I LOVE Steely Dan songs! They're always so good and so complex at the same time. I know people talk about the generalities of their songs. I've read
lots of "...this is about a guy who..." or general analysis about moods or
settings. But I've found that, honestly, Steely Dan rarely writes a song
about generalities - they're VERY specific. In fact, eerily so (see my
analysis of Glamour Profession).
That doesn't change the fact that the music is great! In fact, knowing how they compose lyrics makes me delve that much deeper...
"Don't Take Me Alive" off of "The Royal Scam" is about David Sylvan Fine, the
youngest of the Sterling Hall bombers (at the University of Wisconsin-
Madison) who was captured ins San Rafael, California in January of 1976.
Despite the title of the song he WAS taken alive, spent three years in prison
and eventually became a paralegal in Oregon.
FIRST STANZA:
This is a David Fine (also known as William Fewes) inner monologue as the
'agents of the law' (FBI or, as they are known, "federal agents") surround
his room in San Rafael to arrest him for the Sterling Hall bombing in 1970.
He was one of four men that bombed the building on the University of
Wisconsin-Madison campus because it housed the Army Mathematics Research
Center. (Three others were injured.) The 'luckless pedestrian' is the only
casualty of the Sterling Hall bombing, researcher Robert Fassnacht.
REFRAIN:
In the press, David Fine's father was listed as a bookkeeper or salesman in
the Portland, Oregon area. Not a "bookie" or anything else nefarious - just
an honest middle-class working professional of the time.
All of the Sterling Hall bombers statements after the fact, specifically said
that they did not plan for anyone to be injured by the bomb - which was
retaliation for the infamous Kent State massacre. The fatality and other
casualties were simply the result of bad timing. And Fine was unarmed at the
time of apprehension. ("I don't want to shoot no one.")
The "crossing" line is likely refers to the aftermath of Mr. Fine's hard work
(and money) to get him into the Engineering program at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, only to have him become a radical who was (incorrectly)
associated with the Weather Underground.
And, of course, the "Don't take me alive" line which adds the element of
danger. After the bombing when all four went on the run and even during his
arrest, there is no record of Fine making that statement. Call it "artistic
license" on Steely Dan's part - but the bombing DID make headline news at the
time and was a big event.
The "Got a case of dynamite, I could hold out here all night" lines refer to
the actual bombing of the building itself. There was no mention of dynamite
or anything else being present when Fine was apprehended - so once again, this is 'artistic license'.
SECOND STANZA:
The first couple of sentences refer to Fine's hearing in San Francisco AFTER
his arrest. According to newspaper accounts, he was smiling, cordial and
comfortable in the courtroom and had no real remorse. So, as he sat on the
stand, captured after more than five years on the run, he would perceive the
crowd as "evil". The crowd, on the other hand, would be happy to capture one
of the criminals in what was at that time, the largest bombing on U.S. soil.
(The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing would eclipse it.)
The remaining lines of this stanza reference his job while on the run and
living in San Rafael - 'warehouseman' (according to one paper) or as a
traffic manager for a small electronics company in Santa Monica ("the
mechanized hum of another world"). There inside the dark ("no sun is
shining") warehouse, as William Lewes (or Lewis), the police weren't after
him ("no red lights flashing"). But, left alone in his hours of work there,
he knows who he really is and what he's responsible for. (Look up his testimony in San Francisco and you'll know what I mean.)
@Hoops McCann I agree with this assessment 100% and it also fits in or makes sense when all songs on this side are put together. Take acid, have a revelations about life in the "caves", blow up a guy and then slip away and try to remove the dark spot on the past
@Hoops McCann I agree with this assessment 100% and it also fits in or makes sense when all songs on this side are put together. Take acid, have a revelations about life in the "caves", blow up a guy and then slip away and try to remove the dark spot on the past
@Hoops McCann - Hi Hoops .. I've read a few of your historic replies here .. I'm not considering your references to this song as untrue, but I can somehow imagine that perhaps you could be a friend of SD or Fagen or Becker in disguise. Then again, I think not. There are many people out there who love the internet and who relish the thought of trying to link up historical facts and of course stretching the facts they find to adhere to an explanation of a song.
