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NimrodsSon
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1938 Posts |
 Posted - 05/14/2003 : 13:54:50
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| I can't figure out where the marijuana reference fits in with the rest of gouge away. I don't remember anything from all those years of being forced to go to church (and I still have to) about Samson being a stoner. |
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PsychicTwin
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1772 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2003 : 14:31:34
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| Maybe its just a pot-friendly interjection that has nothing to do with Samson & Delilah |
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11687 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2003 : 18:24:45
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| Probably has a lot to do with the "gouge away" part and much less to do with the biblical figures. I think he might be using Samson as a metaphor for him on drugs and dealers as a metaphor for Delilah, acting like they're friend but really the stuff they do to/give him is destructive. Or maybe just the fact that they charge what the do for what they give him. Just a thought I had while reading this, but probably will whither under cross-examination. Bring it on. |
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El Barto
= Song DB Master =
USA
4020 Posts |
Posted - 05/14/2003 : 20:07:47
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| I don't want to read too much into the line...but take the imagery created in the lyrics and put it in front of the story. She's seducing him in order to cut his hair. Perhaps the marijuana is used to make him a little less conscious, or to chill. Just those two lines together put that image in my head "You stroke my locks / Some marijuana if you got some" |
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PsychicTwin
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1772 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2003 : 07:34:18
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Barto-
not a half-bad interpretation. works for me. |
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11687 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2003 : 09:21:33
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| Yeah, that seems a little more plausible. |
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bwolmarans
- FB Fan -
25 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2003 : 21:31:58
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This guy's website has some great song lyrics meanings!!!
If you haven't had a chance yet read his "rock n roll" page it brings tears to my eyes.
http://members.cox.net/fbsi/home.html
P.S.
Henry Sloan appears to have been the first bluesman, as far back as our recorded history seems to go anyway.
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El Barto
= Song DB Master =
USA
4020 Posts |
Posted - 05/17/2003 : 22:30:20
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| I wonder how many times that URL has been posted in this thread alone...that's Gavin's site. He works here. |
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bwolmarans
- FB Fan -
25 Posts |
Posted - 05/20/2003 : 10:28:27
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I know how many times: none.
At least none in this entire lyrics thread, unless I missed it.
Plus, and this is a really crazy idea, if that lyrics website ( which is pretty cool ) belongs to somebody who "works" there maybe you and they could "work" at putting it in the lyrics link...or maybe it's super secret... |
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Pioneer
- FB Fan -
213 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2003 : 18:51:51
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quote:
Originally posted by CreatureCrawling
quote:
Originally posted by getofred651
I believe that elements of the song
all my ghosts
refer to the race of supermen who once visited the ancient people.
these were the aliens who had nordic human characteristics and were very tall...interbredding with the indiginous peoples and giving life to the half breed race.in some cases extending life spans and granting mild telpathic powers.
yeah I know its out there but parts of the song made me think of this.
...with whom they mated....and their young...became giants every one.....who needs that now?
Actually there is The book of Enoch. It's Biblical. That part of the song is about just as it says. There were Angels that were jealous of man. These fallen angels came to earth and mated with human women. The result was the Nelphins. They were the giants....
Actually, some UFO enthusiasts take great interest in the biblical accounts of angels coming down to earth and mating. They argue that the "angels" might have been aliens. Maybe Frank caught wind of this theory. Then again, maybe he's simply showing his interest in the Bible once more. Here's a link with info on the extraterrestrial tie-in.
http://www.boomspeed.com/joseph2/1documented.htm
What are the 7 (or 8) horrors he and his date took a tour of? A google search shows little aside from folks in Britain compiling a list of their 7 national horrors, places to avoid, in contrast to their 7 greatest national attractions.
There was a sci-fi (or is SF the proper abbreviation?) book written in the 50s or 60s called "The Duplicated Man." I think it was about men who created a duplicating machine to make more humans to serve as soldiers in a battle with Venusians or something. Don't know if it's related... |
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stephensolo
- FB Fan -
41 Posts |
Posted - 08/09/2003 : 09:35:16
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| don't know about calistan - but Farewell Bend off of BLD is about a cat frank found near his home - that he took in - and then it took off - this fromt eh man himself. i love when i'm sure the song is about a woman and it never is! |
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parker_airspace
- FB Fan -
United Kingdom
63 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2003 : 12:42:11
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any ideas about man of steel?
