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Gideon's Bible Lyrics
Holding on, with both eyes, to things that don't exist
Peering through the cutting wrist, at grand old mother greedy
Rolling out the cotton ship, upon the carpet pillow
Throttling children callously, a messy day with Clancy
Gideon lied and Gideon died
The force of China felt
Gideon smiled as Gideon died
The thought of China held.
Rolling out the golden robes and other foreign language
Stretching out the verbs and nouns together in the greeting
Some that felt the blade often, some deep confused emotion
Struck eye first against the wall of China under fire.
Gideon lied and Gideon died
The force of China felt
Gideon smiled as Gideon died
The thought of China held.
Peering through the cutting wrist, at grand old mother greedy
Rolling out the cotton ship, upon the carpet pillow
Throttling children callously, a messy day with Clancy
The force of China felt
Gideon smiled as Gideon died
The thought of China held.
Stretching out the verbs and nouns together in the greeting
Some that felt the blade often, some deep confused emotion
Struck eye first against the wall of China under fire.
The force of China felt
Gideon smiled as Gideon died
The thought of China held.
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I do wish John's songs meant more than they at least appear; however, the imagery takes a listener down roads he's never been to from the innocent guide of song. John Cale's native language is Welsh, and he plays with the sounds of English words to benefit his poetry:
...grand old mother greedy...the cotton ship upon the carpet...Throttling children callously, a messy day with Clancy...Struck eye first against the wall of China under fire...
But John is also more aware of European history (Asian here as well) and has a great love for classic art and literature. There may be more here than I and many people would ever know.
From the lyrics, I think the sing is about someone contemplating suicide. However, they are plagued by thoughts of morality and repercussions from Christianity that they have read in "Gideon's Bible".
The lyrics "Peering through the cutting wrist, at grand old mother greedy" seems to be showing that they are seeing the hell they will suffer in when they commit suicide, as they see someone who has been greedy, which infers they would be in hell in the context.
There is a lot of poetic contradiction, with lines seemingly muddled up throughout the whole piece, which highlights the contradicting thoughts I mentioned. It also points to the muddled mindset of someone suffering with sever depression.