@Hoops McCann - Hi Hoops .. I've read a few of your historic replies here .. I'm not considering your references to this song as untrue, but I can somehow imagine that perhaps you could be a friend of SD or Fagen or Becker in disguise. Then again, I think not. There are many people out there who love the internet and who relish the thought of trying to link up historical facts and of course stretching the facts they find to adhere to an explanation of a song.
One thing puzzles me here regarding your take of this song; Why is...
One thing puzzles me here regarding your take of this song; Why is the phrase "I crossed my old man in Oregon don't take me alive" sung a number of times? I was 18 years old in 1970 and I remember the shootings at Kent State ... It was common practice in those days to refer to your Father as "My Old Man" ... Please tell me why you don't mention this phrase in your view here. Is it not obvious that his Father has something to do with his barricade?
@Hoops McCann - Hi Hoops .. I've read a few of your historic replies here .. I'm not considering your references to this song as untrue, but I can somehow imagine that perhaps you could be a friend of SD or Fagen or Becker in disguise. Then again, I think not. There are many people out there who love the internet and who relish the thought of trying to link up historical facts and of course stretching the facts they find to adhere to an explanation of a song.
@Hoops McCann - Hi Hoops .. I've read a few of your historic replies here .. I'm not considering your references to this song as untrue, but I can somehow imagine that perhaps you could be a friend of SD or Fagen or Becker in disguise. Then again, I think not. There are many people out there who love the internet and who relish the thought of trying to link up historical facts and of course stretching the facts they find to adhere to an explanation of a song.
One thing puzzles me here regarding your take of this song; Why is...
One thing puzzles me here regarding your take of this song; Why is the phrase "I crossed my old man in Oregon don't take me alive" sung a number of times? I was 18 years old in 1970 and I remember the shootings at Kent State ... It was common practice in those days to refer to your Father as "My Old Man" ... Please tell me why you don't mention this phrase in your view here. Is it not obvious that his Father has something to do with his barricade? If the Father isn't lyrically included in this way, well then it's a bit of a different story isn't it. The Father/Son relationship is somehow very strong here though. He crossed his Old Man back in Oregon. Is it possible that he killed his father?
Fortunately, it isn't overly important what the lyrics are ... it's the incredible structure of their music. The bridges and even double bridges in many songs. It's their open cry for perfection in the studio that matters. Larry Carleton or other ultra talented guitarists could have plucked every word of every song they wrote and perhaps taken the whole band to a new level towards Heaven ... We'll never know ...
@Hoops McCann - Firstly, Fine and three others built a bomb consisting of dynamite, gasoline and fertilizer, It was put in a van that they parked outside a campus building, It detonated after 3 am. There was no "Holed Up" confrontation with anyone. The next day, after hearing on the news that one man had been killed inside and three wounded as well, he fled but was eventually peacefully captured by the FBI in 1976. So there goes your story. Straight out the window.
@Hoops McCann - Firstly, Fine and three others built a bomb consisting of dynamite, gasoline and fertilizer, It was put in a van that they parked outside a campus building, It detonated after 3 am. There was no "Holed Up" confrontation with anyone. The next day, after hearing on the news that one man had been killed inside and three wounded as well, he fled but was eventually peacefully captured by the FBI in 1976. So there goes your story. Straight out the window.
@Hoops McCann @JohnCCarter Song lyrics are strange things...simple enough to have meaning and record an event, but usually not 100% accurate all of the time. (E.g., I have no doubt that 'The Star Spangled Banner' records a real event - even though no one can verify that the flag was truly flying proud at dawn's early light!)
@Hoops McCann @JohnCCarter Song lyrics are strange things...simple enough to have meaning and record an event, but usually not 100% accurate all of the time. (E.g., I have no doubt that 'The Star Spangled Banner' records a real event - even though no one can verify that the flag was truly flying proud at dawn's early light!)
