@the feed :
You said ""Notch 8" is the highest notch on a locomotives throttle. ". Don't you think that this is a little bit far fetched ? In my opinion "8" is the number of the train and "Driver 8" is the driver that belongs to this train.
Your impression is that Michael only wanted to compose a song to describe the nice landscape that you can see from a train. If this is really true, why does he focus on the driver of the train and not on any passenger ?
Why did he call the album "Fables of the Reconstruction" (artists always used 'fables' in the Medieval Age when they indirectly wanted to criticize the king or the ruling class; they used animals instead of humen beings to pretend that their story is harmless).
Another thing : If he really wanted to focus on the beautiful landscape - why does he only describe it in 10 of 31 total lines of this song ?
There are other things indicating that there shall be a deeper meaning :
1.) Why did he use the word "can" in the phrase "We can reach our destination" ? If I interpreted it from your point of view I would formulate it like that : "it is not sure that our train will arrive at its planned destination but it is still possible". Do you really think that this makes sense ? For a regular train ?
2.) Why does Michael sing "all they hear is sky-blue"
(even separated by commas from the rest of the sentence) ? If he really meant the blue sky, why didn't he sing "all they SEE is sky-blue" ? Is there anything beautiful on a train journey to hear which sounds "sky-blue" ?
3.) In the line "Way to shield the hated heat." he sings "hated". If I wrote a song which shall be harmless and beautiful, why should I use a nasty word like "hated" ?
4.) Michael sings "Way to put myself to sleep." and "Way to put myself, my children to sleep.". Which children does he mean ? Will the train driver put himself and his children to sleep inside the train ? So who will drive the train then ? This song is too short to mention useless details so why shall Michael focus on sleeping while he wants to describe the beauty of the South and its landscape ?
5.) How does "She is selling faith on the Go Tell crusade." fit your explanation ? What faith and what crusade does he allude to ? Can you see that your theory of the songmeaning reaches out too short ?
6.) Why didn't he call this album "Happy journeys through the South" if he really meant nothing politically ? (although this title would be even more sarcastic !) Instead he used "Fables of the Reconstruction" (please look at my comments from Dec'06).
@ruarchitect :
Yes, he alludes to society and yes, he alludes to progress in a certain kind. This song really fits the title of the album "Fables of the Reconstruction" because the first strophe alludes to the industrialization era (the Reconstruction era).
Please have a look at my comments from Dec'06 and let's talk about what you think of it.
In my opinion this song alludes to the Pullman Strike in 1894.
@DerUnbequeme You are overthinking it. Having lived in Athens for many years, I can tell you that one is most likely to hear trains late at night. So think of ghost riders, night riders (sometimes a euphemism for the KKK). So the train is essentially darkness- which he contrasts with the world outside the train- clearly there is trouble in the engineer's room- takde a break, we'll get there, this trip feels like its never going to end. Yet theres all this life going on outside the train- sky blue bells (he indulges himself in a bit...
@DerUnbequeme You are overthinking it. Having lived in Athens for many years, I can tell you that one is most likely to hear trains late at night. So think of ghost riders, night riders (sometimes a euphemism for the KKK). So the train is essentially darkness- which he contrasts with the world outside the train- clearly there is trouble in the engineer's room- takde a break, we'll get there, this trip feels like its never going to end. Yet theres all this life going on outside the train- sky blue bells (he indulges himself in a bit of synesthesia there to make a point). So the train is maybe death? Driver 8 might be the devil or the grim reaper and the conductor maybe even a guy who doesnt know hes already. Its a very southern song from a very southern album. And if you go there and spend any time at all many if not all of the songs' meanings start to become quite clear. Some of the songs are 'maps' and some are 'legends' (he's playing with double meanings there- legends- stories- are the spiritual and social material that binds each generation- one to the next. For example: Old Man Kensey is a legend- can't get there from here and Feeling Gravity's Pull are maps. Also, maps have legends. In fact most maps would be of little use without them, They tell you how to read the map.
So i see the song as a mystery train number. Something untowards is going down on that train. And the conductor is just trying to get back to his family- casting around for an exit, or could it be that he traded his soul- remember we're in legend time here- and the conductor is maybe discovering that the payment of his mortality is coming do. I tend to think of the Driver as death itself. Which is why you don't hear from him in the song. And aside from the children hearing the sky- which is brilliant contrasting, the ourside world maybe isnt so peachy either: "field to wheat is looking thin" and i think the conductor is sort of absently notiing these things as the trainclatters along to doom,
Finally listen to the guitar riff. Thats not a happy melody the key of E-minor I believe; "the saddest of all possible keys." Its got nothing to do with better societies or perfect worlds.
