This song has mystified me for years. Still does. I suppose Cassack's interpretation is as good as anyone's. But I'll submit a thought, though I admittedly don't really know. There might be a clue to the first two verses in the third verse (again, maybe).
"Poison snake bites you, you're poisoned too."
Given that the first verse is the first story in the Bible after "The Fall", and records the first sins of man after "the fall", it might be that "The Fall", or "sin", is the name. Bruce was fascinated with this idea and the theme shows up in several of his songs. The most direct is obviously "Adam Raised a Cain". He gives his own summary of Genesis 3 with... "we're born into this life paying for the sins of somebody else's past."
Perhaps in "Gave it a Name", Bruce is submitting that we still have choices, and can make the right ones. That's why the guy in the last verse can feel the poison the running in his veins, but he hasn't yet done anything like kill his brother or beat up his wife.
Again, this song is one of, if not the, most mystifying of all Bruce songs. I'm just guessing.
This song has mystified me for years. Still does. I suppose Cassack's interpretation is as good as anyone's. But I'll submit a thought, though I admittedly don't really know. There might be a clue to the first two verses in the third verse (again, maybe). "Poison snake bites you, you're poisoned too." Given that the first verse is the first story in the Bible after "The Fall", and records the first sins of man after "the fall", it might be that "The Fall", or "sin", is the name. Bruce was fascinated with this idea and the theme shows up in several of his songs. The most direct is obviously "Adam Raised a Cain". He gives his own summary of Genesis 3 with... "we're born into this life paying for the sins of somebody else's past." Perhaps in "Gave it a Name", Bruce is submitting that we still have choices, and can make the right ones. That's why the guy in the last verse can feel the poison the running in his veins, but he hasn't yet done anything like kill his brother or beat up his wife.
Again, this song is one of, if not the, most mystifying of all Bruce songs. I'm just guessing.