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bazza
* Dog in the Sand *
Ireland
1439 Posts |
 Posted - 03/06/2003 : 06:25:30
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anyone like to help me out?
last time we did this it wasnt bad at all... some nice ideas.
so...
There may be no 'I' in team, but there's a 'ME' if you look hard enough. |
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bazza
* Dog in the Sand *
Ireland
1439 Posts |
Posted - 03/18/2003 : 13:47:10
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grrrr!! upset with you all.
;o(
There may be no 'I' in team, but there's a 'ME' if you look hard enough. |
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mereubu
= FB QuizMistress =
USA
2677 Posts |
Posted - 03/18/2003 : 17:51:56
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Sorry, hon, I only saw this today. I'm in. We may as well amuse ourselves until there is a song database.
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ProverbialCereal
- FB TabMaster -
USA
2953 Posts |
Posted - 03/18/2003 : 19:31:57
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"I Switched You" is definitely about Frank Black "switching" on a light switch one day.
"Skeleton Man" is probably a reference to a Halloween in his childhood where he dressed as a "skeleton" but no one liked his costume so he didn't get any candy.
Derek |
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fumanbru
* Dog in the Sand *
Canada
1461 Posts |
Posted - 03/18/2003 : 20:16:13
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| anyone have any thoughts on "manitoba"? i believe i heard frank said it will be in a movie with Kevin Spacey? |
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misterwoe
= Cult of Ray =
Greece
675 Posts |
Posted - 03/18/2003 : 20:26:43
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Uhh...I'm pretty sure Smoke Up has something to do with marijuana. What do you guys think?
What do you guys think 21 Reasons is about?
When I first heard San Antonio, TX I had the impression Frank Black had some bad experiences in that particular city. Does anybody have any views on this? Is there anybody here actually from San Antonio? If so, what are your views on this song?
Man, I can't wait until Frank's next album comes out. He last two were awesome, as well as the rest of them. Frank sure is a good artist to be fan of since he enjoys making records so much. You know?
One thread in the forum brought up a rumor saying that Frank had hired Mongolian Throat Singers for the new album. What do you guys think that means?
I can't quite figure out the exact meaning of U-Mass, of course I should probably listen to it again. Maybe we should think of some cool meanings for songs that haven't even come out yet. I'd like to here Frank write a song about the great Hunter S. Thompson, or that special movie, Fight Club. I have got some other ideas, but I don't want to give them away because I'm going to write some songs about them myself.
How about some Ether? |
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astroman
- FB Fan -
Portugal
84 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2003 : 00:23:38
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quote:
Originally posted by fumanbru
anyone have any thoughts on "manitoba"? i believe i heard frank said it will be in a movie with Kevin Spacey?
I didn´t listen that song yet, but I think manitoba is the title of a Comic by hergé, but not from Tintim adventures. |
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Don Eduardo
= Cult of Ray =
Australia
403 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2003 : 03:45:26
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| I always thought The Swimmer was about evolution, some land animal being the first of his species trying to swim, reminds me of The Sad Punk |
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bazza
* Dog in the Sand *
Ireland
1439 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2003 : 04:16:39
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anyone any ideas about the following songs:
1. valentine and garuda. cant figure out the last bit about the bird... maybe im slow.
2. bullet. is this about his father?
3. big red. is this about peg from married with children?
4. 21 reasons.
cheers. you guys (and gals) kick ass. hope paddys weekend was good fun for you lot.
:o)
There may be no 'I' in team, but there's a 'ME' if you look hard enough. |
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mereubu
= FB QuizMistress =
USA
2677 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2003 : 04:44:08
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1. Garuda is some kind of Hindu bird god if memory serves correctly. I guess the subject, in his sadness, wants Garuda to transform him into a bird so that he can fly away from his sorrows (or search for love lost in the past.) [Fun note: the first time I heard this song was on my walkman one early morning, and from the beginning of the last verse onwards the sky above me was filled with a swarm of grackles (a kind of blackbird). Too cool.]
2. At least inspired by his father
3. Colonization of Mars--inspired by novels (I'm forgetting the names Red Mars & Green Mars). I think. Peg Bundy! Yer so funny.
4. W Pater did a really good analysis of 21 Reasons & the California missions/Spanish colonization of California somewhere on the site. He has few enough posts that you can prolly just pull up his profile and all his posts you'd find it easy enough.
Yep, I'm with Derek on "Skeleton Man." ;-) |
Edited by - mereubu on 03/19/2003 04:47:37 |
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tonton georges
- FB Fan -
3 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2003 : 07:26:18
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The other day I was reading this book by Ira Levin, "This Perfect Day". It's the same kind of books as "Brave New World": it describes a very uniformed society in which for instance people don't have names but identifiers, such as Li09dd99 or whatever. Of course, the book is about a guy who refuses to live that way. He doesn't want to be called "Lijj"something, but "Chip".
