Alright. Getting deeper and more shallow at the same time.
This is a song about a man dreaming of his perfect love. "All hands on deck," is the last thing any sailor wants to hear. It means there is terrible trouble about. "We've run afloat," is the opposite of what any sailor would worry about. They were bound to sea, but actually being at sea was a fearful thing. This is a man who has left his home and his mother.
"Explore the ship, replace the cook," terrible freedom from Mother.
"Across the straits," -Keith Reid "straight is the gate and narrow the path that leads to salvation."-- Jesus Christ.
"Around the horn," horn being a symbol of fertility, referring to a penis.
"How far can sailors fly?" sperm being the ultimate sailors.
"A twisted path, our tortured course, and no one left alive," the horrible emptiness of the life of a single man.
"We sailed for parts unknown to man, where ships come home to die," every voyage ends in the port. The port being the right vagina, in this case.
"No lofty peak, nor fortress bold could match our Captain's eye," no woman can fulfill him so far.
"Upon the seventh seasick day we made our port of call," after an eternity of searching adrift, (no seasoned sailor should ever get seasick), he found his girl.
"A sand so white, and sea so blue, no mortal place at all," she had white skin and blue eyes, and was so beautiful that the sailor could not believe she was human.
"We fired the gun, and burnt the mast, and rowed from ship to shore
The captain cried, we sailors wept: our tears were tears of joy," -- ejaculation, and more, an emotional connection.
"Now many moons and many Junes have passed since we made land," they're growing old together.
"A salty dog," he's unworthy of this experience.
"This seaman's log," semen, penis, the account of the whole story.
"Your witness. My own hand." the fact that he can dream it (and masturbate over the idea) means the reality must be out there, somewhere.
Hi there, I just signed in on the purpose of exploring this beatiful song's lyrics.
I'm more with the thing of "travel through life and death", at least a more poetical option. I would hate to think of it as a wanker's testament! :-)
Hi there, I just signed in on the purpose of exploring this beatiful song's lyrics.
I'm more with the thing of "travel through life and death", at least a more poetical option. I would hate to think of it as a wanker's testament! :-)
I have loved this song since my early boyhood, it used to be the opening of one of the very first tv programs I can recall - it was called "adventures" or something - and kept listening to it like a mantra forever.
Then I grew up and sailed around the world for many years,...
I have loved this song since my early boyhood, it used to be the opening of one of the very first tv programs I can recall - it was called "adventures" or something - and kept listening to it like a mantra forever.
Then I grew up and sailed around the world for many years, yes I passed the Horn quite a few times, too, and never really felt like having to dig into meanings - weird as it may be. The song was some sort of a "call" to me, if you like, as I was born far from the sea.
Now I'm over fifty and bolted to the mainland, but the song certainly still evokes the freedom and fear of sailing into the blue, totally unaware of whatever comes next, wind in your hair and eyes pointed into the infinite. And all the confused mixed feelings and unanswerable questions that go with it. Just like life when you face it day-to-day, and death.
"we run afloat", though, means "we have a big hole in the hull" and is perfectly consequent to "all hands on deck" as a serious alert.
What I don't understand is: Why "A Salty Dog" ? What has a dog to do with it all ?
I am not mothertongue, so possibly a hidden meaning of this expression eludes me ?
A dog (maybe a humble person) that has spent too much time at sea ?
Thanks buddies, catch you soon.
Thanks for your notes, particularly about what "we've run afloat" means, Chicco. Salty dog is an old English term for a sailor. Something to do with the typical sailor of the time being low-bred and reeking of sea salts.
I came across Libertatia and James Misson in my readings, recently. Libertatia was a libertarian, communist pirate haven set up in Madagascar in the 1600s. I wonder if Reid might have been thinking about it when he wrote this song. Would a ship from England in the 1600s have traveled all the way around Cape Horn just...
Thanks for your notes, particularly about what "we've run afloat" means, Chicco. Salty dog is an old English term for a sailor. Something to do with the typical sailor of the time being low-bred and reeking of sea salts.
