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  #106  
Old 07-27-2014, 12:25 AM
tomana tomana is offline
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Originally Posted by ToneHunter View Post
"MacArthur Park" Beautiful song but it has some strange lyrics that most people can't fathom. "Someone left the cake out in the rain"... etc.
interesting. I forgot about this song ... stripped pants, playing checkers by the trees LOL

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again, oh noooooo

best I can figure, you had to have been there?

Aye an' a bit of Mackeral settler rack and ruin
ran it doon by the haim, 'ma place
well I slapped me and I slapped it doon in the side
and I cried, cried, cried.

Had to have been there too

Last edited by tomana; 07-27-2014 at 12:35 AM.
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  #107  
Old 07-27-2014, 07:32 AM
Buck62 Buck62 is offline
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All the lyrics to Louie, Louie.... if there really are any. Ugh!

Also, the song Born to Run....

Beyond the palace Hemi-powered drones scream down the Boulevard
Girls comb their hair in rear-view mirrors as the boys try to look so hard


One can only surmise that Springsteen is psychic and knew about powerful government drones and Viagra way back in the 70's.

Turning Japanese...

Everyone around me is is a total stranger
Everyone avoids me like a cyclone ranger, everyone


Just what is a "cyclone ranger" anyway?
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Last edited by Buck62; 07-27-2014 at 07:37 AM.
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  #108  
Old 07-27-2014, 10:42 AM
ToneHunter ToneHunter is offline
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Originally Posted by Buck62 View Post
All the lyrics to Louie, Louie.... if there really are any. Ugh!

Also, the song Born to Run....

Beyond the palace Hemi-powered drones scream down the Boulevard
Girls comb their hair in rear-view mirrors as the boys try to look so hard


One can only surmise that Springsteen is psychic and knew about powerful government drones and Viagra way back in the 70's.

Turning Japanese...

Everyone around me is is a total stranger
Everyone avoids me like a cyclone ranger, everyone


Just what is a "cyclone ranger" anyway?

Ahhh, Louie Louie! Some thought that song contained "dirty" lyrics while others didn't. I never could quite tell myself! Hard to make 'em out.

Last edited by ToneHunter; 07-27-2014 at 10:42 AM. Reason: Random character
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  #109  
Old 07-27-2014, 01:19 PM
architype architype is offline
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Originally Posted by MWB5007 View Post
Architype,

The "Tear Stained Eyes" lyrics above:

When the hours don't move along,
worn out wood and familiar songs.
To hear your voice is not enough,
it's more than a shame.


I believe are a specific reference to the great midwestern floods in 1993 which now comprise the 500 year flood plain high water mark for Missouri. Jay and Jeff started Uncle Tupelo in Belleville IL and used to play a lot in Columbia, MO., where I am from. I used to go see them quite often when they got started.

In 1993 the Mississippi River flooded threatening many small towns along its banks.

St. Genevieve Mo. (the St. Genevieve in the song), just south of St. Louis, is a National Historic Landmark and widely considered to be the finest example of French Colonial Architecture in the U.S.

When the high waters were coming, hundreds of people from around the state came to St. Genevieve for 2 days to help load sand bags in an attempt to stave off the flooding and preserve the town. It was long, hot grueling summer work but it was also a shining moment of community, of neighborly action and it felt good.

Anyway, there were musicians that would come and play to entertain people while they loaded sand bags - and to entertain them later that night where they camped around the American Legion hall...

I believe the lyrics you referenced are about those two days,"when the hours don't move along, worn out wood and familiar songs", refers to the musicians that came to play for the volunteers who loaded sand bags (slow work in the hot sun I can assure you); "To hear your voice is not enough is more than a shame", I believe is a lament to the fact that despite all the efforts and good community of the many volunteers (including the singers whose voices were not enough), the river overran the banks and levies destroying homes, businesses and architectural history in its wake.

This explanation also gives context to part of the chorus (and the song's title): " St. Genevieve can hold back the water, saints don't bother with tear stained eyes"

Sorry to be long winded, I know it is very esoteric but I always liked that song too and feel a particular connection to it.

Thanks for the context. I knew about St. Genevieve and the '93 flood, but did not know all the details you have supplied.

I always took that verse as commentary on traveling musicians out on the road for weeks at a time.

"Seeing traces of the stars,(or scars, interchangeable in context), that came before. Hittin' the pavement, (the road) still askin' for more, (attention to their music, their performance and what they have to say as a band).

When the hours don't move along, worn out wood and familiar songs...(travelling on a tour bus passing the time playing old songs on old guitars)

To hear your voice is not enough, it's more than a shame"...(talking to your loved ones back home over the telephone just isn't enough)

Funny how lyrics can mean different things to different people.
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  #110  
Old 07-28-2014, 12:40 AM
Jimbolaya Jimbolaya is offline
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Originally Posted by ewalling View Post
No, it's a lexical/grammatical distinction. You cannot 'steal a person' - you would have to put the person in a bag and run off with them if you did that! We use the verb 'steal' to identify the item taken, and 'rob' to identify the person or location from whom/where we stole the item: "The thief robbed an old man. He stole the old man's watch."

Whether the Beatles "intended" this play on words, who knows and who cares. However, they did hit on a paradox that sets off interesting impressions about a contradiction in the character - that she didn't mind stealing things, but she hated robbing people. It's a really cool line!
I always thought it was a riddle: what can be stolen but not taken in a robbery? A heart.
Guess I'm just a romantic.
But Wikipedia says it's about a girl who broke into Paul's house and stole a bunch of stuff like photographs. She later returned them
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  #111  
Old 07-28-2014, 04:34 AM
ewalling ewalling is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbolaya View Post
I always thought it was a riddle: what can be stolen but not taken in a robbery? A heart.
Guess I'm just a romantic.
But Wikipedia says it's about a girl who broke into Paul's house and stole a bunch of stuff like photographs. She later returned them
I think your perspective reinforces just what a powerful line it is; it can speak to us in different ways.
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  #112  
Old 07-28-2014, 06:56 AM
Daion78 Daion78 is offline
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I believed Cane in defeat referred to the plant is no longer able to grow, is fallow.
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