When I read the line "My name is Chip", it suddenly reminded me of Freedom Rock. I read the lyrics, and I wouldn't be surprised if Frank was inspired by this book when he wrote the song. "My name is Chip, and I'm different, I don't conform..." Yeah, it makes sense.
However, I don't see any direct connection with the lines that say "I'm out of the blue", or that talk about music and the record shop. I guess the book could have been the starting point of the lyrics and that then Frank could have had other ideas... What do you think?
Nice book, by the way.
Julien |
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bazza
* Dog in the Sand *
Ireland
1439 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2003 : 07:27:00
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nice. cheers sarah
There may be no 'I' in team, but there's a 'ME' if you look hard enough. |
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ramona
"FB Quote Mistress"
USA
3988 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2003 : 09:26:52
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Someone in another thread said something about Frank and his brother being at his dad's house after he died and finding guns in a barn with only one bullet in them - hence the song. Perhaps I am just perpetuating a rumour, but that is what I remember.
I love Valentine - it is one of my favorite on the CD - love the "turn my hands into wings" line. Other than that, don't know many meanings. I just groove to the music, man.  |
Edited by - ramona on 03/19/2003 09:27:49 |
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misterwoe
= Cult of Ray =
Greece
675 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2003 : 09:30:20
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How is the book? Is it good?
I don't conform either. HE heh eh.
How about some Ether? |
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Lea W
- FB Fan -
USA
38 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2003 : 14:54:53
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My brother said that Frank told the story of the guns and his dad at a show he saw in Cali. I think it is true.
~Lea |
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Lea W
- FB Fan -
USA
38 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2003 : 14:57:04
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Forgot to add this. I wanted to know thoughts on Speedy Marie. I have been entranced by this song for the past few weeks. Please forgive me if this has already been discussed.
~Lea |
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mereubu
= FB QuizMistress =
USA
2677 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2003 : 16:27:06
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There have been many interpretations that people have brought up over time on the site, but I think it's safe to say that, at it's simplest level, it's a really sweet song that Frank wrote for his Jean Marie. (You know about the anagram in the sonnet at the end, yes?) Also, some think it's about a particle accelerator. Hunh.
I've been singing Llano del Rio today because all the pear trees are in full bloom. People landscape like crazy with them around here, and they stink to high heaven. I've seen so many today that I quit counting when I got to 100. P-U! |
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VoVat
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
USA
9168 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2003 : 17:07:43
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Frank told the story about his dad's guns at a Philadelphia in-store, too. As for Speedy Marie, I think it's about his wife. The first letters of the ending lines of the song (starting with "juxtaposed in each moment's sight") spell out "Jean Marie Walsh," and I believe that was his wife's maiden name. (Actually, it might still be her name, although I think she's adopted "Jean Black" as her stage name.)
-Nathan
And how does lemur's skin reflect the sea? |
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NimrodsSon
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1938 Posts |
Posted - 03/19/2003 : 18:07:28
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| yeah he also told the bullet story at the atlanta instore last tour so it's definitely true |
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Romanoff
- FB Fan -
55 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2003 : 07:47:56
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| how about hermaphroditos? he has used numerous refrences to he/shes (tame) in his songs, anyone have a heads up on that? |
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NimrodsSon
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1938 Posts |
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El Barto
= Song DB Master =
USA
4020 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2003 : 13:58:21
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| That's Gavin's song index, which I was incorporating into the FB Song DB before I gave up. Pretty much everything publicly known about the meaning of songs, etc., is in that index. |
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PsychicTwin
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1772 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2003 : 14:04:33
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NimrodsSon-
Thanks for the link--I wasn't even aware that site existed. |
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peter radiator
= Cult of Ray =
USA
649 Posts |
Posted - 03/20/2003 : 15:38:02
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quote:
Originally posted by bazza
anyone like to help me out?
last time we did this it wasnt bad at all... some nice ideas.
so...
There may be no 'I' in team, but there's a 'ME' if you look hard enough.
"Skeleton Man" seems to be about a particular archeologist searching for Native American or Central American remains.
I would think that "Manitoba" will likely be used in the upcoming Kevin Spacey film based on the book "The Life of Minik, the New York Eskimo", about an Inuit man (but not so much a Ceasar).
"U-Mass" is about the large number of snotty, pretentious pricks who have attended the University of Massachhusetts, and their shallow knowledge of world history and politics.
I have always surmised the "my name is Chip" (or Chet as it's sometimes heard) is a reference to an old childhood nickname of Frank's. The song could be interpreted as a rather straightforward account of his diverse and uncommercial taste in music, and the fallacy of trying to convince him otherwise. The title "Freedom Rock" is clearly a reference to a hilariously inept television commercial from the late 1980s, in which two stereotypical "hippies" shill for a classic-rock compilation of the same name (Skynyrd, Free, Nugent, etc...). Mail order only. Not sold in stores. Order now!