@the feed : You said ""Notch 8" is the highest notch on a locomotives throttle. ". Don't you think that this is a little bit far fetched ? In my opinion "8" is the number of the train and "Driver 8" is the driver that belongs to this train. Your impression is that Michael only wanted to compose a song to describe the nice landscape that you can see from a train. If this is really true, why does he focus on the driver of the train and not on any passenger ? Why did he call the album "Fables of the Reconstruction" (artists always used 'fables' in the Medieval Age when they indirectly wanted to criticize the king or the ruling class; they used animals instead of humen beings to pretend that their story is harmless). Another thing : If he really wanted to focus on the beautiful landscape - why does he only describe it in 10 of 31 total lines of this song ? There are other things indicating that there shall be a deeper meaning : 1.) Why did he use the word "can" in the phrase "We can reach our destination" ? If I interpreted it from your point of view I would formulate it like that : "it is not sure that our train will arrive at its planned destination but it is still possible". Do you really think that this makes sense ? For a regular train ? 2.) Why does Michael sing "all they hear is sky-blue" (even separated by commas from the rest of the sentence) ? If he really meant the blue sky, why didn't he sing "all they SEE is sky-blue" ? Is there anything beautiful on a train journey to hear which sounds "sky-blue" ? 3.) In the line "Way to shield the hated heat." he sings "hated". If I wrote a song which shall be harmless and beautiful, why should I use a nasty word like "hated" ? 4.) Michael sings "Way to put myself to sleep." and "Way to put myself, my children to sleep.". Which children does he mean ? Will the train driver put himself and his children to sleep inside the train ? So who will drive the train then ? This song is too short to mention useless details so why shall Michael focus on sleeping while he wants to describe the beauty of the South and its landscape ? 5.) How does "She is selling faith on the Go Tell crusade." fit your explanation ? What faith and what crusade does he allude to ? Can you see that your theory of the songmeaning reaches out too short ? 6.) Why didn't he call this album "Happy journeys through the South" if he really meant nothing politically ? (although this title would be even more sarcastic !) Instead he used "Fables of the Reconstruction" (please look at my comments from Dec'06).
@ruarchitect : Yes, he alludes to society and yes, he alludes to progress in a certain kind. This song really fits the title of the album "Fables of the Reconstruction" because the first strophe alludes to the industrialization era (the Reconstruction era). Please have a look at my comments from Dec'06 and let's talk about what you think of it.
In my opinion this song alludes to the Pullman Strike in 1894.
@DerUnbequeme You are overthinking it. Having lived in Athens for many years, I can tell you that one is most likely to hear trains late at night. So think of ghost riders, night riders (sometimes a euphemism for the KKK). So the train is essentially darkness- which he contrasts with the world outside the train- clearly there is trouble in the engineer's room- takde a break, we'll get there, this trip feels like its never going to end. Yet theres all this life going on outside the train- sky blue bells (he indulges himself in a bit...
@DerUnbequeme You are overthinking it. Having lived in Athens for many years, I can tell you that one is most likely to hear trains late at night. So think of ghost riders, night riders (sometimes a euphemism for the KKK). So the train is essentially darkness- which he contrasts with the world outside the train- clearly there is trouble in the engineer's room- takde a break, we'll get there, this trip feels like its never going to end. Yet theres all this life going on outside the train- sky blue bells (he indulges himself in a bit of synesthesia there to make a point). So the train is maybe death? Driver 8 might be the devil or the grim reaper and the conductor maybe even a guy who doesnt know hes already. Its a very southern song from a very southern album. And if you go there and spend any time at all many if not all of the songs' meanings start to become quite clear. Some of the songs are 'maps' and some are 'legends' (he's playing with double meanings there- legends- stories- are the spiritual and social material that binds each generation- one to the next. For example: Old Man Kensey is a legend- can't get there from here and Feeling Gravity's Pull are maps. Also, maps have legends. In fact most maps would be of little use without them, They tell you how to read the map. So i see the song as a mystery train number. Something untowards is going down on that train. And the conductor is just trying to get back to his family- casting around for an exit, or could it be that he traded his soul- remember we're in legend time here- and the conductor is maybe discovering that the payment of his mortality is coming do. I tend to think of the Driver as death itself. Which is why you don't hear from him in the song. And aside from the children hearing the sky- which is brilliant contrasting, the ourside world maybe isnt so peachy either: "field to wheat is looking thin" and i think the conductor is sort of absently notiing these things as the trainclatters along to doom, Finally listen to the guitar riff. Thats not a happy melody the key of E-minor I believe; "the saddest of all possible keys." Its got nothing to do with better societies or perfect worlds.