- was smashed head on by a giant truck :( - Chris |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2003 : 17:21:32
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Hi all, I'm obviously new here, but I've been lurking for a while. I have been a Frank Black (and Pixies) admirer since 1989. I really am enjoying this thread, so I thought I should go ahead and jump in.
From:
www.poplyrics.net/waiguo/soundtrack/xfiles/007.htm+%22frank+black%22+%22man+of+steel%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Frank Black---Man Of Steel
"Thanks to Julia James for submitting the lyrics"
'Under the stars each night,
I wonder do stairs go there?
I'm lonely driving behind the wheel,
Can't get no where.
I can't seem to get it right.
I'm only just a man of steel.
...Is there a place?
And under the stars tonight,
I wonder if someone cares.
I'm lonely, that's the way I feel
Can't feel no stairs.
I've gotten [correction: got me] a real ad-heist
I'm only just a man of steel.
...There is a place. (x11)'"
Right now, I hear this as a humanist existentialist lament, the stairs alluding to his desire for there to be something more, something to reach toward (whether god or gods or aliens, what-have-you) that has relevance to his humanity. An entity that knows and truly gives a damn...
As is a purely Frank trait, there is still a twinge of dark wit and subtle play-on-words irony. "Man of steel" could be about his being constantly dependent on and inseparable from his mode of transportation, the material object that is a double-edged sword, also his battling needs for emotional detachment (steely, cold) and his yearning for fulfillment.
The line "I got me a real ad-heist" could be a word-play around "ad-hoc", meaning an impromptu creation, "ad", or commercial (think both billboards along the highway and his idea of himself as a commercial or material being), mixed with "heisst", German for name, and "heist", or theft. A fairly straightforward interpretation compared to most of his songs, but the song in its simplicity is still strong and uniquely meaningful. Frank really puts his soul into it - like some of the very best Soul or R&B, or even Shakespeare ala Hamlet or Macbeth givin' it to the "heavens". Then again, I could be totally off-base, but even way back when, in the days where I didn't pay much attention to the lyrics at all, they still spoke to me.
FB's description of this song in Oddballs liner notes: "Trying to be Me."
I'm interested in any interpretaions of Robert Onion. All I could find so far was this post on a weblog: http://legible.blogspot.com/
"Also reading Romanian Poems by Paul Celan, trans. by Julian Semilian and San Agalidi...
Paul Celan, I'm convinced, was Robert Onion, a poet of layers in layers. Although surrealism is relevant to these texts, they don't play directly to that score. These poems are filled with nostalgic, oft skitterish references, framed by a come-what-may feeling released by the war just ended. There's hope and fear for the present. And always, an intense fever.
From a fragment of an unfinished poem:
"The grass of your eyes, bitter grass.
Wind, billow above it, eyelid of tallow.
The water of your eyes, forgiven water."
In all these little poems there is a mood of feasts on top of violence. They seem to announce in their excess forthcoming sacrifice, omens of disaster which later reality confirmed.
...the summer's still young...'"
Whoa. This post is too long.
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speedy_m
= Frankofile =
Canada
3581 Posts |
Posted - 08/12/2003 : 08:01:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Pioneer
quote:
Originally posted by CreatureCrawling
quote:
Originally posted by getofred651
I believe that elements of the song
all my ghosts
refer to the race of supermen who once visited the ancient people.
these were the aliens who had nordic human characteristics and were very tall...interbredding with the indiginous peoples and giving life to the half breed race.in some cases extending life spans and granting mild telpathic powers.
yeah I know its out there but parts of the song made me think of this.
...with whom they mated....and their young...became giants every one.....who needs that now?
Actually there is The book of Enoch. It's Biblical. That part of the song is about just as it says. There were Angels that were jealous of man. These fallen angels came to earth and mated with human women. The result was the Nelphins. They were the giants....
Actually, some UFO enthusiasts take great interest in the biblical accounts of angels coming down to earth and mating. They argue that the "angels" might have been aliens. Maybe Frank caught wind of this theory. Then again, maybe he's simply showing his interest in the Bible once more. Here's a link with info on the extraterrestrial tie-in.
http://www.boomspeed.com/joseph2/1documented.htm
What are the 7 (or 8) horrors he and his date took a tour of? A google search shows little aside from folks in Britain compiling a list of their 7 national horrors, places to avoid, in contrast to their 7 greatest national attractions.
There was a sci-fi (or is SF the proper abbreviation?) book written in the 50s or 60s called "The Duplicated Man." I think it was about men who created a duplicating machine to make more humans to serve as soldiers in a battle with Venusians or something. Don't know if it's related...