I came across Libertatia and James Misson in my readings, recently. Libertatia was a libertarian, communist pirate haven set up in Madagascar in the 1600s. I wonder if Reid might have been thinking about it when he wrote this song. Would a ship from England in the 1600s have traveled all the way around Cape Horn just to avoid the Cape of Good Hope? In other words, would they have sailed west to get to Madagascar?
@ASaltyDog I agree that it has to do with finding love and salvation. The boat is a symbol of the soul. The sailors are physically alive, but dead in their souls. So when they find salvation it is a huge surprise. The "How many moons how many Junes" is what marks it as being about finding the "loving homeland." Because these are empty words used as cheap rhymes in doggerel poems about love. So they represent the "torturous journey" to find earthly love, which leaves us stranded and dead. But at the end of the poem they find the true...
@ASaltyDog I agree that it has to do with finding love and salvation. The boat is a symbol of the soul. The sailors are physically alive, but dead in their souls. So when they find salvation it is a huge surprise. The "How many moons how many Junes" is what marks it as being about finding the "loving homeland." Because these are empty words used as cheap rhymes in doggerel poems about love. So they represent the "torturous journey" to find earthly love, which leaves us stranded and dead. But at the end of the poem they find the true love. A lot of the details aren't easy to figure out, but this is Procol Harum, after all.
@ASaltyDog I agree that it has to do with finding love and salvation. The boat is a symbol of the soul. The sailors are physically alive, but dead in their souls. So when they find salvation it is a huge surprise. The "How many moons how many Junes" is what marks it as being about finding the "loving homeland." Because these are empty words used as cheap rhymes in doggerel poems about love. So they represent the "torturous journey" to find earthly love, which leaves us stranded and dead. But at the end of the poem they find the true...
@ASaltyDog I agree that it has to do with finding love and salvation. The boat is a symbol of the soul. The sailors are physically alive, but dead in their souls. So when they find salvation it is a huge surprise. The "How many moons how many Junes" is what marks it as being about finding the "loving homeland." Because these are empty words used as cheap rhymes in doggerel poems about love. So they represent the "torturous journey" to find earthly love, which leaves us stranded and dead. But at the end of the poem they find the true love. A lot of the details aren't easy to figure out, but this is Procol Harum, after all.
Alright. Getting deeper and more shallow at the same time.
This is a song about a man dreaming of his perfect love. "All hands on deck," is the last thing any sailor wants to hear. It means there is terrible trouble about. "We've run afloat," is the opposite of what any sailor would worry about. They were bound to sea, but actually being at sea was a fearful thing. This is a man who has left his home and his mother. "Explore the ship, replace the cook," terrible freedom from Mother. "Across the straits," -Keith Reid "straight is the gate and narrow the path that leads to salvation."-- Jesus Christ. "Around the horn," horn being a symbol of fertility, referring to a penis. "How far can sailors fly?" sperm being the ultimate sailors. "A twisted path, our tortured course, and no one left alive," the horrible emptiness of the life of a single man. "We sailed for parts unknown to man, where ships come home to die," every voyage ends in the port. The port being the right vagina, in this case. "No lofty peak, nor fortress bold could match our Captain's eye," no woman can fulfill him so far. "Upon the seventh seasick day we made our port of call," after an eternity of searching adrift, (no seasoned sailor should ever get seasick), he found his girl. "A sand so white, and sea so blue, no mortal place at all," she had white skin and blue eyes, and was so beautiful that the sailor could not believe she was human. "We fired the gun, and burnt the mast, and rowed from ship to shore The captain cried, we sailors wept: our tears were tears of joy," -- ejaculation, and more, an emotional connection. "Now many moons and many Junes have passed since we made land," they're growing old together. "A salty dog," he's unworthy of this experience. "This seaman's log," semen, penis, the account of the whole story. "Your witness. My own hand." the fact that he can dream it (and masturbate over the idea) means the reality must be out there, somewhere.
Hi there, I just signed in on the purpose of exploring this beatiful song's lyrics. I'm more with the thing of "travel through life and death", at least a more poetical option. I would hate to think of it as a wanker's testament! :-)
Hi there, I just signed in on the purpose of exploring this beatiful song's lyrics. I'm more with the thing of "travel through life and death", at least a more poetical option. I would hate to think of it as a wanker's testament! :-)
I have loved this song since my early boyhood, it used to be the opening of one of the very first tv programs I can recall - it was called "adventures" or something - and kept listening to it like a mantra forever. Then I grew up and sailed around the world for many years,...
