It's a travesty that there are no comments on this song! It's my favorite off of Mass Romantic and in my top five overall. I could listen to it over and over and over and over and often do. It's just do damn catchy. And I think it's one of Newman's songs with a little more bite to it than his usual beautiful, yet often nonsensical, lyrics.
I think this, like Centre for Holy Wars, is a fairly preceptive and almost precongnitive, take on International Relations. The great thing about it, though, is that it works on a couple different levels as it could also just be a personal relationship. The same themes are resonant in either situation--the breakdown of a relationship based on one party's unilateral decision that they don't need the other. Also, the theme of history repeating itself and an unending cycle of violence seems to be pretty prevalent as well.
I think the "she" is the U.S. and the "body" is the UN/other nations.
Also:
"what could be worse than the wheel of history? Rolling up over the rooms you've prayed in"
--the theme that history repeats itself. Also, it evoke the image of a tank rolling around holy sites in the Middle East.
"Am I repeating myself to tell you dreaming
it's what's left of psychedelia"
--i take this as--the hipppie 60s peace movement failed, because we're right back where we started.
It's a travesty that there are no comments on this song! It's my favorite off of Mass Romantic and in my top five overall. I could listen to it over and over and over and over and often do. It's just do damn catchy. And I think it's one of Newman's songs with a little more bite to it than his usual beautiful, yet often nonsensical, lyrics.
I think this, like Centre for Holy Wars, is a fairly preceptive and almost precongnitive, take on International Relations. The great thing about it, though, is that it works on a couple different levels as it could also just be a personal relationship. The same themes are resonant in either situation--the breakdown of a relationship based on one party's unilateral decision that they don't need the other. Also, the theme of history repeating itself and an unending cycle of violence seems to be pretty prevalent as well.
I think the "she" is the U.S. and the "body" is the UN/other nations.
Also: "what could be worse than the wheel of history? Rolling up over the rooms you've prayed in" --the theme that history repeats itself. Also, it evoke the image of a tank rolling around holy sites in the Middle East.
"Am I repeating myself to tell you dreaming it's what's left of psychedelia" --i take this as--the hipppie 60s peace movement failed, because we're right back where we started.