To answer your question about why I didn't mention the phrase "I crossed my old man in Oregon", it was mainly because I did not find any conclusive articles in my research on David Fine's father to give the verse more analysis....
To answer your question about why I didn't mention the phrase "I crossed my old man in Oregon", it was mainly because I did not find any conclusive articles in my research on David Fine's father to give the verse more analysis. I could have said something to the effect, "...with all of the upbringing and education David received, he was crossing his old man by protesting the war when he was in college at Wisconsin." But, as I've said, I didn't have fairly ironclad proof that THAT was the meaning of the verse, so I didn't include it - just as I couldn't prove anything beyond David Fine was "a bookkeeper's son" as listed in the newspaper clippings at the time.
You did a good job of speculating, though.
I still stand by my original assertion that most Steely Dan songs are about something specific rather than capturing a feeling or mood (despite press releases, etc.) After all, Steely Dan is the name of a vibrator in William Burrough's, 'The Naked Lunch'. If you're interested in the structure the music and fantastic solos, great! But considering that Becker and Fagan named the band after an 'avante garde' literary novel, and (unlike other bands) has few, traditional songs about 'falling-in-love' or 'happily-ever-after', I would find it strange to simply dismiss the words as "just simple lyrics from simple times". This band wasn't just halfway weird, it was all-the-way strange!
(Rolling Stone magazine even said as much in their reviews of their albums!)
I understand what you mean by people who "fall in love with the internet and (paraphrasing) come up with conspiracy theories to support their hypotheses". However, while I can't say that I have lined up every word of the song with a concrete fact, I am more than happy to compare my research and analysis with anyone else who cares to share theirs.
(Since we're both old guys, "life experiences" and "being alive during Kent State" doesn't count! There's an old guy in the highest office in the land right now that was alive during Kent State too - and I doubt that he could even tell you who Steely Dan were, let alone any of their hits!)
Other than that, I don't know what else to say - other than perfection is complete perfection....and that Steely Dan strived for it musically AND lyrically. :)
@Hoops McCann - Hi Hoops .. Thanks for your reply to me ... Once again, the lyrics DO specify that this song points to a standoff with the law somewhere. One of the reasons for it has something to do with his father who was a salesman (past or present when written) ... Fine had no standoff with the law ... he was taken peacefully in early 1976 by the FBI. I've read and viewed interviews with SD and they have have always pointed their future towards musical structure. They have always hinted that they loved to cynically portray...
@Hoops McCann - Hi Hoops .. Thanks for your reply to me ... Once again, the lyrics DO specify that this song points to a standoff with the law somewhere. One of the reasons for it has something to do with his father who was a salesman (past or present when written) ... Fine had no standoff with the law ... he was taken peacefully in early 1976 by the FBI. I've read and viewed interviews with SD and they have have always pointed their future towards musical structure. They have always hinted that they loved to cynically portray characters who lived on the outskirts of society, but the studio was always "HOME" ... musically. You mentioned that they were extremely weird ... they have admitted many times that they were not touring material .. they didn't have the personalities for it. They were a very gifted musical duo. After their first 2 albums, they "cast" sax, drum and guitar solos in a way that Hollywood does actors until they heard what they wanted. They were relentless. Becker has claimed that he wouldn't have cared is hadn't even played a note on many of their compositions. They have both said the music came first - it was their goal. They have admitted that their lyrics were written so their followers would want to listen again and again but also that even though their characters were specific, they often were left with "holes" that THEY had to fill to match the music. IE - Custerdome. By the way, the links you left me were all dead ... Whatever.
You also mentioned that SD didn't write about love and relationships. NOT true. Not at all.
Goodnight. And just remember that slews of lyrics in history have been written to flow with the song structure, whether simple or a out of bounds, just as a jazz guitarist or saxophonist would sing a song without words.
