It was written by Gary Harvey, Mike Theodore (producer) and Dennis Coffey (guitarist).
The original title was "Haight Street Dialogue", referring to the hippie community in Haight/Ashbury.
"pigs and hoes" might actually be / have been "pigs and hoses", referring to the frequent harassment by the police ("pigs") using pieces of garden hose for beatings. Which, according to Harvey, triggered the change of the title.
However, "hoes" fits the rest of the song at least as well.
The lyrics don't match the ideas of a hippy community, however: without the reference to Haights it could be the description of any tough, rundown inner city area: the dirt, the drug dealers ("pushers"), the young girls, thir children playing inbetween. The central feeling of the song is one of two-sided alienation: once by the the frequent police harassment, equally well by the drug culture, the shattered family structures (birthed by the city, raised by dealers, cousins work as dealers) and the futility of finding love inbstead of another trick.
The dust will choke you blind
The lust will choke your mind.
(Not quite sure about th "hanging tree"; though...)
@amlethus Thank you for this, it's excellent. I'll fill in the gap.
Hanging Tree is an eastern ritual of mass suicide, sometimes committed by families in solidarity to escape this life and, in the belief of reincarnation, be rebirthed into another.
The group form a circle and drop, hanging like the branches of a banyan tree.
This interpretation may fit into the hippie era well, given that many Westerners were turning to Eastern religion...
@amlethus Thank you for this, it's excellent. I'll fill in the gap.
Hanging Tree is an eastern ritual of mass suicide, sometimes committed by families in solidarity to escape this life and, in the belief of reincarnation, be rebirthed into another.
The group form a circle and drop, hanging like the branches of a banyan tree.
This interpretation may fit into the hippie era well, given that many Westerners were turning to Eastern religion...
According to this:
https://blog.sugarman.org/2012/08/11/the-amazing-story-of-hate-street-dialogue/
It was written by Gary Harvey, Mike Theodore (producer) and Dennis Coffey (guitarist).
The original title was "Haight Street Dialogue", referring to the hippie community in Haight/Ashbury.
"pigs and hoes" might actually be / have been "pigs and hoses", referring to the frequent harassment by the police ("pigs") using pieces of garden hose for beatings. Which, according to Harvey, triggered the change of the title.
However, "hoes" fits the rest of the song at least as well.
The lyrics don't match the ideas of a hippy community, however: without the reference to Haights it could be the description of any tough, rundown inner city area: the dirt, the drug dealers ("pushers"), the young girls, thir children playing inbetween. The central feeling of the song is one of two-sided alienation: once by the the frequent police harassment, equally well by the drug culture, the shattered family structures (birthed by the city, raised by dealers, cousins work as dealers) and the futility of finding love inbstead of another trick.
The dust will choke you blind
The lust will choke your mind.
(Not quite sure about th "hanging tree"; though...)
@amlethus Thank you for this, it's excellent. I'll fill in the gap. Hanging Tree is an eastern ritual of mass suicide, sometimes committed by families in solidarity to escape this life and, in the belief of reincarnation, be rebirthed into another. The group form a circle and drop, hanging like the branches of a banyan tree. This interpretation may fit into the hippie era well, given that many Westerners were turning to Eastern religion...
@amlethus Thank you for this, it's excellent. I'll fill in the gap. Hanging Tree is an eastern ritual of mass suicide, sometimes committed by families in solidarity to escape this life and, in the belief of reincarnation, be rebirthed into another. The group form a circle and drop, hanging like the branches of a banyan tree. This interpretation may fit into the hippie era well, given that many Westerners were turning to Eastern religion...