| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| apl4eris |
Posted - 10/19/2004 : 13:06:54
A while ago I learned ( I think it was on that really cool tv program called "Connections") that a lot of old nursery rhymes and drinking songs were actually encoded messages. "Sing a Song of Sixpence" ("Four and Twenty Blackbirds") was a song meant to communicate to pirates the plans for the next high-seas heist.
http://www.snopes.com/lost/sixpence.htm
There are supposed to be many others.
I love the notion that things we have lived with for years that have had one layer of meaning for so long can suddenly be shown to have so much more to them. I also learned that during the American Revolution, the Americans passed intelligence messages along via color-coded laundry hung on the lines.
Have you ever suspected, heard of or found hidden messages in songs?
As far as Frank Black goes, we are aware of several of his word games, and here http://forum.frankblack.net/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10167 you can find a possible backmasking message hijinx from The Man himself. Do you think it's legit?
RIP Rest In Peace Jacques Derrida. rasta. ruowa. freedom from activity. a brief pause in reading. a rhythmic silence in music. |
| 23 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| apl4eris |
Posted - 10/20/2004 : 18:08:03
Didn't know about the 12 Days of Christmas. That's interesting.
I remember something about the posies in the pockets were meant to help with the stench (you held the flowers to your face when passing the piles of bodies). And that the "ring around the rosies" may have been the circles around the dark bubonic spots. Ahhhh, pleasant thoughts....
RIP Rest In Peace Jacques Derrida. rasta. ruowa. freedom from activity. a brief pause in reading. a rhythmic silence in music. |
| Broken Face |
Posted - 10/20/2004 : 18:04:02
quote:
Originally posted by floop
quote:
Originally posted by darwin
Someone recently told me that "Ring Around the Rosies" was about the plague. Maybe that was common knowledge.
i've heard that too.
ist es möglich für ein quesadilla skrotum zu lecken? beim sprechen der quesadillas von LBF, ja. ja in der tatheheheheheheehehee!
yes, it is about the plague - i forget the meaning of a lot of it, but the "we all fall down" is "we all die." really creepy when you think about it
-brian
 - "I joined the Cult of Frank / And they tried to cut off my nuts and make me put on a blue jumpsuit"
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| floop |
Posted - 10/20/2004 : 18:00:50
quote:
Originally posted by darwin
Someone recently told me that "Ring Around the Rosies" was about the plague. Maybe that was common knowledge.
i've heard that too.
ist es möglich für ein quesadilla skrotum zu lecken? beim sprechen der quesadillas von LBF, ja. ja in der tatheheheheheheehehee! |
| Broken Face |
Posted - 10/20/2004 : 17:56:06
the 12 days of christmas is a veiled simple catholic catechism that was written so that english catholics could teach their children catholic ideals without being persecuted when catholicism was banned in england. read more here: http://www.geocities.com/fancypants_sc/cmas/legend1.html
-brian
- "I joined the Cult of Frank / And they tried to cut off my nuts and make me put on a blue jumpsuit"
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| VoVat |
Posted - 10/20/2004 : 17:53:20
I think most of the nursery rhymes are so old that there's no way to tell if they were originally coded messages, or political commentary, or what. I have an annotated book on nursery rhymes, and it presents several possible interpretations for some of the rhymes. I think it mentions the plague thing, but points out that it isn't necessarily true. The book frequently references the work of Katherine Elwes Thomas (I believe that's the name, anyway), who came up with political meanings for all kinds of rhymes.
"Signature quotes are so lame." --Nathan |
| darwin |
Posted - 10/20/2004 : 09:42:48
Am I expected to read what other people write? No, it was my wife that told me.
Also, on the issue of not trusting common knowledge, I was going to post that the Undergroud Railroad used quilts to help direct how former slaves escaped. But, a quick google led me to this site which claims that is a myth.
http://www.hartcottagequilts.com/railroad.htm |
| apl4eris |
Posted - 10/20/2004 : 09:38:28
quote:
Originally posted by darwin
Someone recently told me that "Ring Around the Rosies" was about the plague. Maybe that was common knowledge.