Much of this is very similar to the events in the books by Zacharia Sitchin, called "the Earth Chronicles". They are basically translations and interpretations of anciant Summerian texts, and describe the "creation" of earth and it's history and how we have been affected by the "gods" who have visited this planet. The whole series is a fascinating read, and I highly recomend "The 12th Planet" and "Genesis Revisited". Keep in mind these are non-fiction books which are entirely based on fact, speculative though it may be.
If I had to venture a guess, I would say the "duplicated man" bit refers to the gentic manipulation and cloning practices of the aliens taht visited our planet many thousands of years ago. Some argue that genetic manipulation created many of the "mythical" creature talked about today, like unicorns, pegasus, etc. In attempt to create a species capable of training for labour, the aliens made many aborted attempts before they settle upon splicing their own DNA with that of earth's primates. The evolutionary missing link can be explained by this genetic manipulation, as the resulting beast was a human. The Gods, who looked very much like we do, "created us in his own image". I'm going to stop summarizing the books now. Have a read, they're quite terrific. |
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CreatureCrawling
- FB Fan -
43 Posts |
Posted - 08/12/2003 : 08:03:00
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"I've gotten [correction: got me] a real ad-heist "
I always thought he said I've got me a real ANT HEIGHT.
He's feeling small, alone etc etc... |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 08/12/2003 : 09:49:47
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quote:
Originally posted by CreatureCrawling
"I've gotten [correction: got me] a real ad-heist "
I always thought he said I've got me a real ANT HEIGHT.
He's feeling small, alone etc etc...
Hmmm...it does sound like "ant height", too! That would be a lot easier to explain, as well. Shoot, it blows my feeble attempt to make sense all to hell. All of the lyrics I could find for this song have the "gotten a real ad-heist" line. A person fairly fluent in German had no freakin clue what ad-heist meant, nor did the German/English dictionary, so I guess it could be that it's either made-up word-play, slang, or misheard. Could be everyone is doing the ol' copy paste. Is there an official lyric for this song from the X-files compilation album? Best not to rely on my ears, cause when I was 3, I thought the song "Silver Bells" was saying "shivering elves". Guess it still works as a song, albeit a little twisted.
I also forgot to mention the Superman reference in the song, don't know why - it's pretty obvious. Does anyone know if this song was written specifically for "Songs in the Key of X", or if it was appropriated for the compilation? |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 08/12/2003 : 09:58:09
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Never mind - looks like FB answered my last question in a "City Beat" interview called "Back in Black: The ups and downs in the life of a 'cult rock dude'"
INTERVIEW BY BRIAN BAKER back in 1996:
http://www.citybeat.com/archives/1996/issue219/music1.html
"I know some people think I have my head in the clouds," says Black by telephone from his Athens, Ga., tour stop. "I'm the stupid UFO guy. Well, fuck them. I'm talking about the future, for crying out loud. And not even on a political level. I'm just talking about it in a way that a science fiction writer would. Perhaps. The people who think that's all I'm singing about have got it all wrong."
Indeed they have. Anyone who thinks the former Pixie guitarist is doing anything in the singular is sorely mistaken. So how does Black go about correcting those misconceptions? By contributing a cut to the soundtrack for the television mecca of UFO paranoia, The X-Files, that's how.
Of course, it's not as calculated as all that. "I had this song ("Man of Steel") kicking around for awhile," Black explains, "and these guys called and said, 'We need an all-new, original song for the X-Files soundtrack, and it'll get used in the show. Here's a big chunk of dough. Give us something.' So that became the impetus to finish this thing. It's kind of moody, Twin Peaks-ish."...
huh. |
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speedy_m
= Frankofile =
Canada
3581 Posts |
Posted - 08/12/2003 : 10:14:49
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Sorry Mr. apl, I didn't mean to skip over your post like that. In fact, I hate it when people do that. So in response to your post, I've always heard it as ad-heist, though I haven't the foggiest as to what it may be. I love it when Frank creates a word, ie. "Calistan".
In response to your other post, Robert Onion is, at least in part, about Rubert Zubrin, an author who wrote the book "the case for mars". The lyrics are written in classic FB acrostic, with the first letter of each line speling out "ROBERT THE CASE FOR MARS ZURBRIN". Thus the need for the word "Zugzwang". This song is discussed at length in another part of forum, or perhaps within this very thread, I don't recall at the moment. The last four lines of the song also feature a "4,3,2,1" count down. Really, really clever acrostic, and an amazing song. More genius from our teenager of the year.
