In the liner notes from the rhumb line, the lines are:
Silhouettes In a window frame,
Better run if it's boo's old man
He won't know if you're white
Oh in the night.
Taken in that light, I feel like the song is a reference to Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird." In the book, Boo Radley's father locked Boo Radley up and abused him. Boo's character was always seen as silhouettes through the window, since he never ventured outside.
The lines
"Never mind what your daughter is taught in school
What she remembers is what she has learned from you"
seems to me as a reference to Scout, who most certainly learned quite a bit from Atticus' teachings and his defense of Tom Robinson, who was unjustly accused of raping another townswoman.
Also, I think "Coverin' a fault with trials and court displays" is a reference to Tom Robinson's trial, where the evidence was so obviously obscured in order to pin the crime on Robinson.
I am so glad that I'm not the only one who connected this song with To Kill A Mockingbird. Few bands (or books for that matter) connect with literature (or vice-versa) enough to to write an amazing song inspired by it. Ra Ra Riot is just cool like that.
I am so glad that I'm not the only one who connected this song with To Kill A Mockingbird. Few bands (or books for that matter) connect with literature (or vice-versa) enough to to write an amazing song inspired by it. Ra Ra Riot is just cool like that.
In the liner notes from the rhumb line, the lines are:
Silhouettes In a window frame, Better run if it's boo's old man He won't know if you're white Oh in the night.
Taken in that light, I feel like the song is a reference to Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird." In the book, Boo Radley's father locked Boo Radley up and abused him. Boo's character was always seen as silhouettes through the window, since he never ventured outside. The lines "Never mind what your daughter is taught in school What she remembers is what she has learned from you" seems to me as a reference to Scout, who most certainly learned quite a bit from Atticus' teachings and his defense of Tom Robinson, who was unjustly accused of raping another townswoman. Also, I think "Coverin' a fault with trials and court displays" is a reference to Tom Robinson's trial, where the evidence was so obviously obscured in order to pin the crime on Robinson.
I am so glad that I'm not the only one who connected this song with To Kill A Mockingbird. Few bands (or books for that matter) connect with literature (or vice-versa) enough to to write an amazing song inspired by it. Ra Ra Riot is just cool like that.
I am so glad that I'm not the only one who connected this song with To Kill A Mockingbird. Few bands (or books for that matter) connect with literature (or vice-versa) enough to to write an amazing song inspired by it. Ra Ra Riot is just cool like that.