Ok, my take on this one is different from all of those, and it seems kind of bizarre, but it works for me. First of all, is it really "reaping wheel", and not "repeat reel"?
I think it's about a movie place, a dirty movie place. It's out of town, because "gentlemen don't get caught". You're going somewhere you won't get caught. "Cages under a cage" are viewing rooms within the larger building, little booths where you go in and view a "repeat reel". I mean, this isn't high-budget 70's stuff, I'm thinking the early days, when they were called "blue movies", and I imagine like a 5 minute clip, that's on loop.
"Secret stigma" is obvious, "poster torn" is just because the place is cheap and shoddy. "Stranger to these parts" is because the place is just in town for a while, and then moves on.
When it moves, we get to: "Boxcar is pulling a carnival of sorts out of town". The idea is that sometimes, the train brings in a carnival, and takes it away two weeks later. The singer wryly notes as the porn shop gets packed up and moved on, that it too is a carnival, of sorts.
I have no idea why he says "diminish".
I don't know if this is what anyone ever meant by this song, or if the scene I'm seeing is even realistic in this universe, but it's what I hear. I love R.E.M.; those guys have given us so much.
@GTony that's an interesting take you have on the lyrics [albeit completely off]. Michael said the lyrics for the first few lps were nonsensical, though I have an interview that's impossibly old where he states that 'Carnival' was made up of words on a poster [of which 'reaping wheel' was two]. The 'box cars' are explained as 'hobo transport'.
@GTony that's an interesting take you have on the lyrics [albeit completely off]. Michael said the lyrics for the first few lps were nonsensical, though I have an interview that's impossibly old where he states that 'Carnival' was made up of words on a poster [of which 'reaping wheel' was two]. The 'box cars' are explained as 'hobo transport'.
Ok, my take on this one is different from all of those, and it seems kind of bizarre, but it works for me. First of all, is it really "reaping wheel", and not "repeat reel"?
I think it's about a movie place, a dirty movie place. It's out of town, because "gentlemen don't get caught". You're going somewhere you won't get caught. "Cages under a cage" are viewing rooms within the larger building, little booths where you go in and view a "repeat reel". I mean, this isn't high-budget 70's stuff, I'm thinking the early days, when they were called "blue movies", and I imagine like a 5 minute clip, that's on loop.
"Secret stigma" is obvious, "poster torn" is just because the place is cheap and shoddy. "Stranger to these parts" is because the place is just in town for a while, and then moves on.
When it moves, we get to: "Boxcar is pulling a carnival of sorts out of town". The idea is that sometimes, the train brings in a carnival, and takes it away two weeks later. The singer wryly notes as the porn shop gets packed up and moved on, that it too is a carnival, of sorts.
I have no idea why he says "diminish".
I don't know if this is what anyone ever meant by this song, or if the scene I'm seeing is even realistic in this universe, but it's what I hear. I love R.E.M.; those guys have given us so much.
@GTony that's an interesting take you have on the lyrics [albeit completely off]. Michael said the lyrics for the first few lps were nonsensical, though I have an interview that's impossibly old where he states that 'Carnival' was made up of words on a poster [of which 'reaping wheel' was two]. The 'box cars' are explained as 'hobo transport'.
@GTony that's an interesting take you have on the lyrics [albeit completely off]. Michael said the lyrics for the first few lps were nonsensical, though I have an interview that's impossibly old where he states that 'Carnival' was made up of words on a poster [of which 'reaping wheel' was two]. The 'box cars' are explained as 'hobo transport'.
@GTony
@GTony