~ Peter Radiator
"Real music is out there and real people are making it." ~ Webb Wilder |
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ygerard
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
10 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2003 : 07:31:01
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Concerning Freedom Rock, I think it is all about Frank not wanting to be told what to do by any record companies, producers, etc... He believes that He only should be in control of his sound, that's why he's different...Am I right?
Has anybody noticed though over the last three or four records, the change of tone in the lyrics... Before Frank seemed to be interested in Sci-Fi and funny ET stories and stuff like that, now it seems that he's more tormented by the women who left him, is he getting depressed ???
Yvan |
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ramona
"FB Quote Mistress"
USA
3988 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2003 : 07:59:43
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quote:
Originally posted by NimrodsSon
yeah he also told the bullet story at the atlanta instore last tour so it's definitely true
So glad I was actually right about something in this forum full of experts. Amazing. Of course I lifted it from someone else...oh well. |
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BrendanT
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
907 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2003 : 11:10:44
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The song Manitoba has something to do with the Aurora Borealis (The Northern Lights). There is an Inuit tale about the Northern Lights being the face of God watching over it's creation.
The movie the song is included in is called The United Sates of Leland.
So I think anyways!
Bullet is definately about his father after he passed away. There is an explanation of the entire song within an interview I have read on this board somewhere. His father kept a collection of guns in the house/shed.
Strummer-man
I had me a vision!
Buttercup! Bubbles! Let's go! |
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BrendanT
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
907 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2003 : 11:17:52
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Oh yeah. I think that Jane Queen of Love is about the spiritual belief called Jain. Look at the web page via Frank's bio. It just gots ta be!
Strummer-man
I had me a vision!
Buttercup! Bubbles! Let's go! |
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The Holiday Son
= Quote Accumulator =
France
1995 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2003 : 13:46:40
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quote:
Originally posted by misterwoe
Uhh...I'm pretty sure Smoke Up has something to do with marijuana. What do you guys think?
Could Smoke Up be about the evolution of the prehistoric man from stone age to fire age ?
by the way what do you think Where is my mind is about?
one of my friends thinks it's about smoking pot. I don't. |
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peter radiator
= Cult of Ray =
USA
649 Posts |
Posted - 03/21/2003 : 16:19:26
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quote:
Originally posted by The Holiday Son
quote:
Originally posted by misterwoe
Uhh...I'm pretty sure Smoke Up has something to do with marijuana. What do you guys think?
Could Smoke Up be about the evolution of the prehistoric man from stone age to fire age ?
By posting such admittedly dodgy interpretations, there's always the risk that the artist himself will read this and (hopefully no more than) chuckle to himself at my ineptitude.
However, I have always felt that "Smoke Up" was a metaphorical comment on FB's career mindset post Pixies (and specifically in the wake of his Tom Petty-esque label limbo following American's de facto refusal to release the first self-titled Catholics LP).
I would think his frustration as both an artist and a performing musician during this unwanted downtime after The Cult of Ray should not be underestimated. One can also assume that at what seemed a critical juncture in his career, some sort of drastic reappraisal of his approach and craft could be expected - much like the epiphany Dylan recently owned up to, which took place during his uneven 1987 Temple In Flames European tour.
It was not long thereafter that he embarked on what has come to be known as his "Neverending Tour", and began to view his concerts as something more organic and fluid than his previous outings. Since he parted ways with American (and by proxy, their parent companies) and took total control of his own destiny (i.e., financing his own records, designing his own cover art, maintaining his own copyrights), Frank's work with the Catholics has been edging closer and closer to the sort of freewheeling, anything goes, "living-in-the-moment", imperfection-embracing ethos of Dylan's best live and studio work.
With that in mind, lines like:
"stone was in me when i was rougher
now my power has suffered in this hour
of my oversleep"
Can be read to suggest he is contrasting his youthful exuberance and ability to "make shit happen" from his time as (to some) a critics' darling in The Pixies with his decreased stature as a solo artist of marginal sales and a devoted – but waning – fanbase.
At that point, his "power" had most definitely suffered, while The Breeders seemed to be on MTV and college radio everytime you turned it on. While he certainly had not been oversleeping in any sense of the word, many toadies in the business no doubt viewed him as less than a commercial entity.
And yet, all the while, he knew he was crafting challenging, memorable music with some of the best players in his field.