PS Welcome to the forum, due to your calm demeanor and competant musings, your hazing will be kept brief and non-fatal. |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 08/12/2003 : 11:25:08
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Hi Speedy M,
Thanks for the kind welcome.
Should probably let you know it's Miss, but no hard feelings - how could you have known? heh heh! Thanks for your response - I had actually read somewhere else in this forum about the acrostic, and was amazed that I had been completely unaware of his further layers of word-play in various songs for so many years. Again, I should have stated that in my post to save you the time of having to brief me on that - sorry! I did recently discover, via this site: http://www.uni-paderborn.de/cs/chess/chesshome/zugzwang.html
that "zugzwang" was actually a monolithic computer chess game, or:
"ZUGZWANG
Chess on Massively Parallel Systems
The Early Years (1983-1988)"
I was wondering if anyone else sees references to "Moby Dick" in "Robert Onion", and if they remember the name of the ship that they meet that had recently encountered the whale - can't for the life of me....Also, is it possible that there is a connection to some 16th century poet (as I pasted above from legible.com), under a pseudonym? I know "Heloise" was in this vein.
Has anyone read "The Case for Mars" yet? I have it on my amazon wish list, for when I go bonkers and spend way too much money on books again....
Guess I better get back to work. Thanks again for the welcome, and the (so far) soft hazing! |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 08/12/2003 : 11:47:52
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| I seem to be unable to drop this subject for today - found out the ships' names - none of which seem to bear any connection (Rose-Bud, Virgin, Bachelor, Town-Ho, Jeroboam, Samuel Enderby, and Rachel). Guess it's just my swiss-cheese brain getting a band name (Rachel's) mixed up with someone else's song... |
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speedy_m
= Frankofile =
Canada
3581 Posts |
Posted - 08/12/2003 : 12:20:12
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Well, apologies my dear, how uncouthe of me to assume your gender. I should have sensed a certain amount of x chromisomal wisdom that is often lacking in posts by my hirstute species. However, due to your correction of me, your direct superior, regarding your gender, I'm afraid I will have to upgrade your hazing to "non-brief" and "possibly-fatal".
I am ashamed to admit that not only have I not read Case for Mars, I haven't even read Moby Dick. I know, I should be stoned in public (and for all our bleary-eyed pot heads: no, not that kind of stoned). However, as soon as I finish the two (that's right, TWO. I'm practically Gore Vidal) books I'm reading (Stupid White Men and Confederacy of Dunces), I shall go in search of Cpt. Ahab.
I should also return to work, my work of course being posting here. Unless Dave ever decides to actually put me in his employ, which seems rather unlikely.
PS Rachel's: I hear good things. Do you recommend? |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 08/12/2003 : 16:21:38
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Shoot, Speedy M,
it don't bother me none, somehow I just don't jive with the title of "Mr.", mainly 'cause I'm a Mrs. Sure am sorry to hear I'm in for it! I humbly bow to your sup/seniority...
re: zugzwang
From:
http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/b/blackfrank-dog.html
[a very interesting read - review of "Dog in the Sand" with quite a few song lyrics explained]
"I had to look up the word "zugzwang" from the delightfully obtuse "Robert Onion" (it's a chess move in which a player is forced to make an disadvantageous move that often results in the loss of a piece)."
-Patrick Schabe
Makes me wanna play more chess. So, it looks like it's the name of a chess strategy, which then was appropriated as the name for some Chess computer ala Big Blue. I dunno, it seems I get more and more obsessed with this darn song. Until I read the book, I'll have to leave it alone.
As far as "Pie in the Sky" goes, it sounds like an ode to a solar eclipse, but is there more?
PS. to Speedy M. Rachel's- I'm probably a little biased, having been acquainted with a few in the band (went to the same high school in Louisville, KY), but if classically-inspired rock (elect. guitars, violin, piano, cello, etc.) with a lot of Louisville sound (think the ubiquitous indie band, Slint), and some dark wit (ala Edward Gorey) are your cup of tea, you'll probably like. Some may find that it, at times, borders or falls over the artsy, maudlin, pretentious line. I prefer some low-down straight from the hip rock n' roll or a good dose of punk most days, but it's a good Sunday gloaming kind of music. Some of the guys are/were also in June of '44, Shipping News, and Rodan - good stuff. One "loose" FB connection? Steve Albini.... |
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