This song is brilliant. I agree it's pretty straight forward, I'd just love to know his intention with the comparisons he draws in the lines of the chorus.
Specifically...
"Are we strangers now?
Like the Ziegfeld Gal and the Vaudeville show?
Like Rock and Roll and the Radio"
Does the phrasing mean how a Ziegfeld Gal is a stranger TO a Vaudeville show (Ziegfeld dancers came before the days of Vaudeville) and then "Rock and Roll" being a stranger to "Radio" - because you essentially can't hear "rock and roll" on the radio we have in today's world? Does each reference have to do with being a stranger to the other reference in the same line OR is he referring to the collective nostalgic loss of older eras and times gone by, etc. like rock and roll and the radio... (the two being looped into one thing).
I know this is really specific - but if anyone else has any insight. I'd love to know what you think. =)
I can't claim to know Ray but love his music so have read a bit about him. He is happily married so maybe this song isn't about a lost partner. To me this song is much deeper and more heart breaking as I think he is singing about his father. This next bit is from a biography website...
I can't claim to know Ray but love his music so have read a bit about him. He is happily married so maybe this song isn't about a lost partner. To me this song is much deeper and more heart breaking as I think he is singing about his father. This next bit is from a biography website...
"When LaMontagne was a child, his mother left his musician father, while his father was on tour, and moved him and his siblings up North. His father had no contact with LaMontagne and for years had no knowledge of his whereabouts. Because...
"When LaMontagne was a child, his mother left his musician father, while his father was on tour, and moved him and his siblings up North. His father had no contact with LaMontagne and for years had no knowledge of his whereabouts. Because of the stories told to LaMontagne about his father, LaMontagne refrained from most musical activity, instead spending much of his time reading fantasy novels in the forest. His mother moved him and his five siblings to wherever she could find work, so it was difficult for LaMontagne to become friends with other children."
This is possibly the most beautiful and intimate song I have ever heard.
This took some digging. it does mean that the Ziegfield Gal does miss vaudeville. Ray watched a movie called The Great Ziegfield (1936) where Florenz Ziegfield Jr creates a show called the Ziegfield follies. There are quite a few girls that Flo steals away from vaudeville to put in his show that "glorifies" women. The eventually begin to hate working for Flo and miss the days of working in vaudeville shows.
This took some digging. it does mean that the Ziegfield Gal does miss vaudeville. Ray watched a movie called The Great Ziegfield (1936) where Florenz Ziegfield Jr creates a show called the Ziegfield follies. There are quite a few girls that Flo steals away from vaudeville to put in his show that "glorifies" women. The eventually begin to hate working for Flo and miss the days of working in vaudeville shows.
This song is brilliant. I agree it's pretty straight forward, I'd just love to know his intention with the comparisons he draws in the lines of the chorus.
Specifically...
"Are we strangers now? Like the Ziegfeld Gal and the Vaudeville show? Like Rock and Roll and the Radio"
Does the phrasing mean how a Ziegfeld Gal is a stranger TO a Vaudeville show (Ziegfeld dancers came before the days of Vaudeville) and then "Rock and Roll" being a stranger to "Radio" - because you essentially can't hear "rock and roll" on the radio we have in today's world? Does each reference have to do with being a stranger to the other reference in the same line OR is he referring to the collective nostalgic loss of older eras and times gone by, etc. like rock and roll and the radio... (the two being looped into one thing).
I know this is really specific - but if anyone else has any insight. I'd love to know what you think. =)
I can't claim to know Ray but love his music so have read a bit about him. He is happily married so maybe this song isn't about a lost partner. To me this song is much deeper and more heart breaking as I think he is singing about his father. This next bit is from a biography website...
I can't claim to know Ray but love his music so have read a bit about him. He is happily married so maybe this song isn't about a lost partner. To me this song is much deeper and more heart breaking as I think he is singing about his father. This next bit is from a biography website...
"When LaMontagne was a child, his mother left his musician father, while his father was on tour, and moved him and his siblings up North. His father had no contact with LaMontagne and for years had no knowledge of his whereabouts. Because...
"When LaMontagne was a child, his mother left his musician father, while his father was on tour, and moved him and his siblings up North. His father had no contact with LaMontagne and for years had no knowledge of his whereabouts. Because of the stories told to LaMontagne about his father, LaMontagne refrained from most musical activity, instead spending much of his time reading fantasy novels in the forest. His mother moved him and his five siblings to wherever she could find work, so it was difficult for LaMontagne to become friends with other children."
This is possibly the most beautiful and intimate song I have ever heard.
This took some digging. it does mean that the Ziegfield Gal does miss vaudeville. Ray watched a movie called The Great Ziegfield (1936) where Florenz Ziegfield Jr creates a show called the Ziegfield follies. There are quite a few girls that Flo steals away from vaudeville to put in his show that "glorifies" women. The eventually begin to hate working for Flo and miss the days of working in vaudeville shows.
This took some digging. it does mean that the Ziegfield Gal does miss vaudeville. Ray watched a movie called The Great Ziegfield (1936) where Florenz Ziegfield Jr creates a show called the Ziegfield follies. There are quite a few girls that Flo steals away from vaudeville to put in his show that "glorifies" women. The eventually begin to hate working for Flo and miss the days of working in vaudeville shows.