@Hoops McCann while I agree they write about specifics in a lot of songs, those specifics can still be referencing another subject or another character….like some connection one of them has with the main subject of the song. Seems like we can always find a few small references that make us say “Hmmmm….MAYBE that part is really about this other person/thing”
@Hoops McCann while I agree they write about specifics in a lot of songs, those specifics can still be referencing another subject or another character….like some connection one of them has with the main subject of the song. Seems like we can always find a few small references that make us say “Hmmmm….MAYBE that part is really about this other person/thing”
@Hoops McCann his Wikipedia says he was born and grew up in Delaware before going to Wisconsin. His only Oregon connection was going to law school there after prison.You may want to start over
@Hoops McCann his Wikipedia says he was born and grew up in Delaware before going to Wisconsin. His only Oregon connection was going to law school there after prison.You may want to start over
@Hoops McCann
Hi there. I am on board with your interpretation of this song. Wanted to add a possibility for the phrase “I don’t want to shoot no one”. The bombing was in retaliation for the Kent State Massacre. I think “I don’t want to shoot no one” is a reference to the anti Vietnam War since that was the subject of the Kent State protest. You can come to the conclusion that David Fine was anti Vietnam War and didn’t want to get drafted & have to “shoot someone”. Just throwing it out there that either one fits the narrative....
@Hoops McCann
Hi there. I am on board with your interpretation of this song. Wanted to add a possibility for the phrase “I don’t want to shoot no one”. The bombing was in retaliation for the Kent State Massacre. I think “I don’t want to shoot no one” is a reference to the anti Vietnam War since that was the subject of the Kent State protest. You can come to the conclusion that David Fine was anti Vietnam War and didn’t want to get drafted & have to “shoot someone”. Just throwing it out there that either one fits the narrative.
I LOVE Steely Dan songs! They're always so good and so complex at the same time. I know people talk about the generalities of their songs. I've read lots of "...this is about a guy who..." or general analysis about moods or settings. But I've found that, honestly, Steely Dan rarely writes a song about generalities - they're VERY specific. In fact, eerily so (see my analysis of Glamour Profession).
That doesn't change the fact that the music is great! In fact, knowing how they compose lyrics makes me delve that much deeper...
"Don't Take Me Alive" off of "The Royal Scam" is about David Sylvan Fine, the youngest of the Sterling Hall bombers (at the University of Wisconsin- Madison) who was captured ins San Rafael, California in January of 1976. Despite the title of the song he WAS taken alive, spent three years in prison and eventually became a paralegal in Oregon.
FIRST STANZA:
This is a David Fine (also known as William Fewes) inner monologue as the 'agents of the law' (FBI or, as they are known, "federal agents") surround his room in San Rafael to arrest him for the Sterling Hall bombing in 1970.
He was one of four men that bombed the building on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus because it housed the Army Mathematics Research Center. (Three others were injured.) The 'luckless pedestrian' is the only casualty of the Sterling Hall bombing, researcher Robert Fassnacht.
REFRAIN:
In the press, David Fine's father was listed as a bookkeeper or salesman in the Portland, Oregon area. Not a "bookie" or anything else nefarious - just an honest middle-class working professional of the time.
All of the Sterling Hall bombers statements after the fact, specifically said that they did not plan for anyone to be injured by the bomb - which was retaliation for the infamous Kent State massacre. The fatality and other casualties were simply the result of bad timing. And Fine was unarmed at the time of apprehension. ("I don't want to shoot no one.")
The "crossing" line is likely refers to the aftermath of Mr. Fine's hard work (and money) to get him into the Engineering program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, only to have him become a radical who was (incorrectly) associated with the Weather Underground.
And, of course, the "Don't take me alive" line which adds the element of danger. After the bombing when all four went on the run and even during his arrest, there is no record of Fine making that statement. Call it "artistic license" on Steely Dan's part - but the bombing DID make headline news at the time and was a big event.
The "Got a case of dynamite, I could hold out here all night" lines refer to the actual bombing of the building itself. There was no mention of dynamite or anything else being present when Fine was apprehended - so once again, this is 'artistic license'.
