The liner notes for "Ghana" also address this pressing issue: "I blush with shame every time I hear it: the liberties this lyric takes with matters of historical record are inexcusable. The Picts painted their bodies blue, not the Anglo-Saxons. The Romans, visiting England with a view to expanding the empire, took note of this unusual practice. Centuries later, a singer in California would note that 'Yeah, the Picts!' didn't have the same ring to it as 'Yeah, the Anglo-Saxons!' One hopes, perhaps vainly, that the 'all you'd get/alphabet' rhyme offsets the glaring inaccuracies at play here."
Gotta love the Mountain Goats. :) The liner notes are almost as entertaining as the album itself.
The liner notes for "Ghana" also address this pressing issue: "I blush with shame every time I hear it: the liberties this lyric takes with matters of historical record are inexcusable. The Picts painted their bodies blue, not the Anglo-Saxons. The Romans, visiting England with a view to expanding the empire, took note of this unusual practice. Centuries later, a singer in California would note that 'Yeah, the Picts!' didn't have the same ring to it as 'Yeah, the Anglo-Saxons!' One hopes, perhaps vainly, that the 'all you'd get/alphabet' rhyme offsets the glaring inaccuracies at play here."
Gotta love the Mountain Goats. :) The liner notes are almost as entertaining as the album itself.