"now i'm just a name dropper
and i'm bust in these deep slumberweeds"
Frank's always had big-name fans like Bowie, Cobain and Polonsky (ha ha), but accolades don't pay the rent, and the resurgence of interest in his back catalog had yet to take hold. Much like the time period a few years after the Velvets folded, but before Bowie and the glam scene had embraced them as torchbearers of alternative-lifestlye music and helped to sell budget reissues to kids too young to have caught the VU the first time around.
"it's so damn late
it's so damn dark
pull up those drapes
hey, let's see just where we are"
In this couplet, one can easily imagine a depressed and dejected FB confronting his past head on and making the decision to take a fresh look at exactly what his strong suits were, what options he really had, and how he could best achieve his artistic and commercial goals.
"i finally woke up
that's right
'cause i've got to make something work out
i sent some smoke up
that's right
'cause i've got to make something work out"
And finally, in this section, he resolves to disregard the bullshit industry shell game that keeps folks like him down – and what could be viewed as a crippling malaise – and immerse himself in the act of creation and dissemination that has always been his strong suit.
"Sending some smoke up" implies a signal of sorts. The accompanying visuals suggest that he's lighting a fire underneath himself and waving a blanket as hard and fast as he can. He's diving headfirst into what Patti Smith once termed the "sea of possibilities", and claiming his own legacy before some jackass at Spin magazine can do it for him.
From that point on he has seemingly become steadily more prolific, more willing to play smaller venues under less than ideal circumstances (with very few traces of the irritability that often accompanied minor technical snafus during his Pixies days), more interested in exploiting cutting edge technology like the MP3-subscription services and the new live-concert downloads, and more accessible to his diehard fans (even the ones who must surely creep him out a bit).
He's done this, in other words, because he "(had) to make something work out", for himself, his loved ones and most of all for his art – which, based on his devotion to craft, I feel certain is worth more to him than just about anything else.
But hey, then again, I could be completely wrong.
Maybe it's about barbecue.
~ Peter Radiator
"Real music is out there and real people are making it." ~ Webb Wilder |
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Romanoff
- FB Fan -
55 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2003 : 00:02:23
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hmmm about that post peter, i think its just about bar-b-Q, no just kidding, that seems very convincing! and if frank gets a chance to read this even if you arent 100% correct i think he will change the meaning of the song to your explanation. I never thought it was about smoking pot, seems a little too shallow for him, but hey I could be wrong as well.
- "and if all you see is violence" FB |
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idle_hands
- FB Fan -
Chile
53 Posts |
Posted - 03/22/2003 : 14:40:17
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quote:
Originally posted by BrendanT
Oh yeah. I think that Jane Queen of Love is about the spiritual belief called Jain. Look at the web page via Frank's bio. It just gots ta be!
I'm with you on this one! I had noticed the same.
Do you think that's why the song has that..umm... 'mystic' part at the end? |
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mereubu
= FB QuizMistress =
USA
2677 Posts |
Posted - 03/23/2003 : 17:19:13
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Me three! And I love that VU ending.
Also, as for Smoke Up, I never tried to biographicalize it (yeah, I know it's not a word--I've been grading papers for hours and the number of nonwords I've now encountered has hurt my poor brain and destroyed my sense of semantic propriety) but I'm of basically the same mind as Mister Radiator; it has always pretty clearly seemed to be about coming out of some sort of dark period in one's life and trying to figure out where the fuck you are.
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El Barto
= Song DB Master =
USA
4020 Posts |
Posted - 03/23/2003 : 20:45:20
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| The ending of Jane sounds VERY Sonic Youth, imo...VERY. |
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BrendanT
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
907 Posts |
Posted - 03/24/2003 : 05:30:59
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If you like the recored ending of Jane - listen to the live recording from the show titled @ Lee's Palace (which is actually the last show of the 5 night stand at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto). The sounds that the band creates are absolutely phenomenal.
Question for Peter Radiator. You seem to have some insight (which we all appreciate) but I need to ask you what (or who) Frank has written about in Billy Radcliffe? Any idea.
Nice joke about Johnny P! Is he still recording?
I believe that Frank has explained before about the song Where Is My Mind. I remember hearing the him explain that it is the combination of two separate ideas. He was snorkling and felt as though the fish were playing games with him (hiding on him and so on) and he was attempting to think about a song he was in the midst of writing and realized that he had just combined both ideas and just ran with it.
Strummer-man
I had me a vision!
Buttercup! Bubbles! Let's go! |
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bazza
* Dog in the Sand *
Ireland
1439 Posts |
Posted - 03/24/2003 : 07:59:07
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anyone care to tackle these:
1. fazer eyes.
2. all my ghosts.
3. youre such a wire.
4. billy radcliffe.
without sounding slow (as i never heard of BR before) whats the story? also pretty sure that the others are self explanatory - but just in case. cheers. you guys RAWK!
There may be no 'I' in team, but there's a 'ME' if you look hard enough. |
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