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GarlicSoul
- FB Fan -
36 Posts |
 Posted - 09/30/2002 : 23:31:42
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'ello, all
A friend pointed me toward this forum, as I havent been able to keep up with The Plain for awhile. Very nice.
I posted this interpretation of Chip Away Boy on abstract plain, last time I checked in over there, and was curious if Frank has ever mentioned anything in an interview that would either corroborate or undermine this perspective:
>> Chip Away Boy- I was wondering if the character in this one is supposed to be an Indian. Like in Calistan, when Frank purposely pronounced Nava-Joe, instead of Navaho...maybe, it's actually a Chippewa boy. The references in the song would be a stretch, but they are there, nonetheless.
Indians did fight under the Full Moon, because of the extra light that it would add to the forest nights.
"Now I'm just employed"
The Mississsippi River's Winnibigoshish Lake Dam was constructed in 1881. The project employed 300 skilled and unskilled laborers,
including local Chippewa Indians.
The present concrete structure was constructed between 1899 and 1900. Stop logs divide 5 13-foot sluiceways into 3 sections. A 12-foot log sluice and a 5-foot fishway.... <<
Also, I love to geek out on other people's song interpretations (I loved the links and notes that were included in the lyrics section of The Ole Black Vault, rest its soul) and, since Frank is one of the few songwriters whose work lends itself well to that sort of wankery, I think it could be a good idea to have one section of this forum dedicated to song interps (as is done for Show Reviews, News, etc).
Or are these kinds of posts meant to be made under the Albums section?
witty closing,
shawnte |
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zanni67
= Bio Elf =
643 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2002 : 05:38:13
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Shawnte, that's a really awesome interpretation!
-Zan
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Mike Rutherford
- FB Fan -
USA
171 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2002 : 10:04:42
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That is a cool interpretation of the song, but I think the song is just about the general pain that life brings...ie, how it slowly chips away at your soul until the day you pass on and life can't chip away at you anymore..........or you could say after you have been chipped down to nothing. "And I'll chip away til I make the other side". Some of the most painful things life brings to your average person is detailed within the song ("I used to have some fun, me and everyone, now I'm just employed")....this verse seems to detail how things that once brought so much pleasure and excitement have now become monotonous and sorta meaningless/like an assembly line. Kinda like how maybe playing in a band was once the thrill of a lifetime, but after doing it for so long, there are times when that particular way of life starts to feel unfulfilling and meaningless. And not really just playing in a band per se...that could apply to anything in one's life.
"I remember humid nights, I remember how the full moon tugs, how it used to make us fight, and the language of the bugs, and even our doomsday".............this verse, as well as the next really hits close to home for me.......it reminds me of my ex-fiance and all of those summer nights we spent together....the good times, the the bad times, the fights...and the day we eventually departed from one another. And how that "chipped away" a part of my soul that I will never get back. And how, even as time goes on, I will always remember my first fiancee, who was also my first love and it will always "chip away" at a part of me in some way.
"I think I've fallen in love, and now she's falling off her stool, it's not me she's thinking of, but I'm her little fool, and she's my Helen O Troy".........One word: rejection. Being rejected by a woman whom you are very fond of is super painful. It's another part of life that will "chip away" at the soul.
The last verse just seems to entail escape. The woman puts on her Camisole, the author hides cause he feels ashamed or ugly, crawls in a hole and flows away.
Anyways, that's my take on the song. Such a beautiful song. And I can totally identify with the lyrics. Not to say that what I've written above is entirely what the songs actually is about, but to me I can't translate it any other way. |
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El Barto
= Song DB Master =
USA
4020 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2002 : 12:13:08
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| It can fit under album reviews. No need to make so many niche forums. Interesting point, though. |
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GarlicSoul
- FB Fan -
36 Posts |
Posted - 01/01/2003 : 09:01:23
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I cant argue with any of your interpretations, Mike. It seems reasonable enough.
The thing that stuck out for me, was the word sluiceway. That word seemed so odd, that I felt it must hint at some deeper mystery. So I crossed referenced the words Sluiceway and Chippewa and was surprised to find that dam(n) Winnibigoshish story.
shawnte |
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mereubu
= FB QuizMistress =
USA
2677 Posts |
Posted - 01/01/2003 : 09:51:49
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| I had an impression that it had something to do with the Chippewa and being forced into labor, but never investigated. This is too cool. I bet you're dead-on about it. Thanks for sharing--I love this kind of stuff! |
Edited by - mereubu on 01/01/2003 10:14:49 |
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St. Francis
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
548 Posts |
Posted - 01/01/2003 : 11:14:27
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Think the falling in love off the stool this has to do with something different. No rejection but rather the latest project... and the individual is idealizing the person in light of their former self... I'm a chip away from the previous... still fall in love at the bar and can idealize about another at the bar.
Not sure if this tune has much to do with Indian labour.
Yeah! Me! |
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mereubu
= FB QuizMistress =
USA
2677 Posts |
Posted - 01/01/2003 : 11:26:19
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| I think it could be about several things simultaneously. You know that Mr. Black, always the multi-tasker. : ) |
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St. Francis
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
548 Posts |
Posted - 01/01/2003 : 11:38:44
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MMM. Hmmm. Indeed Girl!
Ever since listening to the song for the first time it always struck me as a love song written from the point of view that reality has changed because of loss. Therefore, the author is still sentimental and full of praise but the relationship is different as the song goes on... Helen of Troy... there is a compliment but then there is the whole falling off the stool... A little drunk eh Helen?
Yeah! Me! |
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