[lord brazle]

This was in another thread but I think people are missing it cuz it's under a bunch of stuff, so I'm making it a new topic to see what everybody thinks....
-------------------------
The song seems to be about George Harrison.
And here are the reasons...

1. "You are everywhere, within and without"
------ Beatles song "Within You Without You" written by George Harrison

2. "When I reel my irish in"
------ George Harrison was Irish

3. "At the ballroom hanging you're there"
------ There's is a song called "Ballroom Dancing" by Paul McCartney
------ George Harrison's parents Harold and Louise Harrison were BALLROOM DANCERS!

4. "Where I feed my people when I get behind the plow
when I write the tiger hanging on by his eyebrows"
------ The Concert For Bangla Desh?
------ George Harrison's ashes were spread in India
------ What big, f**king scary cat is India known for? The tiger.
------ Anybody ever seen George's eyebrows?

5. "Forget about who’s kissing her"
------ A song from 1909 about losing love. Here; "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now"
------ What inspired Eric Clapton's "Layla"? George Harrison's wife Pattie Boyd.

6. "In straight lines through shadows you’re there"
------ Eerie rendition of George Harrison's home-invasion incident?

7. Death; eternal sleep
"When I sleep on the train" / "When I sleep on the plane"
"Somehow where democracy is how we all learn to sleep"

"There’s no escaping this dream, we’re dancing with no distractions"
------ Of course, there's no escape from death. Who's dancing? His parents?
-------------------------

Wouldn't it make sense that a 'ballroom hanging' would be Heaven? His parents are obviously there waiting for him or something...

[Roy-at-tth]

eeeh could be although it seems to me you're stretching it kinda far sometimes.

i mean, you could give me a line from a song i'll somehow relate it to herpes, but it doesn't mean its about herpes.

Could be though.

[cferneyh]

Cool theory. One question though - isn't it "...ride the tiger..." rather than "write"?

[tragicallymike]

thats kind of interesting. I can see the relation.

[dirtyepic]

"when i ride the tiger hanging on my sidebrow" isn't it? i don't know, are there lyrics included in the liner notes? i just have mp3 until i head to Regina next.

[clearlyentranced]

When I write the tiger hanging on by it's eyebrows

Those are the lyrics.

[clearlyentranced]

When I write the tiger hanging on by it's eyebrows

Those are the lyrics.

[prz]

Lord Brazle,

That is some interesting research you did. How did you come up with all that? I think it may be a bit of a stretch, but bravo for giving it a go.

[Moosehead]

"Write the tiger" doesn't make sense.... I know that's what it says in the lyric booklet but I think I'm going to scratch that out and declare it to be a typo

[lord brazle]

Thanks for the comments all!

I saw that other thread about the meaning of this song and thought about it. "When I reel my irish in." It started off as me recalling someone somewhere talking about the Irish Reel or the Scottish Reel or something. It's a dance, I think.

I've wrote for years and sometimes when I look at a poem, I don't see the poem but I notice little things the poet did. It's kinda like how non-architects can admire buildings or pieces of architecture but fellow architects would look at it in a different way like, "Why did they put that there?" or "Oh they're quoting so-and-so." Kinda....

Anyway, I thought the way this song is written was odd. The usual Hip songs have elaborate ways of saying regular things and they generally stay in one feel. This song combines several feelings; sorrow, pride, bravery and fear. I've been through all of the Hip's lyrics and I felt that this one was somehow different, like Gord was pulling all these things together and then hiding them. So I picked key phrases that stood out like "within and without" etc. and started searching in Yahoo and Google.

I figured it would be like other Hip songs and just be a bunch of different ideas put together telling one story like Emporer Penguin. Or be like Into Thin Air/Courage... Yet every single phrase I typed in, the results had a continuing theme, The Beatles. Specifically George Harrison. The Beatles really are everywhere.

At first, I didn't think it was about Harrison and I know very little about him anyway. But, as it progressed, there seemed to be more and more similarities between this song and the life of George Harrison.

People might not agree or think I'm stretching it, but I am almost 100% sure that this song is about George Harrison. Anyway, like all music, people can decide for themselves what they think it's about. I just threw it out there...

P.S. - But I'm a superhuge lyric-buff, if anybody even has a far-off distant thought as to any other song-meanings, I would love to hear them. :thumb:

[LoftyPines]

"Write the tiger" doesn't make sense.... I know that's what it says in the lyric booklet but I think I'm going to scratch that out and declare it to be a typo

Nopers, I watched quite carefully at the Amp and at Bayfest. It was clearly "Write". I could hear and see the "t" being pronounced.

I thought it was a mistake when I saw it in a review in the paper. But, alas, the reviewer was correct.

It makes no sense to me at all...

[Tarokun]

Maybe the thing hanging in the ballroom is some kind of painting

[Stephen Dame]

For what it's worth, "Riding the tiger by his eyebrows" is an old poli-sci/International Relations term that is used to describe leaders who are clinging to power, weathering a coup or in some similar situation that requires a great deal of tact, power, persuasion and force.

The first time I remember seeing the term was in an old "Art of War" text.

And the original "Ballroom" had some very political lyrics, still does IMO. I think it fits with the "current world scene" theme of the album. Needless to say, Gord wouldn't be voting Republican if he had the ability.

[dirtyepic]

For what it's worth, "Riding the tiger by his eyebrows" is an old poli-sci/International Relations term that is used to describe leaders who are clinging to power, weathering a coup or in some similar situation that requires a great deal of tact, power, persuasion and force.

The first time I remember seeing the term was in an old "Art of War" text.

damn, that was one of my favorite lines.

very cool background info though, thanks. as for the Beatles connection, I'm not too sure. i'm not saying it's not there, but to me it seems like the theme is also a political one. it's seems to definitely be about oppression.

sorry if some of these lyrics are wrong - i need to get an actual copy of the disc.

/you are everywhere within and without
/where it don't matter what we're used to now (might be "used to know")
/where i feed my people, when i get behind a plow

something coming in and just taking over, not caring about how things are done, just forcing its own will

/when i write the tiger hanging on by its eyebrows

now that i know the story behind it, i'm taking this as trying to hold on to the past or the culture (rebelling). 'ride' would make more sense than 'write', but it still works. rebelling by writing lyrics like these? speaking out.

//somehow, when the gang in me
//is being all that it can be
//somehow, part of it is a plan
//and part vigilan-te streak

more rebelling. hmm, be all that you can be. wonder what the opression might be. ;]

/when i reel my irish in
...
/you're there

when i have to hide my roots, it's because of you.

etc.

imho it's another song speaking out against recent events by a particular country. then again, to me every second song on IBE seems to have that element. i did notice that at the Edmonton show "democracy" was replaced with "hypocrisy" ;D

like you said, Gord often juxtaposes two very different things to tell a story, so i'm sure the Beatles could fit in there as well.

anyways, that's just me thinking out loud. i'm probably way off. :mrgreen:

*sigh* me and long posts..

[thecompletist]

I thought Gord or someone actually mentioned in an interview a couple months back that one of the new songs was about George Harrison.... could be wrong... I swear I heard or read it ?