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Troubles A Foot
= Cult of Ray =
USA
815 Posts |
 Posted - 07/08/2022 : 09:40:20
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I was thinking about a few things recently. This is all just an interpretation and I have no inside knowledge of Charles's dreams and desires or issues or anything. I'm also not sure if this has been talked about here.
I was listening to The Golem a lot last week and it sort of hit me...Frank is the Golem. That's why he did this project. Perhaps subconsciously. I think The Golem story/character is capturing his feelings on being resurrected to perform Pixies reunions (and at the time no new material allowed.) A big chunk of rock, brought to life by the powers that be. I'll be your servant...
I think the reference to Pixies lyrics in You're Gonna Pay furthers this idea, and there's little tidbits in the lyrics of the album that jumped out at me. Now of course a lot of lyrics feel disconnected from this idea to too, I'm not saying it is all 100% exactly this, but I think elements of this were rattling around in Frank's head. Pixies reunion, Kim Deal, wanting to play new songs, feeling like you don't have autonomy, your solo career not appreciated or financially rewarding enough, etc, etc.
My coat is long and black
Like dreams collapsed with
Things I want but can't get back
I ain't got jack
And all of this for nothing
After all my huffing and puffing
I'm back and forth
And back and forth,
To prove that I am not bluffing
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(back and forth, pixies --> solo --> pixies --> etc)
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Till I saw my star of doom
Now I got no choice
Well, we almost got to Rithma
But it was too far down the line
So I'm stepping into darkness
On the other side of time
It's no good stuck in the ghetto
Laying around in bed
Lest I forget about those twinkles
Twinkling above my head
------ "Other side of time" is an evocative phrase, but in this context, it must feel like being in the Pixies again is like time traveling backwards. It's no good stuck in the ghetto, he's gotta put food on the table. Lest he forgets all those fans and etc, etc. Now I got no choice. Having no choice + Black Francis reanimated from the dead, Charles = Golem.
We frightened all the people
And we freaked 'em all at court
---- Reactions to the early scary Pixies music. "We" being the band.
Any song
You can sing along
In your youth, in your youth
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The other thought I was having was elements of Bluefinger being similar. It hit me the other day that She Took All The Money could be about Kim Deal. This was around the time (if I'm not mistaken) that Frank was trying to get new Pixies songs going and Kim said no, leading to him changing his name back to Black Francis and releasing Bluefinger.
She Took All The Money may have ties to Herman Brood, who the entire concept album is about, but I also think there's his issues with Deal and her jumping on the reunion thing but not wanting to commit to new material or basically being an active band and not just a circus act.
Shama-lama-ding-dang, oh me, oh my
She took all the money and left me here to cry
On my way to Hamburg and we had a little booze
Now I'm stuck in Dresden with the solitary blues
--- The shama-lama-ding-dang evokes singing and pop music. Solitary blues being a wordplay referencing his solo career. This album was not a Pixies album but a solo Black Francis album. (I'm aware Brood was also a rock star, I think he's connecting himself and Brood and all these things as metaphors for each other.)
I had my habits, I cannot lie
But I don't want to go through this again
--- He's gone through the Pixies and the end of the Pixies and acrimony with Deal already. Here we go again.
On my way to Central Station, there my train departs
Why she'd have to go and break our hearts?
--- This was the big clue for me. "Our hearts." Our being plural. The whole band? The fans?
Shama-lama-ding-dang, oh me, oh my
She took all the money and left me here to die
---- "No Kim, no deal." |
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Symbolic meaning behind The Golem, Bluefinger, etc
