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  #16  
Old 08-15-2014, 01:14 PM
Bikewer Bikewer is offline
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I always had that same impression... The guy is a real-estate hack who's trying (unsuccessfully) to write the Great American Novel in his spare time.


Back to the National Anthem... "Ramparts" is standard military terminology but some folks are confused by the reference to "rockets"...
What, rockets in the Revolutionary War?

Indeed. The Congreve rocket (which looked exactly like a bottle-rocket about 7 feet long) was in heavy use by the British forces at the time. "Bombs" refers to any explosive cannon projectile.
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  #17  
Old 08-15-2014, 01:19 PM
kydave kydave is offline
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I just wrote Paul off as a sleazy guy who creates BS copy for real estate ads and is too much a loser to get a wife...

I can't believe that anyone above the age of 12 didn't know what the SSB was talking about...

I DO like this and give it an "A" for creativity!!!

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It's not "realist hate novelist"?
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  #18  
Old 08-15-2014, 01:31 PM
LouieAtienza LouieAtienza is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Herb Hunter View Post
What is it about a man struggling to make a living in real estate while spending all his spare time trying to be a novelist and, therefore, having no time for a wife that doesn’t make sense to you?
"
Easy now... I didn`t interpret real estate novelist to mean, "a man struggling to make a living in real estate while spending all his spare time trying to be a novelist and, therefore, having no time for a wife...". I took it in the song literally. Then again, I never took the song seriously; it was more something we all sang together while smashed... at a bar!
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  #19  
Old 08-15-2014, 02:00 PM
catdaddy catdaddy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruppster View Post
ANYTHING by Yes.
Or Captain Beefheart. For instance this line from the song 'Orange Claw Hammer':

"I was shanghaied by a high hat beaver moustache man..."

Or Bob Dylan. Such as these lines from 'Mr. Tambourine Man':

"In the jingle jangle morning I'll come following you"

"Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands"

I think people used to refer to this kind of stuff as poetry, which requires the reader or listener to make language led connections and actually create their own meanings from the words presented by the writer and their own imagination. This kind of writing usually is intended to be open to interpretation rather than subjected to literal translation.
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  #20  
Old 08-15-2014, 02:10 PM
epluribus36 epluribus36 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LouieAtienza View Post
Yes, that's what Wikipedia thinks the word means. But ask the writer of the song, and you get lots of different answers at different times.

Kinda like how his band never plays the same song exactly the same way twice.

Ahh, never mind. Back to the previously scheduled program.
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  #21  
Old 08-15-2014, 02:11 PM
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Chicago Sandy Chicago Sandy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bikewer View Post
I always had that same impression... The guy is a real-estate hack who's trying (unsuccessfully) to write the Great American Novel in his spare time.
Sort of like Miles, the protagonist in “Sideways:” a middle-school English teacher who spends so much time either shopping his perpetually unpublished Great American Novel or obsessing over Central Coast pinot noir that his marriage failed and any meaningful romantic relationships turn sour.
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  #22  
Old 08-15-2014, 02:15 PM
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I once listened to an interview with James Taylor. He said, sometimes certain words and even an altered pronunciation can make a lyrics work in a song.
Reminds of what one comedian once said, some words are funny and some are not.
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  #23  
Old 08-15-2014, 02:48 PM
flaggerphil flaggerphil is offline
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I always thought "And Paul is a real estate novelist, who never had time for a wife", was pretty straight forward.

He sells real estate, spends his free time writing novels (seemingly unsuccessfully) and has never had time to have a relationship.

The next line used to REALLY resonate with me:

"And he's talking with Davy, who's still in the Navy
And probably will be for life."

I was in the Navy and newly divorced when the song came out and it made me think that I REALLY didn't want to be an old, single sailor. I'd seen too many of those and didn't want to end up like a lot of them...retiring alone at 20 years and dying shortly after.

As it was I was medically retired due to injuries before I reached that point so it wasn't something that bothered me for long.
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  #24  
Old 08-15-2014, 02:59 PM
Herb Hunter Herb Hunter is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bikewer View Post
I always had that same impression... The guy is a real-estate hack who's trying (unsuccessfully) to write the Great American Novel in his spare time.


Back to the National Anthem... "Ramparts" is standard military terminology but some folks are confused by the reference to "rockets"...
What, rockets in the Revolutionary War?

Indeed. The Congreve rocket (which looked exactly like a bottle-rocket about 7 feet long) was in heavy use by the British forces at the time. "Bombs" refers to any explosive cannon projectile.
I’m compelled to point out that the rockets referenced in the song were fired during the War of 1812, not the Revolutionary War.
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  #25  
Old 08-15-2014, 03:19 PM
LouieAtienza LouieAtienza is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flaggerphil View Post
I always thought "And Paul is a real estate novelist, who never had time for a wife", was pretty straight forward.

He sells real estate, spends his free time writing novels (seemingly unsuccessfully) and has never had time to have a relationship.

The next line used to REALLY resonate with me:

"And he's talking with Davy, who's still in the Navy
And probably will be for life."

I was in the Navy and newly divorced when the song came out and it made me think that I REALLY didn't want to be an old, single sailor. I'd seen too many of those and didn't want to end up like a lot of them...retiring alone at 20 years and dying shortly after.

As it was I was medically retired due to injuries before I reached that point so it wasn't something that bothered me for long.
I don`t think Davy had time for a wife, either!
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  #26  
Old 08-15-2014, 03:26 PM
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I just enjoyed the flow and cadence of the lyrics , chord voicing and melody, and never actually gave it another thought.
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  #27  
Old 08-15-2014, 03:46 PM
LouieAtienza LouieAtienza is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevWind View Post
I just enjoyed the flow and cadence of the lyrics , chord voicing and melody, and never actually gave it another thought.
The lyrics are almost in limerick form, which I think gives it that `flow.`
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  #28  
Old 08-15-2014, 04:00 PM
Bluepoet Bluepoet is offline
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Wow, poetry in lyrics?! Who'd a thunk it?

But seriously, interpretation of lyrics is often the intent, of the author, although how far afield that gets, I'm sure is an amusing side effect, from the writer's perspective. Or aggravating, depending...

And, lyrics by Yes--yes, they are silly--good thing those guys can really play well!!!

Amazed at the laziness of some, regarding the meanings of words...it's really easy to look up stuff, especially nowadays! Curiosity isn't all that bad of a state of mind, after all...

How about some lyrics, by America? "Alligator lizards in the air"? Anyone seen that, without being high?
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  #29  
Old 08-15-2014, 04:31 PM
Brucebubs Brucebubs is offline
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Paul MacCartney's lyrics for 'Junk' on his 1st solo album where made up from words he just 'liked the way they sounded'.
Best quote regarding lyrics goes to the late Ian Drury who had this reply when an interviewer complimented him on his lyrics," Yeah, I've always been a bit of a poet what wif the words."
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  #30  
Old 08-15-2014, 05:04 PM
LouieAtienza LouieAtienza is offline
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Shamefully, in one of my attempts at songwriting, I debated (with myself) on the use of was or were for a particular line in a song. Each would have been `correct,` though the `impression` of the particular line changed. (I will spare myself embarrassment by not posting said line here.) In the end I picked was, because it sounded better to my ears, though were might have been the better choice grammatically.
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