Was it Cheeseman that told you? quote:
Originally posted by Cheeseman1000
Along the nursery rhymes one, Ring-a-ring-a-roses is about the Black Death. Mmm, bubonic plague.
Also, if you play Paul McCartney's 'Maybe I'm Amazed' backwards, you get an excellent recipe for lentil soup.
Anyone that full of cheese can't possibly be trusted. 
Plus, a "recipe for lentil soup"? Honestly.
Yeah the bubonic plague nursery rhyme seems to be long-standing common "knowledge". Though I don't know if I can take anything based on common "knowledge" to the bank anymore. "George Orwell" made a very good point.
RIP Rest In Peace Jacques Derrida. rasta. ruowa. freedom from activity. a brief pause in reading. a rhythmic silence in music. |
| darwin |
Posted - 10/20/2004 : 09:30:05
Someone recently told me that "Ring Around the Rosies" was about the plague. Maybe that was common knowledge. |
| apl4eris |
Posted - 10/20/2004 : 09:16:13
Yar! Seems I've been duped -thanks for pointing that out - I have a long way to go to be the next George Seldes. ;) Funny, because I didn't learn about it from Snopes either.
But here's the strange thing. I think I learned about that legend on a show created before the advent of Snopes (James Burke's show "Connections", if memory serves). Yet Snopes says they made it up themselves (all I did was a quick google search to have a resource for others to read, and snopes' site came up). How is that explained?
Here someone else mentions the legend and says he hadn't learned it from Snopes either. There is no date of posting, so it's hard to say if they had learned it from that TLC buffer quiz.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-26667,00.html
RIP Rest In Peace Jacques Derrida. rasta. ruowa. freedom from activity. a brief pause in reading. a rhythmic silence in music. |
| Scarla O |
Posted - 10/20/2004 : 02:17:41
quote:
Originally posted by apl4eris
A while ago I learned ( I think it was on that really cool tv program called "Connections") that a lot of old nursery rhymes and drinking songs were actually encoded messages. "Sing a Song of Sixpence" ("Four and Twenty Blackbirds") was a song meant to communicate to pirates the plans for the next high-seas heist.
http://www.snopes.com/lost/sixpence.htm
There are supposed to be many others.
i'm afraid it ain't true me old mucker.
http://www.snopes.com/lost/false.htm
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| bumblebeeboy2 |
Posted - 10/20/2004 : 01:11:28
the 'backmasking' thing is quite amusing. in our media studies class we did some experiments, listing to songs backwards. and if someone suggested a song said something like "robert is going to get you" you could hear it in the song. because basically it didn't sound like anything and using your imagination/the power of suggestion you could hear whatever someone told you to hear.
The Monkey Helper has arrived http://www.monkeyhelper.co.uk (that is my band) |
| LBF1976 |
Posted - 10/20/2004 : 00:51:12
Sounds pretty clear to me there isn't any message.
Crazy shit.
Floops quesedillas zijn te vergelijken met het likken van fatsige Albert's aars nadat hij een fles laxeermiddel heeft leeggedronken. |
| apl4eris |
Posted - 10/19/2004 : 22:22:57
Aww thanks Daisy! By the way, on the shortwave thing, I had to make a new topic related to that: http://forum.frankblack.net/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10260
RIP Rest In Peace Jacques Derrida. rasta. ruowa. freedom from activity. a brief pause in reading. a rhythmic silence in music. |
| Daisy Girl |
Posted - 10/19/2004 : 20:26:47
apl, I must say this topic and the shorwave radio topic are very cool. you are full of intersting tibits about criptic topics. very cool. i am almost certain that fb does have some kind of personal meaning in a lot of his songs. i think writers make stuff or a reference personal yet portray it in a way that most if not fans would pick it out. I think it would be cool if his music had a message not to vote for Bush :) |
| mun chien andalusia |
Posted - 10/19/2004 : 18:24:08
christian death's first album has for sure stuff like this, though i don't remember the exact track tittles.
 join the cult of errol\and you can have a beer\without having to quit smoking
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| Cheeseman1000 |
Posted - 10/19/2004 : 15:36:30
Generals gather in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Actually, I think Geezer Butler wrote the words for Sabbath.