SECOND STANZA:
The first couple of sentences refer to Fine's hearing in San Francisco AFTER his arrest. According to newspaper accounts, he was smiling, cordial and comfortable in the courtroom and had no real remorse. So, as he sat on the stand, captured after more than five years on the run, he would perceive the crowd as "evil". The crowd, on the other hand, would be happy to capture one of the criminals in what was at that time, the largest bombing on U.S. soil. (The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing would eclipse it.)
The remaining lines of this stanza reference his job while on the run and living in San Rafael - 'warehouseman' (according to one paper) or as a traffic manager for a small electronics company in Santa Monica ("the mechanized hum of another world"). There inside the dark ("no sun is shining") warehouse, as William Lewes (or Lewis), the police weren't after him ("no red lights flashing"). But, left alone in his hours of work there, he knows who he really is and what he's responsible for. (Look up his testimony in San Francisco and you'll know what I mean.)
@Hoops McCann I agree with this assessment 100% and it also fits in or makes sense when all songs on this side are put together. Take acid, have a revelations about life in the "caves", blow up a guy and then slip away and try to remove the dark spot on the past
@Hoops McCann I agree with this assessment 100% and it also fits in or makes sense when all songs on this side are put together. Take acid, have a revelations about life in the "caves", blow up a guy and then slip away and try to remove the dark spot on the past
@Hoops McCann - Hi Hoops .. I've read a few of your historic replies here .. I'm not considering your references to this song as untrue, but I can somehow imagine that perhaps you could be a friend of SD or Fagen or Becker in disguise. Then again, I think not. There are many people out there who love the internet and who relish the thought of trying to link up historical facts and of course stretching the facts they find to adhere to an explanation of a song.
@Hoops McCann - Hi Hoops .. I've read a few of your historic replies here .. I'm not considering your references to this song as untrue, but I can somehow imagine that perhaps you could be a friend of SD or Fagen or Becker in disguise. Then again, I think not. There are many people out there who love the internet and who relish the thought of trying to link up historical facts and of course stretching the facts they find to adhere to an explanation of a song.
One thing puzzles me here regarding your take of this song; Why is...
One thing puzzles me here regarding your take of this song; Why is the phrase "I crossed my old man in Oregon don't take me alive" sung a number of times? I was 18 years old in 1970 and I remember the shootings at Kent State ... It was common practice in those days to refer to your Father as "My Old Man" ... Please tell me why you don't mention this phrase in your view here. Is it not obvious that his Father has something to do with his barricade?
@Hoops McCann - Hi Hoops .. I've read a few of your historic replies here .. I'm not considering your references to this song as untrue, but I can somehow imagine that perhaps you could be a friend of SD or Fagen or Becker in disguise. Then again, I think not. There are many people out there who love the internet and who relish the thought of trying to link up historical facts and of course stretching the facts they find to adhere to an explanation of a song.
@Hoops McCann - Hi Hoops .. I've read a few of your historic replies here .. I'm not considering your references to this song as untrue, but I can somehow imagine that perhaps you could be a friend of SD or Fagen or Becker in disguise. Then again, I think not. There are many people out there who love the internet and who relish the thought of trying to link up historical facts and of course stretching the facts they find to adhere to an explanation of a song.
One thing puzzles me here regarding your take of this song; Why is...
One thing puzzles me here regarding your take of this song; Why is the phrase "I crossed my old man in Oregon don't take me alive" sung a number of times? I was 18 years old in 1970 and I remember the shootings at Kent State ... It was common practice in those days to refer to your Father as "My Old Man" ... Please tell me why you don't mention this phrase in your view here. Is it not obvious that his Father has something to do with his barricade? If the Father isn't lyrically included in this way, well then it's a bit of a different story isn't it. The Father/Son relationship is somehow very strong here though. He crossed his Old Man back in Oregon. Is it possible that he killed his father?
