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starmekitten
-= Forum Pistolera =-

United Kingdom
6370 Posts

Posted - 08/18/2005 :  03:15:13  Show Profile  Visit starmekitten's Homepage  Reply with Quote
Lyrics

Sing for Joy

Georgie Porgie used to get real high
He used to kiss the world till it made him cry
He was under the bottle's command
But one winter he got it together and
Happiness came with the warmer weather laying across all the land

He had a love she also liked to drink
She got it together
But you know what I think?
I think she was still feeling glum

She took a gun and she shot him in the head
She shot herself and so they were wed as the air conditioner hummed

Sing for joy
Sing for laughs
Sing for joy
Sing for joy
If nothing else
Sing for joy

Mamma killed a pumpkin
She thought it was a sweet
She put it on the table
But it was still meat
She forgot the sugar again

Daddy came home, she had tears in her eyes
He said "Gimme grilled cheese
And paperbag French fries"
See, he forgot the sugar again

We had a wander seven years out West
It wasn't exactly the wilderness
But I felt like an Israelite

Mamma is a gypsy, she'll never find her town
Daddy went to sea but the boat went down
And the flames shot into the night

Sing for joy
Sing for laughs
Sing for joy
Sing for joy
If nothing else
Sing for joy

I know a girl who lives on the hill
I don't know if her sister will
or I was thinking about her best friend

Oh listen to me
I'm a desperate boy
I think I better have a sing for joy
And I guess this has just got to end

I'll get away in my get away car
Every now and then I'll send my regards
from a payphone down in the flats

I'm sorry for the love
I'm sorry for the pain
I'll say I'm sorry baby again and again
I'm sorry we're joining the stats

Sing for joy
Sing for laughs
Sing for joy
Sing for joy
If nothing else
Sing for joy

Quotes
thanks to Llamadance and Night Times on 12/06/2005

This is my epic. It's taken from my life, starting at the beginning and continuing right up to the present. It's kind of dark. There's some romance in there. There's some murder. There's some broken-hearted stuff. There's all kinds of shit that's happened to people in my family and to me personally. But it's mainly about the simple pleasures of life, including music, which are there for everybody to enjoy. Sometimes, no matter how shitty things get, you have to just do a little dance. I know that sounds hokey, but it's actually a great truth. If people can tune into that, they'll get a lot more out of their time on this earth.

I better finish these off huh? I just need to check which ones I have done already, hence starting at the back with this one (I'm pretty sure I haven't done this one).

As usual, any other quotes you've found (sourced and dated if at all possible) or any insights and thoughts much appreciated.



You begin saving the world by saving one person at a time; all else is grandiose romanticism or politics

kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~

Belgium
15320 Posts

Posted - 08/18/2005 :  06:13:58  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Not much insight on this one other than "I'm sorry we're joining the stats" being a reference to divorce.
Someone (Broken Face?) pointed out the Pixies were together for 7 years. Anybody know anything about wandering
Israelites?



Sometimes, no matter how shitty things get, you have to just do a little dance. - Frank
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mrgrieves1971
= Cult of Ray =

USA
544 Posts

Posted - 08/18/2005 :  08:11:50  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I know his family moved around alot. I kind of took it to being something about that.
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fbc
-= Modulator =-

United Kingdom
4903 Posts

Posted - 08/18/2005 :  09:34:17  Show Profile  Visit fbc's Homepage  Reply with Quote
http://www.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?id=3547771

Regarding Honeycomb’s "Sing For Joy," you said, "No matter how shitty things get, you just have to do a little dance." How long did it take you to realize this?

I guess it feels like something I've believed probably all along. I probably wouldn't have been able to say something like that very convincingly until about the time I wrote that song. Life experience definitely adds to the weight of that. It's one thing to recognize something as potentially very truthful than to actually go through a bunch of shit in your life. I've listened to I’m Your Man by Leonard Cohen many times over the years. I don't know how old he was at the time, probably in his mid-50s. But there's definitely a lot of great lines in that record that a 25-year-old man might come up with, but it just wouldn’t ring true the same way. Hearing a 55-year-old guy [sing], "I ache in places where I used to play," it has weight. It has credibility.

Edited by - fbc on 08/18/2005 09:35:13
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PixieSteve
> Teenager of the Year <

Poland
4698 Posts

Posted - 08/18/2005 :  09:38:53  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I know a girl who lives on the hill
I don't know if her sister will
or I was thinking about her best friend

about threesomes


Oh let it linger
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kathryn
~ Selkie Bride ~

Belgium
15320 Posts

Posted - 08/18/2005 :  11:32:17  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by PixieSteve

I know a girl who lives on the hill
I don't know if her sister will
or I was thinking about her best friend

about threesomes




In all seriousness, those lines have been on my mind for a while.

They remind me of "I got a girl, she lives on the hill, she won’t do it but her sister will" from ZZ Top's ridiculous "Tube Snake Boogie." I've long wondered whether ZZ Top didn't "borrow" that from the blues lexicon.

Did Frank, in a Honeycomb-y Americana mood, play homage to ZZ Top with that part of "Sing for Joy"?




Sometimes, no matter how shitty things get, you have to just do a little dance. - Frank

Edited by - kathryn on 08/18/2005 11:33:07
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Jason
* Dog in the Sand *

1446 Posts

Posted - 08/18/2005 :  23:08:43  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
The "seven years out west" line doesn't strike me as having anything to do with the Pixies. The lines before it and after it are about a mother and a father. And Frank's been a touring musician for a lot longer than seven years.

