I have always loved this track, was blown away by it from the first riff. The hockey player had a life, with meaning, an eventful one, that had impact. He lived, died, made an impression on history. It warranted him a hockey card, among other things. Yet the protagonist of the song is merely using that hockey card to prop up his hat. But...even the hat - is not just any hat, it was one of the coveted/respected fifty missions caps. Read up on the missions milestones in the book "catch-22" if you really want to know the impact of completing that many missions.
As if it needs to be added, I will further clarify - some of us have these unbelievable lives, and yet no matter what, they will fade, and we may have to merely hope that they get memorialized somehow - whether in people's memories or in symbolic trinkets...or as is the case in this song - both.
I have always loved this track, was blown away by it from the first riff. The hockey player had a life, with meaning, an eventful one, that had impact. He lived, died, made an impression on history. It warranted him a hockey card, among other things. Yet the protagonist of the song is merely using that hockey card to prop up his hat. But...even the hat - is not just any hat, it was one of the coveted/respected fifty missions caps. Read up on the missions milestones in the book "catch-22" if you really want to know the impact of completing that many missions.
As if it needs to be added, I will further clarify - some of us have these unbelievable lives, and yet no matter what, they will fade, and we may have to merely hope that they get memorialized somehow - whether in people's memories or in symbolic trinkets...or as is the case in this song - both.
[Edit: changed a y to an e for unbelievable]