It's interesting to note that the Eels breleased a song called Flyswatter containing the words "Ice water, fly swatter gonna get you through the day." It would seem to be a clear shout out to Time Toy, only the Eels' song came out in 2000 while this track didn't come out until 2006 although it is the older of the two. Did the Eels get inspired by seeing a Time Toy show in person or did they hear a Time Toy bootleg?
Anyway, what does the song mean? Hmm… I pretty much agree with Splerb's take… it is called a blues, so it's not all happy, but it's about stability, maturity, cohabitation and cooperation. This character has his problems, but he's getting on with his life.
The subtitle is Monty Trenckmann's blues. Now, Monte Trenckmann Designers & Builders is a firm in Texas, which isn't so far from Time Toy's Athens, Georgia home. Perhaps the character in this song is supposed to be Monty Trenckmann himself,in which case the irony is that he's singing about the daily grind when later on what he's started is going to get pretty big, and presumably he will be a rich man. Another possibility is that the character here is singing Monty Trenckmann's Blues because he's working at that company, in which case success is not necessarily assured. However, the apostrophe ess on the end of Trenckmann makes the possessive, so it seems this could well be a song put in the mouth of the man himself, and perhaps a tribute to him?
@Tokebi Okay, sorry, I spelled "Monte" with a y… my mistake. I just got to thinking that if Monte Trenckmann's a real person, then the 'Tink' mentioned in the second verse might be a real person too, but so far I couldn't find anything. Maybe someone at the company or someone with a good knowledge of personalities in the Texan construction industry could shed more light on who it might be.
@Tokebi Okay, sorry, I spelled "Monte" with a y… my mistake. I just got to thinking that if Monte Trenckmann's a real person, then the 'Tink' mentioned in the second verse might be a real person too, but so far I couldn't find anything. Maybe someone at the company or someone with a good knowledge of personalities in the Texan construction industry could shed more light on who it might be.
@Tokebi Okay, my second 'edit'. Firstly, 'Tink' can be a surname in Texas, so perhaps the Tink here is Bill Tink? (That's a wild guess!) Secondly, an Athens, Georgia band called Time Toy has a song called Icewater/ Flyswatter, but apart from that they have nothing to do with Lyle Lovett. Sorry for that mistake! Finally, the release date here is actually 1992, which means that the Eels' song Flyswatter from 2000 might well be influenced by Mr. Lovett's work. Eels leader Mark Everett could have heard this song on the radio for example.
@Tokebi Okay, my second 'edit'. Firstly, 'Tink' can be a surname in Texas, so perhaps the Tink here is Bill Tink? (That's a wild guess!) Secondly, an Athens, Georgia band called Time Toy has a song called Icewater/ Flyswatter, but apart from that they have nothing to do with Lyle Lovett. Sorry for that mistake! Finally, the release date here is actually 1992, which means that the Eels' song Flyswatter from 2000 might well be influenced by Mr. Lovett's work. Eels leader Mark Everett could have heard this song on the radio for example.
It's interesting to note that the Eels breleased a song called Flyswatter containing the words "Ice water, fly swatter gonna get you through the day." It would seem to be a clear shout out to Time Toy, only the Eels' song came out in 2000 while this track didn't come out until 2006 although it is the older of the two. Did the Eels get inspired by seeing a Time Toy show in person or did they hear a Time Toy bootleg?
Anyway, what does the song mean? Hmm… I pretty much agree with Splerb's take… it is called a blues, so it's not all happy, but it's about stability, maturity, cohabitation and cooperation. This character has his problems, but he's getting on with his life.
The subtitle is Monty Trenckmann's blues. Now, Monte Trenckmann Designers & Builders is a firm in Texas, which isn't so far from Time Toy's Athens, Georgia home. Perhaps the character in this song is supposed to be Monty Trenckmann himself,in which case the irony is that he's singing about the daily grind when later on what he's started is going to get pretty big, and presumably he will be a rich man. Another possibility is that the character here is singing Monty Trenckmann's Blues because he's working at that company, in which case success is not necessarily assured. However, the apostrophe ess on the end of Trenckmann makes the possessive, so it seems this could well be a song put in the mouth of the man himself, and perhaps a tribute to him?
@Tokebi Okay, sorry, I spelled "Monte" with a y… my mistake. I just got to thinking that if Monte Trenckmann's a real person, then the 'Tink' mentioned in the second verse might be a real person too, but so far I couldn't find anything. Maybe someone at the company or someone with a good knowledge of personalities in the Texan construction industry could shed more light on who it might be.
@Tokebi Okay, sorry, I spelled "Monte" with a y… my mistake. I just got to thinking that if Monte Trenckmann's a real person, then the 'Tink' mentioned in the second verse might be a real person too, but so far I couldn't find anything. Maybe someone at the company or someone with a good knowledge of personalities in the Texan construction industry could shed more light on who it might be.
@Tokebi Okay, my second 'edit'. Firstly, 'Tink' can be a surname in Texas, so perhaps the Tink here is Bill Tink? (That's a wild guess!) Secondly, an Athens, Georgia band called Time Toy has a song called Icewater/ Flyswatter, but apart from that they have nothing to do with Lyle Lovett. Sorry for that mistake! Finally, the release date here is actually 1992, which means that the Eels' song Flyswatter from 2000 might well be influenced by Mr. Lovett's work. Eels leader Mark Everett could have heard this song on the radio for example.
@Tokebi Okay, my second 'edit'. Firstly, 'Tink' can be a surname in Texas, so perhaps the Tink here is Bill Tink? (That's a wild guess!) Secondly, an Athens, Georgia band called Time Toy has a song called Icewater/ Flyswatter, but apart from that they have nothing to do with Lyle Lovett. Sorry for that mistake! Finally, the release date here is actually 1992, which means that the Eels' song Flyswatter from 2000 might well be influenced by Mr. Lovett's work. Eels leader Mark Everett could have heard this song on the radio for example.