I have loved this song since my early boyhood, it used to be the opening of one of the very first tv programs I can recall - it was called "adventures" or something - and kept listening to it like a mantra forever. Then I grew up and sailed around the world for many years, yes I passed the Horn quite a few times, too, and never really felt like having to dig into meanings - weird as it may be. The song was some sort of a "call" to me, if you like, as I was born far from the sea. Now I'm over fifty and bolted to the mainland, but the song certainly still evokes the freedom and fear of sailing into the blue, totally unaware of whatever comes next, wind in your hair and eyes pointed into the infinite. And all the confused mixed feelings and unanswerable questions that go with it. Just like life when you face it day-to-day, and death.
"we run afloat", though, means "we have a big hole in the hull" and is perfectly consequent to "all hands on deck" as a serious alert. What I don't understand is: Why "A Salty Dog" ? What has a dog to do with it all ? I am not mothertongue, so possibly a hidden meaning of this expression eludes me ? A dog (maybe a humble person) that has spent too much time at sea ? Thanks buddies, catch you soon.
Thanks for your notes, particularly about what "we've run afloat" means, Chicco. Salty dog is an old English term for a sailor. Something to do with the typical sailor of the time being low-bred and reeking of sea salts. I came across Libertatia and James Misson in my readings, recently. Libertatia was a libertarian, communist pirate haven set up in Madagascar in the 1600s. I wonder if Reid might have been thinking about it when he wrote this song. Would a ship from England in the 1600s have traveled all the way around Cape Horn just...
Thanks for your notes, particularly about what "we've run afloat" means, Chicco. Salty dog is an old English term for a sailor. Something to do with the typical sailor of the time being low-bred and reeking of sea salts. I came across Libertatia and James Misson in my readings, recently. Libertatia was a libertarian, communist pirate haven set up in Madagascar in the 1600s. I wonder if Reid might have been thinking about it when he wrote this song. Would a ship from England in the 1600s have traveled all the way around Cape Horn just to avoid the Cape of Good Hope? In other words, would they have sailed west to get to Madagascar?
@ASaltyDog I agree that it has to do with finding love and salvation. The boat is a symbol of the soul. The sailors are physically alive, but dead in their souls. So when they find salvation it is a huge surprise. The "How many moons how many Junes" is what marks it as being about finding the "loving homeland." Because these are empty words used as cheap rhymes in doggerel poems about love. So they represent the "torturous journey" to find earthly love, which leaves us stranded and dead. But at the end of the poem they find the true...
@ASaltyDog I agree that it has to do with finding love and salvation. The boat is a symbol of the soul. The sailors are physically alive, but dead in their souls. So when they find salvation it is a huge surprise. The "How many moons how many Junes" is what marks it as being about finding the "loving homeland." Because these are empty words used as cheap rhymes in doggerel poems about love. So they represent the "torturous journey" to find earthly love, which leaves us stranded and dead. But at the end of the poem they find the true love. A lot of the details aren't easy to figure out, but this is Procol Harum, after all.
@ASaltyDog I agree that it has to do with finding love and salvation. The boat is a symbol of the soul. The sailors are physically alive, but dead in their souls. So when they find salvation it is a huge surprise. The "How many moons how many Junes" is what marks it as being about finding the "loving homeland." Because these are empty words used as cheap rhymes in doggerel poems about love. So they represent the "torturous journey" to find earthly love, which leaves us stranded and dead. But at the end of the poem they find the true...
@ASaltyDog I agree that it has to do with finding love and salvation. The boat is a symbol of the soul. The sailors are physically alive, but dead in their souls. So when they find salvation it is a huge surprise. The "How many moons how many Junes" is what marks it as being about finding the "loving homeland." Because these are empty words used as cheap rhymes in doggerel poems about love. So they represent the "torturous journey" to find earthly love, which leaves us stranded and dead. But at the end of the poem they find the true love. A lot of the details aren't easy to figure out, but this is Procol Harum, after all.