[Chris Tanz]

I'm so out of it -- I thought Fiddler's Green was about the sinking of the Bismarck??

CT

[Stephen Dame]

Nah, It's about a hooker playing hockey on the poop deck of the Bismarck.

[lord brazle]

Lord, it is quoted in the book - "Have Not Been the Same"
Even gives the nephews name.
You should pick it up - a great read.

hock: Seriously?

I'm on my way to find that now. :thumb:

[Stephen Dame]

The short answer to this question is "no, and they never will."

It's his song, written and performed only once, for him. I haven't confirmed the funeral part of the story, although that is widely believed... might be in the book, don't remember, I'll have to find it and leaf through it again.

Newsgroup consensus held that FG was never to be heard, but was only added to RA at the request of Gord's sister/sister in-law.

Bobby looked down at the guy beside me holding a huge "Fiddler's Green" sign at the Amp in '02, smiled, shook his head and said: "We can't, sorry."

[The Darkest Canuck]

1. um, beanmedic went through 2 years of study to get his Tool Point license. He's actually one of the few on here who could dish them out because of his fine-honed judgement on matters. I can't issue Tool Points. I wish I had the ability to but I don't. As for you though, you just picked up a scalpel and thought you could do open-heart surgery. Don't be surprised if someone on here stamps you with a couple more Tool Points for that response.

for questioning my authority and buying into beans' bs, i am issuing you 2 tool points, consider yourself lucky that i'm letting you off easy, and don't forget, there's plenty more where those came from.

[skippy the wonder dog]

Given that the authors of that book managed to confuse Hitler with the Admiralty, I'd take any product of their research with a sixty pound salt brick.

On Fiddler's Green: the specific events that lead GD to write a lyric are not actually relevant to its meaning. The meaning is in the words. Looking for meaning in GD's own life and relationships is voyeurism.

Grrr.

[Chris Tanz]

awwwww ... come on ... some songs are about stuff. We can't just say "don't look into too much" in response to any specific request. If FG was really written about Gord's nephew on the occasion of Gord's nephew's funeral, then that's worthy of note and discussion (even discussion ad infinitum). Especially if that's the reason it never has been/never will be played live.

So, while it may be (or, while you may have written) that the specific events that lead GD to write a lyric are not relevant to its "meaning" (however narrowly or broadly circumscribed), that doesn't mean we can't while away our time wondering about the specific events. Certainly, we should be able to do it without being "grrr"ed at.

As for the "meaning in the words" aspect -- anyone else think that "his tiny knotted heart, well, I guess it never worked too good/the timbers tore apart, and the water gorged the wood" is just about the best line anyone's ever written about a body breaking down and just falling apart.

CT

[skippy the wonder dog]

Grrr....

Point is, it doesn't matter whether it was written for his nephew, his uncle Bob, or his friend's sister's dog's owner's cousin's pony's favorite little girl. None of those things have anything to do with what the song actually "means." Does it illuminate your understanding of the song to know precisely who it was written for and under what circumstances, or would the time be better spent researching the connotations of "fiddler's green?"

I'm not saying don't consider song meanings. I'm saying the meaning is in the words themselves.