This song seems to be from the perspective of Southern whites languishing after the Civil War in an economically ruined South.
There are numerous references to commerce and trade, but items mentioned as being for sale here are uniformly frivolous items; I suspect that the implication is that necessities like food are scarce, so that trifles are the only things one can still buy.
A telling phrase is "wooden greenbacks": Greenback is a name for the US dollar, and "wooden", applied to currency, means false or worthless. This would describe Confederate currency near or after the end of the war, when it ceased to have monetary value.
Especially given the flat, joyless singing, we can tell that "hurrah, we are all free now" is not a celebration of the freedom the slaves had just been given, which is not profiting the white Southern population. The human loss of the war ("tell that to the captain's mother") is also part of their misery.
An interesting couplet is "whiskey is water; water is wine". Whiskey is watered down to deprive the buyer of value. But water is turned to wine in the New Testament -- that line seems to be at odds with the rest of the song, if it implies an upturn in fortunes while the rest of the song is uniformly about loss.
@rikdad101@yahoo.com a very good interpretation, though Michael rarely had direct meaning to his lyrics back then. He used to say he liked to “paint” imagery with interesting words and let listeners fill in the blanks as they see fit. You filled in the spaces nicely. “Hoorah we’re all free now” (to do what we’re told) is melancholy irony I enjoy in Michael’s lyrics. One of REMs best and because it was released before they got big, lesser known. Tragic.
@rikdad101@yahoo.com a very good interpretation, though Michael rarely had direct meaning to his lyrics back then. He used to say he liked to “paint” imagery with interesting words and let listeners fill in the blanks as they see fit. You filled in the spaces nicely. “Hoorah we’re all free now” (to do what we’re told) is melancholy irony I enjoy in Michael’s lyrics. One of REMs best and because it was released before they got big, lesser known. Tragic.
This song seems to be from the perspective of Southern whites languishing after the Civil War in an economically ruined South.
There are numerous references to commerce and trade, but items mentioned as being for sale here are uniformly frivolous items; I suspect that the implication is that necessities like food are scarce, so that trifles are the only things one can still buy.
A telling phrase is "wooden greenbacks": Greenback is a name for the US dollar, and "wooden", applied to currency, means false or worthless. This would describe Confederate currency near or after the end of the war, when it ceased to have monetary value.
Especially given the flat, joyless singing, we can tell that "hurrah, we are all free now" is not a celebration of the freedom the slaves had just been given, which is not profiting the white Southern population. The human loss of the war ("tell that to the captain's mother") is also part of their misery.
An interesting couplet is "whiskey is water; water is wine". Whiskey is watered down to deprive the buyer of value. But water is turned to wine in the New Testament -- that line seems to be at odds with the rest of the song, if it implies an upturn in fortunes while the rest of the song is uniformly about loss.
you are a very insightful and intelligent person. thank you for posting this. it is very interesting to me.
you are a very insightful and intelligent person. thank you for posting this. it is very interesting to me.
@rikdad Thanks much. I can now sing this with better understanding. Kudos
@rikdad Thanks much. I can now sing this with better understanding. Kudos
@rikdad101@yahoo.com a very good interpretation, though Michael rarely had direct meaning to his lyrics back then. He used to say he liked to “paint” imagery with interesting words and let listeners fill in the blanks as they see fit. You filled in the spaces nicely. “Hoorah we’re all free now” (to do what we’re told) is melancholy irony I enjoy in Michael’s lyrics. One of REMs best and because it was released before they got big, lesser known. Tragic.
@rikdad101@yahoo.com a very good interpretation, though Michael rarely had direct meaning to his lyrics back then. He used to say he liked to “paint” imagery with interesting words and let listeners fill in the blanks as they see fit. You filled in the spaces nicely. “Hoorah we’re all free now” (to do what we’re told) is melancholy irony I enjoy in Michael’s lyrics. One of REMs best and because it was released before they got big, lesser known. Tragic.