I think it's about someone being executed by lethal injection and slipping off into death. The blue canoe is the gurney. They "took the paddles" because they're killing him, they "paralyzed his arms" because they're strapping him down. The change from day-to-day life in the prison to the silence of the execution chamber (away from the rifle range of the guards) is so sudden.
Also, it seems he's being executed for murder committed with a "sweet young foreign gun," taking something for nothing like that ends with a bad report, a conviction.
Also, it seems he's being executed for murder committed with a "sweet young foreign gun," taking something for nothing like that ends with a bad report, a conviction.
This song is on the album Tumbleweed Connection, which is a theme album based on the American "Old West." So, I think it has to be interpreted in that context. For that reason, I don't think its about lethal injection, but, like poetry, it can be interpreted however you want, so go with it.
This song is on the album Tumbleweed Connection, which is a theme album based on the American "Old West." So, I think it has to be interpreted in that context. For that reason, I don't think its about lethal injection, but, like poetry, it can be interpreted however you want, so go with it.
When Taupin wrote this song, lethal injection didn't exist, the concept was barely even known. "Blue Canoe" was probably LSD. It was suggested at the time that the song was about the assination of Robert Kennedy, the "sweet young foreign gun" being Sirhan Sirhan.
When Taupin wrote this song, lethal injection didn't exist, the concept was barely even known. "Blue Canoe" was probably LSD. It was suggested at the time that the song was about the assination of Robert Kennedy, the "sweet young foreign gun" being Sirhan Sirhan.
Your interpretation hinges on the words "took the paddles" which isn't what is sung.
The words are: "Insanely took a paddle" as in paddling in knee-deep water. I am more inclined to agree with zameron that it about drug use. The Blue Canoe is a narcotic which leads to a feeling of floating like a leaf, seeing dazzling, dancing lights then not being able to save himself (because of paralysed arms) after falling in the water while taking a paddle.
Quite how the last verse connects with the others is a puzzle. I have always thought that it...
Your interpretation hinges on the words "took the paddles" which isn't what is sung.
The words are: "Insanely took a paddle" as in paddling in knee-deep water. I am more inclined to agree with zameron that it about drug use. The Blue Canoe is a narcotic which leads to a feeling of floating like a leaf, seeing dazzling, dancing lights then not being able to save himself (because of paralysed arms) after falling in the water while taking a paddle.
Quite how the last verse connects with the others is a puzzle. I have always thought that it relates to someone taking a walk in the danger zone beyond the targets of a rifle range and being struck by a stray bullet. That of course is only my personal perception and I may be completely off target. (Pardon the pun) It's also possible that Bernie's lyrics may be deliberately obscure, or unfinished or have had verses removed to make the song shorter.
The only thing I am sure of is It isn't about an execution.
Many people draw conclusions about this album's lyrics on the flimsy basis that there are some American Civil War images on the sleeve so they throw soldiers and firing squads into the meaning. The major images on the sleev are photos taken at an English preserved railway station so why not use these as a basis for interpreting the lyrics? The fact remains that Taupin wrote the words out of his own imagination and the album artwork was probably the last artistic contribution to the whole project. He didn't select the images and then write songs about them.
@OpalEyedEssence Execution by lethal injection didn't even exist when John and Taupin wrote the song in the late 1960s. It's about a young English infantryman in World War I who is killed in battle ("a sweet young foreign gun") and wakes up to find himself dead, asking St. Peter what his afterlife fate will be.
@OpalEyedEssence Execution by lethal injection didn't even exist when John and Taupin wrote the song in the late 1960s. It's about a young English infantryman in World War I who is killed in battle ("a sweet young foreign gun") and wakes up to find himself dead, asking St. Peter what his afterlife fate will be.
I think it's about someone being executed by lethal injection and slipping off into death. The blue canoe is the gurney. They "took the paddles" because they're killing him, they "paralyzed his arms" because they're strapping him down. The change from day-to-day life in the prison to the silence of the execution chamber (away from the rifle range of the guards) is so sudden.
Also, it seems he's being executed for murder committed with a "sweet young foreign gun," taking something for nothing like that ends with a bad report, a conviction.
Also, it seems he's being executed for murder committed with a "sweet young foreign gun," taking something for nothing like that ends with a bad report, a conviction.
This song is on the album Tumbleweed Connection, which is a theme album based on the American "Old West." So, I think it has to be interpreted in that context. For that reason, I don't think its about lethal injection, but, like poetry, it can be interpreted however you want, so go with it.
This song is on the album Tumbleweed Connection, which is a theme album based on the American "Old West." So, I think it has to be interpreted in that context. For that reason, I don't think its about lethal injection, but, like poetry, it can be interpreted however you want, so go with it.
When Taupin wrote this song, lethal injection didn't exist, the concept was barely even known. "Blue Canoe" was probably LSD. It was suggested at the time that the song was about the assination of Robert Kennedy, the "sweet young foreign gun" being Sirhan Sirhan.
When Taupin wrote this song, lethal injection didn't exist, the concept was barely even known. "Blue Canoe" was probably LSD. It was suggested at the time that the song was about the assination of Robert Kennedy, the "sweet young foreign gun" being Sirhan Sirhan.
Your interpretation hinges on the words "took the paddles" which isn't what is sung. The words are: "Insanely took a paddle" as in paddling in knee-deep water. I am more inclined to agree with zameron that it about drug use. The Blue Canoe is a narcotic which leads to a feeling of floating like a leaf, seeing dazzling, dancing lights then not being able to save himself (because of paralysed arms) after falling in the water while taking a paddle. Quite how the last verse connects with the others is a puzzle. I have always thought that it...
Your interpretation hinges on the words "took the paddles" which isn't what is sung. The words are: "Insanely took a paddle" as in paddling in knee-deep water. I am more inclined to agree with zameron that it about drug use. The Blue Canoe is a narcotic which leads to a feeling of floating like a leaf, seeing dazzling, dancing lights then not being able to save himself (because of paralysed arms) after falling in the water while taking a paddle.
Quite how the last verse connects with the others is a puzzle. I have always thought that it relates to someone taking a walk in the danger zone beyond the targets of a rifle range and being struck by a stray bullet. That of course is only my personal perception and I may be completely off target. (Pardon the pun) It's also possible that Bernie's lyrics may be deliberately obscure, or unfinished or have had verses removed to make the song shorter. The only thing I am sure of is It isn't about an execution. Many people draw conclusions about this album's lyrics on the flimsy basis that there are some American Civil War images on the sleeve so they throw soldiers and firing squads into the meaning. The major images on the sleev are photos taken at an English preserved railway station so why not use these as a basis for interpreting the lyrics? The fact remains that Taupin wrote the words out of his own imagination and the album artwork was probably the last artistic contribution to the whole project. He didn't select the images and then write songs about them.
@OpalEyedEssence Execution by lethal injection didn't even exist when John and Taupin wrote the song in the late 1960s. It's about a young English infantryman in World War I who is killed in battle ("a sweet young foreign gun") and wakes up to find himself dead, asking St. Peter what his afterlife fate will be.
@OpalEyedEssence Execution by lethal injection didn't even exist when John and Taupin wrote the song in the late 1960s. It's about a young English infantryman in World War I who is killed in battle ("a sweet young foreign gun") and wakes up to find himself dead, asking St. Peter what his afterlife fate will be.