Matrix Games

quote:

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

What about a women named "ELVIRA!?? Baa-Woom boppa woom boppa mow-mow....hiyo Silver and away!

Lordy---talk about a trip down amnesia lane...

quote:

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

The Oak Ridge Boys were always good. They started in gospel, as did alot of country stars, and then made it big.

I think ballads are my favorites, whether country or western or pop or rock. "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," "El Paso" (as Chez mentioned), "In the Ghetto," etc. Lots of memorable songs.

But there were ballads that I never figured out. Do songs like "Horse with No Name," "MacArthur Park," and "American Pie" actually have meanings?

quote:

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Roger Miller's "City of New Orleans" is a tremendous ballad. Glen Campbell, originally of Beach Boys fame, became a great C&W singer. I think he was always very classy.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Hey, Moose, I was at the University of Georgia in 1980. We might've bumped into each other at Allen's or B & L Warehouse or the 40-Watt Club. And Bradford Kay was probably there too.

I visited the Navy Supply Corps school in Athens several times during my '79 to '86 soujourn at UGA. During a wedding reception there around '85, I had a bit too much to drink and ended up leaving the place with a sailor's cap (one of the Gilligan's Island style caps, whatever they are called). I've always felt bad about doing that.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Roger Miller's "City of New Orleans" is a tremendous ballad. Glen Campbell, originally of Beach Boys fame, became a great C&W singer. I think he was always very classy.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

quote:

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

The Oak Ridge Boys were always good. They started in gospel, as did alot of country stars, and then made it big.

I think ballads are my favorites, whether country or western or pop or rock. "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," "El Paso" (as Chez mentioned), "In the Ghetto," etc. Lots of memorable songs.

But there were ballads that I never figured out. Do songs like "Horse with No Name," "MacArthur Park," and "American Pie" actually have meanings?

I have read that "Horse" is an allegorical tale of recovery from heroin addiciton. Take it for what it's worth.

"Stairway to Heaven" is supposed to be about heroin addiciton going the other way.

And dude, you need to start another game!!!!

Edit: "American Pie" is a history of American rock and roll. The lyrics have been examined line by line in many places, first I think at the time in Life magazine (?) The Day The Music Died was the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly. The Jester is Bob Dylan. Mick Jagger is in there, as well as John Lenin. Look it up on-line. I'm sure there are lots of places which deconstruct the lines. Although nobody can explain how the levee was dry. But it rhymed.

Just looked at the lyrics agian. Girl who sings the blues is Janis Joplin. The devil is Mick Jagger (Jack FLash, Sympathy for the Devil.) The king is John Lenin I think. Sergrants is Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Do you remember the Boo of Love, famous do-wop era song. A White SPort Coat and a Pink Carnaiton is alluded to. Helter Skelter is both the Stones and Manson. The Byrds sang "Eight Miles High." The "scared store" refers to a famous rock venue I think, but I don't know which one--maybe Filmore East?


From
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/908/what-is-don-mcleans-song-american-pie-all-about

"February made me shiver: Holly's plane crashed February 3, 1959.

Them good ole boys were ... singing "This'll be the day that I die": Holly's hit "That'll Be the Day" had a similar line.

The Jester sang for the King and Queen in a coat he borrowed from James Dean: ID of K and Q obscure. Elvis and Connie Francis (or Little Richard)? John and Jackie Kennedy? Or Queen Elizabeth and consort, for whom Dylan apparently did play once? Dean's coat is the famous red windbreaker he wore in Rebel Without a Cause; Dylan wore a similar one on "The Freewheeling Bob Dylan" album cover.

With the Jester on the sidelines in a cast: On July 29, 1966 Dylan had a motorcycle accident that kept him laid up for nine months.

While sergeants played a marching tune: The Beatles' "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

And as I watched him on the stage/ my hands were clenched in fists of rage/ No angel born in hell/ Could break that Satan's spell/ And as the flames climbed high into the night: Mick Jagger, Altamont.

I met a girl who sang the blues/ And I asked her for some happy news/ But she just smiled and turned away: Janis Joplin OD'd October 4, 1970.

The three men I admire most/ The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost/ They caught the last train for the coast: Major mystery. Holly, Bopper, Valens? Hank Williams, Elvis, Holly? JFK, RFK, ML King? The literal tripartite deity? As for the coast, could be the departure of the music biz for California. Or it simply rhymes, a big determinant of plot direction in pop music lyrics (which may also explain "drove my Chevy to the levee"). Best I can do for now. Just don't ask me to explain "Stairway to Heaven.""

quote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

quote:

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Hey, Moose, I was at the University of Georgia in 1980. We might've bumped into each other at Allen's or B & L Warehouse or the 40-Watt Club. And Bradford Kay was probably there too.

I visited the Navy Supply Corps school in Athens several times during my '79 to '86 soujourn at UGA. During a wedding reception there around '85, I had a bit too much to drink and ended up leaving the place with a sailor's cap (one of the Gilligan's Island style caps, whatever they are called). I've always felt bad about doing that.

I had a series of posts rapping with Bradford about Athens. I could describe places I went, usually not sober, and he knew all the names. I just knew the bouncers' names. B & L Warehouse sounds a little familiar.

Dixie cup hats. Wouldn't worry too much about it. The average sailor goes through a dozen a year, more if they wear them on deck. No chin straps.

The school is gone now, closed for budget reasons. I think it was moved to Orlando, along with half the other Navy schools which used to be in interesting places.

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ORIGINAL: bradfordkay

Wow, Moose... you were in Athens during the best fall ever!!! That was my senior year at Georgia - a very fun time.Friends with military IDs were able to get kegs at the Navy Supply Corps School for the cheapest price in town.

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ORIGINAL: bradfordkay

You do remember why I called that "the best fall ever" (hint: it wasn't because it was my senior year)?

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ORIGINAL: bradfordkay

It's funny... I have a great memory for places and times, but apparently not for something I talked about yesterday or a few years ago!!!

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ORIGINAL: CaptDave

Back in my early days (60s and 70s) I didn't spend a lot of time listening to the radio, mostly just when we were in the car. Didn't listen to the words in any case, so I can easily say I see everything in a new light now!

BTW, don't for a minute think the Big Band lyrics were all that innocent! Not strictly Big Band, but toward the end of that era, the Andrews Sisters' "Hold Tight" drips with innuendo, the best example I can think of off the top of my head. Just heard some Count Basie songs the other day that had me doing double takes, as well.