I have a feeling that Frank's line about feeling like an Israelite might be a reference to the Desmond Dekker song. Frank has directly mentioned Desmond Dekker in his lyrics almost as many times as he's mentioned Johnny Horton.
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hadjoke
- FB Fan -

9 Posts

Posted - 12/29/2005 :  11:51:04  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Lyrics

Let me fix this up a little

Sing for Joy

Georgie Porgie used to get real high
He use to kiss the world till it made him cry
He was under the bottle's command
But last winter he got it together
and happiness came with the warmer weather laying across all the land

He had a love she liked to drink
She got it together
But you know what I think?
I think she was still feeling glum

She got a gun and she shot him in the head
She shot herself and so they were wed as the air conditioner hummed

Sing for joy
Sing for laughs
Sing for joy
Sing for joy
If nothing else
Sing for joy

Mamma killed her pumpkin
She thought it was a sweet
She put it on the table
But it was still meat
She forgot the sugar again

Daddy came home, she had tears in her eyes
He said "Gimme grilled cheese
And paperbag French fries"
See, he forgot the sugar again

We had a wander seven years out West
It wasn't exactly the wilderness
But I felt like an Israelite

Mamma is a gypsy, she'll never find her town
Daddy went to sea but the boat went down
And the flames shot into the night

Sing for joy
Sing for laughs
Sing for joy
Sing for joy
If nothing else
Sing for joy

I know a girl who lives on the hill
I don't know if her sister will
I was thinking about her best friend

Oh listen to me
I'm a desperate boy
I think I better have a blessing for joy
And I think this has just got to end

I'll get away in my get away car
Every now and then I'll send my regards
from a payphone down in the flats

I'm sorry for the love
I'm sorry for the pain
I'll say I'm sorry baby again and again
I'm sorry we're joined in the stats

Sing for joy
Sing for laughs
Sing for joy
Sing for joy
If nothing else
Sing for joy
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pixiestu
> Teenager of the Year <

United Kingdom
2564 Posts

Posted - 12/29/2005 :  12:35:52  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Hmm, it does sound a bit like it, but does he actually say:
"I think I better have a blessing for joy"

Or is it just:
"I think I better have a sing for joy"

When I listen it sounds like it could be either.

"The arc of triumph"
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starmekitten
-= Forum Pistolera =-

United Kingdom
6370 Posts

Posted - 12/29/2005 :  14:23:13  Show Profile  Visit starmekitten's Homepage  Reply with Quote
hadjoke is this your take on the lyrics? the ones we have down for most of the threads come from the japanese booklet
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hadjoke
- FB Fan -

9 Posts

Posted - 12/29/2005 :  20:53:22  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
my take

not sure about "a sing for joy"

could be but it doesn't sound right.

couldn't tell "joining the stats either"

to close to call

he does say "last winter" though

and "I think this has just got to end"

I love that song.

Thanks for the website, I'm not trying to be a thorn in the foot or anything
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fbc
-= Modulator =-

United Kingdom
4903 Posts

Posted - 12/30/2005 :  13:54:10  Show Profile  Visit fbc's Homepage  Reply with Quote
At the AMA Convention he was "at the bottles command", but he does sing "i think I better have a sing for joy".
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tobafett
* Dog in the Sand *

USA
1713 Posts

Posted - 01/01/2006 :  21:37:57  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
'joining the stats' is correct...the stats being the statistics of marriages ending in divorce.

(what kathryn said)

:)
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Douglas
= Cult of Ray =

Sweden
308 Posts

Posted - 01/04/2006 :  16:53:44  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by kathryn

Someone (Broken Face?) pointed out the Pixies were together for 7 years. Anybody know anything about wandering
Israelites?






Well, I suppose you all know about the diaspora ([url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora]diaspora[/url]), so if we assume the seven years are about the pixies, maybe the wandering Isrealites are the four Pixies members. Their diaspora is the break-up of Pixies back in '93, and him feeling like a wandering Israelite is Frank wanting the Pixies to re-unite (which they have), just like the Isrealites want their Holy Land (Isreal) back.

yes, that is far-fetched, no I don't believe that's what he's talking about, but you've got to admit that it's an amusing interpretation.

EDIT: Fixed the link

Edited by - Douglas on 01/04/2006 16:56:09
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starmekitten
-= Forum Pistolera =-

United Kingdom
6370 Posts

Posted - 03/10/2006 :  05:55:37  Show Profile  Visit starmekitten's Homepage  Reply with Quote
Georgie Porgie is a nursery rhyme which some people see as an early reference to sexual harassment:

Georgie Porgie, Puddin' and Pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry,
When the boys came out to play
Georgie Porgie ran away.
Though its origin is unknown, it's possible the "George" satirized in the verse is King George III of England, whose fits of madness and capriciousness were legendary.

Although others believe it may refer to the future George IV, the Prince Regent, who was a notorious womaniser.
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VoVat
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<

USA
9168 Posts

Posted - 03/10/2006 :  15:20:05  Show Profile  Visit VoVat's Homepage  Click to see VoVat's MSN Messenger address  Reply with Quote
I used to have an annotated book of nursery rhymes (well, I technically still do, but it's currently at my grandparents' house in New Mexico), and the authors said that many of the political interpretations of nursery rhymes were thought up by Katherine Elwes Thomas. The authors didn't seem to think much of Thomas' interpretations in most cases, but that doesn't mean some of them aren't accurate. "Georgie Porgie" certainly sounds like it could be about a real person.



"If you doze much longer, then life turns to dreaming. If you doze much longer, then dreams turn to nightmares."
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