Fortunately, it isn't overly important what the lyrics are ... it's the incredible structure of their music. The bridges and even double bridges in many songs. It's their open cry for perfection in the studio that matters. Larry Carleton or other ultra talented guitarists could have plucked every word of every song they wrote and perhaps taken the whole band to a new level towards Heaven ... We'll never know ...
@Hoops McCann - Firstly, Fine and three others built a bomb consisting of dynamite, gasoline and fertilizer, It was put in a van that they parked outside a campus building, It detonated after 3 am. There was no "Holed Up" confrontation with anyone. The next day, after hearing on the news that one man had been killed inside and three wounded as well, he fled but was eventually peacefully captured by the FBI in 1976. So there goes your story. Straight out the window.
@Hoops McCann - Firstly, Fine and three others built a bomb consisting of dynamite, gasoline and fertilizer, It was put in a van that they parked outside a campus building, It detonated after 3 am. There was no "Holed Up" confrontation with anyone. The next day, after hearing on the news that one man had been killed inside and three wounded as well, he fled but was eventually peacefully captured by the FBI in 1976. So there goes your story. Straight out the window.
@Hoops McCann @JohnCCarter Song lyrics are strange things...simple enough to have meaning and record an event, but usually not 100% accurate all of the time. (E.g., I have no doubt that 'The Star Spangled Banner' records a real event - even though no one can verify that the flag was truly flying proud at dawn's early light!)
@Hoops McCann @JohnCCarter Song lyrics are strange things...simple enough to have meaning and record an event, but usually not 100% accurate all of the time. (E.g., I have no doubt that 'The Star Spangled Banner' records a real event - even though no one can verify that the flag was truly flying proud at dawn's early light!)
To answer your question about why I didn't mention the phrase "I crossed my old man in Oregon", it was mainly because I did not find any conclusive articles in my research on David Fine's father to give the verse more analysis....
To answer your question about why I didn't mention the phrase "I crossed my old man in Oregon", it was mainly because I did not find any conclusive articles in my research on David Fine's father to give the verse more analysis. I could have said something to the effect, "...with all of the upbringing and education David received, he was crossing his old man by protesting the war when he was in college at Wisconsin." But, as I've said, I didn't have fairly ironclad proof that THAT was the meaning of the verse, so I didn't include it - just as I couldn't prove anything beyond David Fine was "a bookkeeper's son" as listed in the newspaper clippings at the time.
You did a good job of speculating, though.
I still stand by my original assertion that most Steely Dan songs are about something specific rather than capturing a feeling or mood (despite press releases, etc.) After all, Steely Dan is the name of a vibrator in William Burrough's, 'The Naked Lunch'. If you're interested in the structure the music and fantastic solos, great! But considering that Becker and Fagan named the band after an 'avante garde' literary novel, and (unlike other bands) has few, traditional songs about 'falling-in-love' or 'happily-ever-after', I would find it strange to simply dismiss the words as "just simple lyrics from simple times". This band wasn't just halfway weird, it was all-the-way strange!
(Rolling Stone magazine even said as much in their reviews of their albums!)
You don't have to take my word for it - you can do your own research on HOW Steely Dan (basically Walter Becker) developed lyrics to the music. A good primer is an article here: (https://sandiegotroubadour.com/2017/10/aloha-walter-and-donald-piercing-the-veil-through-the-zen-of-steely-dan/) or here: (https://rateyourmusic.com/list/streetmouse/steely-dan-all-the-facts-and-hidden-meanings-from-a-band-who-changed-how-i-listened-to-music-by-jenell-kesler/). Or reading the article on how Donald Fagen composed the lyrics to one of the songs on the album, Sunken Condos: (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/joan-k-smith/on-the-eve-of-the-mood-sw_b_3613414.html?guccounter=1) Does that process sound like someone who considers lyrics minor?
I understand what you mean by people who "fall in love with the internet and (paraphrasing) come up with conspiracy theories to support their hypotheses". However, while I can't say that I have lined up every word of the song with a concrete fact, I am more than happy to compare my research and analysis with anyone else who cares to share theirs.
