An Ode to Locksmiths

I don't think the second half of the song is that hard to interpret..this is one of the most in your face and blatant statements Peter has ever made in a song. I'm pretty sure he's saying exactly what the lyrics say in this part..Adam Raped Eve.

"Woe to thee all women of land, air and sea" - (All women experience woe now OR just simply beware all women of land air and sea..)

"Adam was the serpent, apple between his knees" - (The Serpent in the garden of Eden was not Lucifer/Satan it was Adam. Peter is saying the "apple" is a metaphor for Adam's genitalia hence the "apple between his knees" part)

"Seduced by a snake, worshiped by nations" - (She was seduced by the serpent whom was or shall be worshiped by nations. It's quite obvious that all cultures in the Mediterranean, Babylonian, and Middle Eastern and Northeast African worlds worshiped Men and saw women as beneath men)

"Banished forth from EDEN, it's the male who is Satan" - (They were kicked out of the Garden of Eden and the male is Satan..Eve is not to blame)

"From the tree of knowledge ((A Metaphor for Sex))" - (He's saying that the tree of knowledge that was forbidden is really just a metaphor for sex..not an actual tree)

"Plucked a ripened globe of fruit, that of her innocence" - (He took her virginity, replace apple with "cherry" and you can see where this is going. She was ripe and he "plucked" her fruit.)

"Since forbidden resisted, forcing her to taste" - (Since this sexual act was forbidden she resisted him, but he forced her to do it anyway..against her will.)

"Now I know why girls hate boys, 'cause Eve was in fact raped" - (I think that's as plain as it gets. This is why there's such tension between the sexes and why women are so wounded and in such pain..because Man not only raped Woman but he flipped it and blamed it all on HER like many rapists and juries still do today with the "oh she was asking for it" stuff.)

So there ya go..Peter is interpreting the Adam and Eve story in a very feminist and more realistic light.

idk but this song is good and its about all that christianity and religion stuff (like what the rest of the album is based on...)

if this song has any meaning at all, I certainly have no idea what it is. But the more i think about it, it seems Peter is using his newfound christianity views and poking some fun at them. regardless this is my favorite song of the album.

I remember reading somewhere this song is about a locksmith that came to help Peter into his house early in the morning when he forgot his key, and told the guy he would write a song about him.

no idea about the first half, but the second half is obviously comparing a man, namely adam, to a locksmith. penis=key vagina=lock. simple enough.

I could speculate on the fact that there's 12 tones in the western musical scale, music is written on a staff or stave, and a conductor uses a rod. Not sure what this would mean in the context of the song though.

I agree with TitanPrometheus interpretation of the second half of the song. It is clearly a critical/feminist critique of the Bible. Adam pressured Eve and coerced here, therefore, he raped her. Although, he does change it around a bit (in the original story, Eve actually offered the apple to Adam...however, I would say this is inherent misogynism as it demonizes women). I like Petrus's interpretation, best.

Then, I think rednightmareda has the start to the first half, but I can fill in the rest.

When I hear "locksmith," I immediately think of the Pink Floyd song, "Run like hell" and the line, "If they catch you in the backseat trying to pick her locks, they're going to send you home to mother in a cardboard box." So, "picking a girl's locks" is trying to get into her pants and have sex with her. So, with that, "locksmiths" in this song are men trying to get into women's pants and have sex with them. Fits his interpretation of the Adam and Eve story (i.e., Adam raped Eve/picked her locks). Implicit to this is the cultural commentary that so much of our sex is based on men pressuring women to do things they do not want to do or are undecided about doing.

So, with lockpicking in context (i.e., men trying to get laid), what is the classic, American way that men do this? Join a band, play music, and get chicks. So, rod and stave are music. Men playing music to seduce women. "An earful opening all doors" means the man singing the song/playing the music has successfully "picked her locks," so to speak, and seduced her.

For what it is worth, "Dead again" is one of Type O's best albums, in my opinion. Here I am, still listening to it and weighing in on its lyrics, 9 years later! LOL