2nd Ave, 11 A.M.

Philomel is clearly the first key in unlocking meaning in this thing, so thank you so much to Skubic448 15 years ago for a good start!). But obviously it is so symbolically dense, everyone is going to impose some deep personal interpretations upon it, which is fine and lovely as well, and is the beautiful nature of rich symbolic work. (A theme which itself this song acts in some part as a treatise on!).

The most puzzling thing is how we get from someone who was raped, silenced, and told her story via vivid imagery and found freedom as a bird... to Guy Debord "never work"ing and our culture's impossible impulse to work anyway. The nearest, best connection as I see it is Philomela is the yin principle, the passive, being state, even the mother earth. We have raped her and silenced her with an ultra-yang overboard masculine principle of doing and taking and action by way of capitalism, which instills the need to work via individualism, isolation, fear, building that need into our very identity: you're a rabbit on the run. Still her images haunt our dreams, and forever come back no matter how many words or laws or ideals we speak about. The elusive mystery always escapes rationalization. Further, in our hypocrisy, we often rationalize and use the very ideals we propound to cover sins of the very nature we are railing against. (nicegoodguy97 may be right on in Ted Leo including himself in this). This seems to me the central conflict of the song.

And the Situationists insisted: "The desire to play has returned to destroy the hierarchical society which banished it" -Vaneigem (http://library.nothingness.org/articles/SI/en/display/214). So what is the place of art that would go seriously against work? A kind of work against itself, an inescapable paradox, that indeed binds us all up as hypocrites within it. A Gordian knot our society has gotten itself into that we don't know how to untie now: Never work; but don't stop working! And yet, as any paradox, it serves as a kind of black-hole into white-hole that exits on the other side; not merely destructive, but generative, of a whole new level of play and thought and creativity (see https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858490497/ for more!)

And still, within and from out of my own personal circular analysis, comes the nagging swallow/nightingale thought that entertaining myself and no one else (save some sad soul who may visit this in another 15 years?!) isn't helping/serving/saving any of the quite real and very serious suffering in the world. "Hey look at me, I've got it all figured out!" -said the jerk who is complicit in abusing the earth to type this on a keyboard/screen.

Still, in the midst of all the confusion of being thrust -- willingly or not -- into the depth of the teeth of universal mystery, though we may be coming undone, now both is and is NOT the time for decadence. So raise a glass and drink to at least knowing your role!

Philomela and Procne were the daughters of King Pandion of Athens. Procne married King Tereus, but Tereus ended up raping Philomela then he cut out her tongue and imprisioned her because he believe this way she could not tell of his crime. But Philomela ends up weaving a tapestry that explains what happened to Procne, then Procne kills Itys, Tereus' son, and cooks him, then feeds him to Tereus. When Tereus discovers this he chases the sisters in an attempt to kill them. But before he can catch them they all turn into birds; Tereus into a Hoopoe, Procne into a Swallow, and Philomela into a Nightingale (often called a philomel).

Out of your personal scripture, philomel, she comes You sing songs to everyone about love and law and guns But paint a dirtier picture And I think you know the one: you're not saving anyone You're not saving anyone

Tereus was a warrior and helped save Athens, so while he is singing about all the greatness he has accomplished through law, marriage, and war, he knows that he is hiding something dirty, which is eventually revealed trough a picture.

Oh, just open your door Be a flaneur once more You're not walking anymore You're not talking anymore

A flaneur is someone who wanders aimlessly, Philomela is now a bird. She is not walking and she has lost her tongue-- no talking.

Overturning the strictures You leave yourself with none of your sinners to be saved Or your comforts that you crave It's a volatile mixture: the zealot and the rum So you knew it couldnt be won Still hard lost because hard run So here's to things that console And to at least knowing your role, and to never being done You're a rabbit on the run

I guess it might be saying something about how it's not good for someone to be drunk if they are passionate about something, like Tereus was about Philomela. because that caused them alot of pain, and a stricture is very painfull scar of the throat or urethra.

Ne, ne travaillez jamais: No, never work, that's what they say Mais ne, ne, ne, nous n'arretons pas: No, dont lets stop until it's done You're a rabbit on the run

I don't know if this is a reference to Ascii.Disko "Ne Travaillez Jamais" which is a German Techno/Dance song. But anywho, maybe the point of this song is that people will tell you that live life for pleasure, but as you can see from Tereus and Philomela, that can cause some stricture.

well, that's all I got...

This is an awesome song. One of my favs on "Hearts of Oak." To me, this is an obvious reaction to radical Christian conservatism. If you've ever read any interviews of Ted Leo, it's pretty easy to figure out that he's very liberal and very political. "You sing songs to everyone about love and law and guns" I love this line because it brings up the fact that many hardcore Christians preach love but then also love guns, and it just points out how contradicing that really is. The running theme points to the whole objective for many Christians to "Spread the gospel." I think that Leo is pointing out that this is futile, and that they shouldn't be content with feeling that this is their sole purpose in life.

Well the translation of the french is Never work, but we won't stop. It's a reiteration of what he says in the english. But yeah, the myth story makes sense... Ted is extremely well cultured. It probably has reference to some political individual somehow. :P

Personally I think the "you" he's speaking to in this song is himself. It seems to just be a struggle for anyone who makes political art where one asks themselves if they're doing good enough. He feels like he isn't "saving anyone" through his songwriting so what's the point of doing it (possibly the reason for the never work line)

This might be a stretch but the Philomel reference could be that this song that he is singing is his personal Philomel revealing to everyone that he is a fraud.

Who knows? it could not be this. It could be about how he loves 2nd avenue especially at around the time 11am.