Along the nursery rhymes one, Ring-a-ring-a-roses is about the Black Death. Mmm, bubonic plague.
Also, if you play Paul McCartney's 'Maybe I'm Amazed' backwards, you get an excellent recipe for lentil soup.
"You ever seen a man say goodbye to a shoe?"
"Yes, once..." |
| n/a |
Posted - 10/19/2004 : 15:29:18
the frank one is convincing
Frank Black ate my hamster |
| floop |
Posted - 10/19/2004 : 15:08:04
quote:
[i]Originally posted by KimStanleyRobinson[/i
Ozzy Osbourne: NOT one of the world's better lyricists.
agreed. from Paranoid:
Make a joke
and I will sigh
and you will laugh
and I will cry
ist es möglich für ein quesadilla skrotum zu lecken? beim sprechen der quesadillas von LBF, ja. ja in der tatheheheheheheehehee! |
| apl4eris |
Posted - 10/19/2004 : 15:07:38
Yeah. That's the ticket Caroly.
Did anyone listen to the Frank one in the link I posted? Here's the link http://forum.frankblack.net/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10167
And here's the direct link to the sound clip:
quote:
Originally posted by illusion dog
I've gone through TCOR, Franks rocks in reverse too btw ;) Only one hit and it's a stretch.
Dance War: When reversed the lyrics "Slamming in this pit" sound vaguely like "There isn't any message." 
Have a listen.
Listen! It's kinda weird, sounds like the real thing to me!
RIP Rest In Peace Jacques Derrida. rasta. ruowa. freedom from activity. a brief pause in reading. a rhythmic silence in music. |
| n/a |
Posted - 10/19/2004 : 15:06:04
oooh I love the evil dead
Frank Black ate my hamster |
| Carolynanna |
Posted - 10/19/2004 : 15:03:04
Backmasking,
is that where you spin the record backwards and its supposed to says stuff about worshiping satan or some crap but it usually sounds like some garbly gook from the Evil Dead?
__________
"The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; business without morality; science without humanity,
and worship without sacrifice." |
| KimStanleyRobinson |
Posted - 10/19/2004 : 14:13:21
I remember the whole backmasking scare BS in the 80's...everything from The Eagles to Van Halen was supposed to be just chock full of subliminals and we were all going to hell whether we wanted to or not.
Remember how the end of - what was it - A Day In The Life? - was supposed to have had "Everybody smoke pot!" looped in?
They found that John was actually saying "oompah oompah - stick it up your joompah" which they said meant "shove it up your ass..."
I like "everybody smoke pot" better.
The Ozzy stuff - Suicide Solution. Remember - they tried to sue him cause that kid offed himself while allegedly listening to this tune?
I guess the kid misunderstood.
Ozzy was saying, literally, "Wine is fine but wiskey's quicker. Suicide is slow with liquor. Take a bottle, drown your sorrows and it floods away tomorrows."
Ozzy Osbourne: NOT one of the world's better lyricists.
So! There tha'rt bare again, nowt but a bare-arsed lass an' a bit of a Lady Jane! |
| ramona |
Posted - 10/19/2004 : 13:37:43
Like "Paul is dead"? 
I can't think of any hidden messages... I feel like I should know some though. I'll get back to ya.
_____________________________________________________________________
If you see me, look surprised
If you don't, then pass me by
And I might even touch your sleeve
Oh, as you turn to leave
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http://buymediamonds.blogspot.com |
