Don vaguely mentioned to Letterman that the song symbolized the 'beef in his heart' and referenced "Ray-gun" before the subject turned..
but here's my own take.
Firstly, I'll say that Don walked a fine line in terms of the subject of sanity, and I've wondered if he was another reluctant prophet..(see track two on the album)
To my mind, the song refers to hypocrisy and mankind's inevitable failure.
Ice cream is the symbol of man's preoccupation. It looks good, evokes feelings of pleasure, represents innocence and all things wholesome. It also represents the vinyl siding or outward facade of our culture, as if to forgive us or allow us our own pursuits of decadence. It validates these pursuits because we share in large part, an ideology of self interest. We know we shouldn't, but we do. And so do you.
The crow is our dark side. It is the only truth there is left. Culturally, we will be faced with the confrontation of this nature, as all the facades will eventually fail us. The scarecrow has thus far served us, this convenient but dated invention, but the crow has grown too sophisticated. The things we tell ourselves as a culture are growing thin and hollow. Crow pants the Scarecrow. Face the music. The fire piano.
Beneath the symbol, we'll all assemble
Oh how we'll fly
Oh how we'll tremble
This is pretty telling. He is confirming the idea of collective consciousness here, this new place where the crow has led us. What's even more telling is what follows..
Cut the cake..we'll all get well.
Faced with our collective unease, we'll invent a new level of self deception, one that may buy us more time.
Ice cream for show?
No.
ice cream for crow.
Now you can go.
Don was an original who will be looked at in new light someday..
RIP
Don vaguely mentioned to Letterman that the song symbolized the 'beef in his heart' and referenced "Ray-gun" before the subject turned.. but here's my own take. Firstly, I'll say that Don walked a fine line in terms of the subject of sanity, and I've wondered if he was another reluctant prophet..(see track two on the album) To my mind, the song refers to hypocrisy and mankind's inevitable failure. Ice cream is the symbol of man's preoccupation. It looks good, evokes feelings of pleasure, represents innocence and all things wholesome. It also represents the vinyl siding or outward facade of our culture, as if to forgive us or allow us our own pursuits of decadence. It validates these pursuits because we share in large part, an ideology of self interest. We know we shouldn't, but we do. And so do you. The crow is our dark side. It is the only truth there is left. Culturally, we will be faced with the confrontation of this nature, as all the facades will eventually fail us. The scarecrow has thus far served us, this convenient but dated invention, but the crow has grown too sophisticated. The things we tell ourselves as a culture are growing thin and hollow. Crow pants the Scarecrow. Face the music. The fire piano. Beneath the symbol, we'll all assemble Oh how we'll fly Oh how we'll tremble This is pretty telling. He is confirming the idea of collective consciousness here, this new place where the crow has led us. What's even more telling is what follows.. Cut the cake..we'll all get well. Faced with our collective unease, we'll invent a new level of self deception, one that may buy us more time. Ice cream for show? No. ice cream for crow. Now you can go.
Don was an original who will be looked at in new light someday.. RIP