On a deeper level, this song is partially about the conflict between art, history. passion and desires - and money. And in many ways the film from which it takes it's title is the perfect example of just that. It describes the burden of our dreams in whatever form that takes.
In the superb film, Fitzgerald doesn't want to get rich by selling rubber, as jxnarcoticz suggests above. Instead he wants to use the profit from his proposed rubber sale to build an opera house in the town of Iquitos.
So he needs the money to create his art and his dreams. Rather like most bands, including The Frames when this song was written of course.
And he needs to pull his ship over the mountain to get from one river to the other in order to harvest the only part of rubber crop still unowned and unclaimed.
So, to achieve his dream and his passion he literally has to pull a ship over a mountain. The money he'll make from the sales of the rubber if he succeeds is merely a facilitator of his dream.
Glen, lately, has been introducing this song with various speeches and notes about his country, and how it's being "sold up the river" by the greedy and myriad cubs of the Celtic Tiger.
For example, at the moment the Irish government are proposing to build a huge motorway through one of Ireland's most historic and symbolic sites - the Hill of Tara. Glen's been an ardent supporter of the groups rightly opposing this scheme (for example tarawatch.org).
So this song is about not turning your back on what's important to you, and not betraying your dreams, or your ideals and beliefs just because they're difficult to achieve, or hard to pull over the mountain that modern life can feel like sometimes. But at the same time, it's about recognising that some evils are necessary if you're to make those dreams reality - like money. But only sometimes.
You can imagine a young Glen, interested only in getting his music heard by as many people as possible, realising that to achieve his dream, he must also sacrifice pretty much his whole life (pull his ship over the mountain) and make the money required by any band or artist to create and distribute their work (just like Fitzgerald's rubber profits).
The Frames have never been interested in making money for themselves. It's always been about the music. And it always will be.
As an aside, Glen usually dedicates this song to great Irish folk through history, usually Michael Collins, James Joyce and Oscar Wilde.
On a deeper level, this song is partially about the conflict between art, history. passion and desires - and money. And in many ways the film from which it takes it's title is the perfect example of just that. It describes the burden of our dreams in whatever form that takes.
In the superb film, Fitzgerald doesn't want to get rich by selling rubber, as jxnarcoticz suggests above. Instead he wants to use the profit from his proposed rubber sale to build an opera house in the town of Iquitos.
So he needs the money to create his art and his dreams. Rather like most bands, including The Frames when this song was written of course.
And he needs to pull his ship over the mountain to get from one river to the other in order to harvest the only part of rubber crop still unowned and unclaimed.
So, to achieve his dream and his passion he literally has to pull a ship over a mountain. The money he'll make from the sales of the rubber if he succeeds is merely a facilitator of his dream.
Glen, lately, has been introducing this song with various speeches and notes about his country, and how it's being "sold up the river" by the greedy and myriad cubs of the Celtic Tiger.
For example, at the moment the Irish government are proposing to build a huge motorway through one of Ireland's most historic and symbolic sites - the Hill of Tara. Glen's been an ardent supporter of the groups rightly opposing this scheme (for example tarawatch.org).
So this song is about not turning your back on what's important to you, and not betraying your dreams, or your ideals and beliefs just because they're difficult to achieve, or hard to pull over the mountain that modern life can feel like sometimes. But at the same time, it's about recognising that some evils are necessary if you're to make those dreams reality - like money. But only sometimes.
You can imagine a young Glen, interested only in getting his music heard by as many people as possible, realising that to achieve his dream, he must also sacrifice pretty much his whole life (pull his ship over the mountain) and make the money required by any band or artist to create and distribute their work (just like Fitzgerald's rubber profits).
The Frames have never been interested in making money for themselves. It's always been about the music. And it always will be.
As an aside, Glen usually dedicates this song to great Irish folk through history, usually Michael Collins, James Joyce and Oscar Wilde.