) as Guyville. I agree that it's a good song, sure. But is there a deeper level or meaning that I'm missing?
liz phair's best song. cool imagery, great hook, and as an added bonus, a Galaxie 500 reference. can't go wrong here.
I quite agree. That Galaxie 500 line is one of the best in rock n' roll, actually, that whole verse is great.
The songwriting here is on another level, and proves Liz is one of the best out there.
just commenting to say how much i lurve the line about pretending to be in a galaxie 500 video and how great her vocals are on this one.
While NAwlinsContrarian has an interesting interpretation of the title, I've always thought that it was eerily similar to "Strap-On Guy".
LOL. Would make the song more interesting, now wouldn't it ;-)
LOL. Would make the song more interesting, now wouldn't it ;-)
The "once I really listened" part could be Liz thinking about the detachment needed to create music, a thought that could have come to her during a late afternoon flight.