(Since we're both old guys, "life experiences" and "being alive during Kent State" doesn't count! There's an old guy in the highest office in the land right now that was alive during Kent State too - and I doubt that he could even tell you who Steely Dan were, let alone any of their hits!)
Other than that, I don't know what else to say - other than perfection is complete perfection....and that Steely Dan strived for it musically AND lyrically. :)
@Hoops McCann - Hi Hoops .. Thanks for your reply to me ... Once again, the lyrics DO specify that this song points to a standoff with the law somewhere. One of the reasons for it has something to do with his father who was a salesman (past or present when written) ... Fine had no standoff with the law ... he was taken peacefully in early 1976 by the FBI. I've read and viewed interviews with SD and they have have always pointed their future towards musical structure. They have always hinted that they loved to cynically portray...
@Hoops McCann - Hi Hoops .. Thanks for your reply to me ... Once again, the lyrics DO specify that this song points to a standoff with the law somewhere. One of the reasons for it has something to do with his father who was a salesman (past or present when written) ... Fine had no standoff with the law ... he was taken peacefully in early 1976 by the FBI. I've read and viewed interviews with SD and they have have always pointed their future towards musical structure. They have always hinted that they loved to cynically portray characters who lived on the outskirts of society, but the studio was always "HOME" ... musically. You mentioned that they were extremely weird ... they have admitted many times that they were not touring material .. they didn't have the personalities for it. They were a very gifted musical duo. After their first 2 albums, they "cast" sax, drum and guitar solos in a way that Hollywood does actors until they heard what they wanted. They were relentless. Becker has claimed that he wouldn't have cared is hadn't even played a note on many of their compositions. They have both said the music came first - it was their goal. They have admitted that their lyrics were written so their followers would want to listen again and again but also that even though their characters were specific, they often were left with "holes" that THEY had to fill to match the music. IE - Custerdome. By the way, the links you left me were all dead ... Whatever.
You also mentioned that SD didn't write about love and relationships. NOT true. Not at all.
Goodnight. And just remember that slews of lyrics in history have been written to flow with the song structure, whether simple or a out of bounds, just as a jazz guitarist or saxophonist would sing a song without words.
@Hoops McCann while I agree they write about specifics in a lot of songs, those specifics can still be referencing another subject or another character….like some connection one of them has with the main subject of the song. Seems like we can always find a few small references that make us say “Hmmmm….MAYBE that part is really about this other person/thing”
@Hoops McCann while I agree they write about specifics in a lot of songs, those specifics can still be referencing another subject or another character….like some connection one of them has with the main subject of the song. Seems like we can always find a few small references that make us say “Hmmmm….MAYBE that part is really about this other person/thing”
@Hoops McCann his Wikipedia says he was born and grew up in Delaware before going to Wisconsin. His only Oregon connection was going to law school there after prison.You may want to start over
@Hoops McCann his Wikipedia says he was born and grew up in Delaware before going to Wisconsin. His only Oregon connection was going to law school there after prison.You may want to start over
You should be a professor. Great analysis.
You should be a professor. Great analysis.
@Hoops McCann Hi there. I am on board with your interpretation of this song. Wanted to add a possibility for the phrase “I don’t want to shoot no one”. The bombing was in retaliation for the Kent State Massacre. I think “I don’t want to shoot no one” is a reference to the anti Vietnam War since that was the subject of the Kent State protest. You can come to the conclusion that David Fine was anti Vietnam War and didn’t want to get drafted & have to “shoot someone”. Just throwing it out there that either one fits the narrative....
@Hoops McCann Hi there. I am on board with your interpretation of this song. Wanted to add a possibility for the phrase “I don’t want to shoot no one”. The bombing was in retaliation for the Kent State Massacre. I think “I don’t want to shoot no one” is a reference to the anti Vietnam War since that was the subject of the Kent State protest. You can come to the conclusion that David Fine was anti Vietnam War and didn’t want to get drafted & have to “shoot someone”. Just throwing it out there that either one fits the narrative.