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two reelers
* Dog in the Sand *
Austria
1036 Posts |
 Posted - 08/04/2004 : 01:22:40
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for the last days, this song is playing in my head constantly. i think it is something very special - even for FB. don't know why, but this song somehow stands beside the other ones.
probably it are the lyrics which do it for me - obviously a very cryptic and very, very sad tale. does anybody has an idea what inspired this song ?
i found an archived thread where a "Brother Radcliffe" from Kazachstan thought it was about his brother - but the thread ends in stupidity.
so, any news, ideas, comments on billy radcliffe ?
 I joined the cult of this mouse / and now I occidentally tic-tac |
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jediroller
* Dog in the Sand *
France
1718 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2004 : 03:07:02
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I would say this is a sci-fi tale about a failed experiment.
Billy Radcliffe was "the first boy born in space", probably conceived as part of some government project: "owned by the state from his first breath to the cemetery gate".
As the "very first one", unfortunately, Billy lives a recluse and solitary life - we can guess he's in some sort of space station. He "didn’t go to town" because, well, towns are on Earth and he isn't. He has to live out of the bounds of gravity - which I thought could be the meaning of "when he looked up he was really looking down"... But then it can also means that when he looks up TO EARTH, which he longs for, he really looks "down", as in "depressed".
"Just a cursed son" (of the Earth that he never will see), "a split in half man": half Earthling in exile, half new breed of spaceman. He's up there in the heavens with the cherubim (angels) and they sing for him, poor soul.
It seems obvious to me that the "spot of blue in the black of the eye of the lord" is the blue Earth lost in the blackness of the universe. He loves the Earth but know he'll never go there, "such a cruel love"...
"Billy sadly didn’t live long, he had to stay there because he wasn’t too strong" : he couldn't leave his space station because he was born and raised in zero G and would certainly be crushed by Earth's gravity.
In the end he gives up and commits suicide by leaving the space station: "He’s stepping out the door blowing up like a bomb".
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Everything I say to you is gonna come out wrong anyway |
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ramona
"FB Quote Mistress"
USA
3988 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2004 : 06:42:20
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"catching blue in his eyes that were brown" is one of my favorite Frank lines. Ever. So lovely. I love this song too, it's really beautiful. When I saw Frank play it solo, that was the A-HA moment of Frank Love for me.
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You`re where you want to be, I`m where I want to be
Caught up chasing everything I`ve ever wanted
I replace you easily, replace pathetically,
I flirt with any flighty thing that falls my way.
But how I needed you, when I needed you.
Let`s not forget we are so strong, so bloody strong.
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LUTINS
- FB Fan -
France
182 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2004 : 11:33:25
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Teenager, A-HA was my favorite band 
Frank Black saved my life !
union pour la propulsion de la promotion photonique pixienne |
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VoVat
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
USA
9168 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2004 : 15:46:21
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Did Frank say something about the song being based on a book or short story, or am I confusing it with something else?
Cattle in Korea / They can really moo. |
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two reelers
* Dog in the Sand *
Austria
1036 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2004 : 00:26:02
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jediroller, that's quite profound. makes a lot of sense. if it meant to be like that, then it is again a proof that FB is a story-teller and lyricist of a quality like dylan.
i think i know now why this song gets my attention so strongly: from the first moment on, it is clear that this story has a very tragic end. "billy radcliffe didn't go to town, and when we looked up, he was looking right down" - the whole drama is packed in this words, making a seperation betweeen "us", the happy fellas on earth, and "him", above us, which should be great for him, but in fact, he is very lonely and bound to fail.
this division theme (good thing starting / bad thing ending) goes through the whole song, actually:
"owned by the state from his first breath to the cemetery gate"
first breath - optimistic; but cemetary gate & owned by the state
"stepping out the door blowing up like a bomb"
stepping out - to start something new, thus positive - but he just does it to kill himself
honestly, somebody should suggest FB for the Nobel prize for literature.
meanwhile, i will start the "billy radcliffe society" - this thread can be considered as the founding convention. come on in and have a gay old time !
I joined the cult of this mouse / and now I occidentally tic-tac |
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lonely persuader
= Cult of Ray =
Ireland
488 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2004 : 03:29:56
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| seems spot on jediroller, everything seems to fit with that ..... best explaination ive seen to date |
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jediroller
* Dog in the Sand *
France
1718 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2004 : 06:34:48
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Thanks guys.
two_reelers, I like your take on this ("above us, which should be great for him, but in fact, he is very lonely and bound to fail." Yup.). The lyrics definitely have that binary thing going on (up/down, blue/black, blue/brown, Lord/Devil etc.) with poor Billy somewhat stuck in the middle, "split in half".
As for the Billy Radcliffe Society, count me in. Space is gonna do me good!
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Everything I say to you is gonna come out wrong anyway |
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TRANSMARINE
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
2002 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2004 : 15:55:32
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One of my favorite songs...hence my quote! Pistolero is an amazing album, and I'm glad people here seem to be coming around to it. It got a lot of flack in the past, and I for a while believed I was the only member who loved it. LONG LIVE WILLIAM RADCLIFFE!
Catchin' blue in his eyes that were brown
-bRIAN |
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VoVat
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
USA
9168 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2004 : 19:40:51
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Am I allowed to be a member of both the Skeleton Man and Billy Radcliffe Societies? Those are definitely two of my favorite Pistolero tracks.
I think Pistolero seems to be a bit bottom-heavy, in that most of the better songs come toward the end. The earlier songs, while not bad, are a little subpar for Frank, and there's a kind of sameness to them. The exception here is "Western Star," which everyone seems to like.
Cattle in Korea / They can really moo. |
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twist
- FB Fan -
USA
191 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2004 : 23:08:31
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| Snappy tune, these guys completely understand what I want to hear before I know it myself. Some songs never really kick in, this one does nothing but, and with a phildickian backstory, only FB can come up with this shit. |
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billy radcliffe
