Those aren't the full lyrics! Scandal! What happened to sunny down snuff etc etc...?
Enjoyed reading those interpretations. Agree Dark Mind-its American history but think a little later than you indicate. The spirit that must be kept high is the pioneer spirit.
I don’t think it’s about the Pilgrim fathers, I think the time is later, 1850s-60s-ish, the speaker is one of those pioneer characters like Raphael Pumpelly who went to Arizona to mine / exploit the resources and lived cheek by jowl with the Native Americans, constantly at war, and recording their experiences- 'to write in the rough' Spanish and Indian home seemed to be gesturing at Mexico, again another scene of white settlers arriving from the Great Northern Cities to try and make good and eventually settling.
It's one of those settlers looking back on his life with an agreeable feeling of contentment at a life lived well.
I think the line that clarifies things a little is the one from a snippet not used in the final track, ‘Bicycle rider, see what you’ve done to the church of the American Indian’.
My guess is that it’s essentially about the interaction between black culture / white culture, (white exploiting black ) which fits the song but could be alluding to rock n roll itself. Brian once described his music as ‘White spiritual music’. The song is a mish mash of black and white influences - (the la la las are very similar if not stolen from Ben E King’s Spanish Harlem) and whitey’s barbershop close harmony.
‘Heroes & Villains’ is an ambiguous or playful/ironic title. Were the pioneer Natty Bumpo characters Heroes or Villains? Were they bold self reliant characters who forged a path for civilisation, or cruel dead-eyed adventure capitalists etc etc…yawn yawn.
Cotillion could just be a cotton flag , could it not? Blasted with holes by disgruntled natives but still proudly aloft.
I agree with your interpretation that it's about American pioneers during the 19th century but I'd say cotillion is probably referring to the dance. My guess is that the cotillion part refers to Margarita from the cantina part of the song. "Once a night cotillion squared the fight" means that every night the fighting stopped because everyone would be in the cantina drinking and watcing Margarita dance, but one night a fight broke out and Margarita was killed when she got caught in the crossfire. This is what the line "Heroes and villains/just see what you've done" refers to....
I agree with your interpretation that it's about American pioneers during the 19th century but I'd say cotillion is probably referring to the dance. My guess is that the cotillion part refers to Margarita from the cantina part of the song. "Once a night cotillion squared the fight" means that every night the fighting stopped because everyone would be in the cantina drinking and watcing Margarita dance, but one night a fight broke out and Margarita was killed when she got caught in the crossfire. This is what the line "Heroes and villains/just see what you've done" refers to.
Perhaps the man from whose perspective the story is told is the one who accidentally killed her? I'm thinking about the line "You're under arrest" and "My children were raised". The second line sure sounds like he didn't raise his children himself, maybe because he was jailed for the murder? The lines "My children were raised/You know they suddenly rise/They started slow long ago" make it could refer to the fact that he's been gone for a long time and did not see his children grow up.
So basically it's about a man who leaves some city in the north and goes to live in a town near the border. There's a lot of fighting but he knows that there will one day be peace even though he might not live to see it ("Stand or fall/I know there shall be peace in the valley"). He falls in love with Margarita who performs at the cantina. She might also be the girl he has children with. One night a gun fight breaks out in the cantina and he accidentally kills her and is arrested. While in jail he's children are raised by other people, maybe a relative, a friend or complete strangers, and when he's finally free again they're all grown up and living ordinary, peaceful lives ("Head to toe healthy wealthy and wise"), probably up north. Now he's old and writes about his experiences so that people may learn from the mistakes made by the "heroes and villains".
Those aren't the full lyrics! Scandal! What happened to sunny down snuff etc etc...?
Enjoyed reading those interpretations. Agree Dark Mind-its American history but think a little later than you indicate. The spirit that must be kept high is the pioneer spirit.
I don’t think it’s about the Pilgrim fathers, I think the time is later, 1850s-60s-ish, the speaker is one of those pioneer characters like Raphael Pumpelly who went to Arizona to mine / exploit the resources and lived cheek by jowl with the Native Americans, constantly at war, and recording their experiences- 'to write in the rough' Spanish and Indian home seemed to be gesturing at Mexico, again another scene of white settlers arriving from the Great Northern Cities to try and make good and eventually settling. It's one of those settlers looking back on his life with an agreeable feeling of contentment at a life lived well.
I think the line that clarifies things a little is the one from a snippet not used in the final track, ‘Bicycle rider, see what you’ve done to the church of the American Indian’.
My guess is that it’s essentially about the interaction between black culture / white culture, (white exploiting black ) which fits the song but could be alluding to rock n roll itself. Brian once described his music as ‘White spiritual music’. The song is a mish mash of black and white influences - (the la la las are very similar if not stolen from Ben E King’s Spanish Harlem) and whitey’s barbershop close harmony.
‘Heroes & Villains’ is an ambiguous or playful/ironic title. Were the pioneer Natty Bumpo characters Heroes or Villains? Were they bold self reliant characters who forged a path for civilisation, or cruel dead-eyed adventure capitalists etc etc…yawn yawn.
Cotillion could just be a cotton flag , could it not? Blasted with holes by disgruntled natives but still proudly aloft.
God bless us, one and all!
I agree with your interpretation that it's about American pioneers during the 19th century but I'd say cotillion is probably referring to the dance. My guess is that the cotillion part refers to Margarita from the cantina part of the song. "Once a night cotillion squared the fight" means that every night the fighting stopped because everyone would be in the cantina drinking and watcing Margarita dance, but one night a fight broke out and Margarita was killed when she got caught in the crossfire. This is what the line "Heroes and villains/just see what you've done" refers to....
I agree with your interpretation that it's about American pioneers during the 19th century but I'd say cotillion is probably referring to the dance. My guess is that the cotillion part refers to Margarita from the cantina part of the song. "Once a night cotillion squared the fight" means that every night the fighting stopped because everyone would be in the cantina drinking and watcing Margarita dance, but one night a fight broke out and Margarita was killed when she got caught in the crossfire. This is what the line "Heroes and villains/just see what you've done" refers to.
Perhaps the man from whose perspective the story is told is the one who accidentally killed her? I'm thinking about the line "You're under arrest" and "My children were raised". The second line sure sounds like he didn't raise his children himself, maybe because he was jailed for the murder? The lines "My children were raised/You know they suddenly rise/They started slow long ago" make it could refer to the fact that he's been gone for a long time and did not see his children grow up.
So basically it's about a man who leaves some city in the north and goes to live in a town near the border. There's a lot of fighting but he knows that there will one day be peace even though he might not live to see it ("Stand or fall/I know there shall be peace in the valley"). He falls in love with Margarita who performs at the cantina. She might also be the girl he has children with. One night a gun fight breaks out in the cantina and he accidentally kills her and is arrested. While in jail he's children are raised by other people, maybe a relative, a friend or complete strangers, and when he's finally free again they're all grown up and living ordinary, peaceful lives ("Head to toe healthy wealthy and wise"), probably up north. Now he's old and writes about his experiences so that people may learn from the mistakes made by the "heroes and villains".
What do you think?
*his children
*his children
This is probably the Smiley Smile version which is shorter than the SMiLE version by a minute.
This is probably the Smiley Smile version which is shorter than the SMiLE version by a minute.