[Chris Tanz]

A lot of Sabres fans in the NHL thread are feeling pretty high and mighty these days, so I thought I would take the pulse of Hip Nation and maybe bring them back to earth a bit ...

The line in ATHM, is it about the animal or the city? Let's decide for all time. On the one hand, it's counterpointed with Hengelo, which is a city in the Netherlands; on the other hand the song is about the great plains, which used to be populated by many, many buffalo.

There's no "both" option -- life's full of hard decisions.

ct

[yeah, yeah, stupidest poll ever]

[fingernailsonhull]

It would seem to me he's remembering the city, since Hengelo is a place...

[day_for_night]

no way...buffalo the animals. the "great planes" alone should be enough to convince ya of that. I think the Hangelo is just to throw the possibility of a double meaning in there...

[emperor penguin]

never thought that it could be buffalo as in a heard of buffalo, but it makes sence to me. That is why I chose that option

[buffalorob]

Gord took a shoe in head at the University of Buffalo during the Fully tour,
and they played a bar (Sinbad's) in Cheektowaga right next to the runway of the Buffalo airport once...where the great planes begin.

[cferneyh]

I say the city because sometimes he switches it up with "Tokyo".

[Chris Tanz]

I say the city because sometimes he switches it up with "Tokyo".

He usually subs Tokyo for Hengelo, though; doesn't he? ("I remember buffalo [the animals] and I remember Tokyo" rather than "I remember Tokyo and I remember Hengelo").

So, he's clearly doing a city-city switch. But can we infer from that that "Buffalo" is another city in his travelogue of ideas? Maybe we could make the opposite inference that, since he doesn't substitute another city name for "buffalo", he always means to refer to the animal. I.e., the animal is constant, but the city is ever-changing. Same [buffalo] shit, different city -- the irony of the "constant animal" trope being that all those great plains buffalo are now gone, and yet, the City (any city, every city) is always, and increasingly -- sprawlingly -- with us.

(Also, the Leafs rule!! And the Sabres don't!!)

ct

[Naga]

I say the city because sometimes he switches it up with "Tokyo".

He switches Hengalo with Tokyo, actually.

There's a story about why it's Buffalo. Taken from the Hip Museum,

Two incidents from Hip lore provide the inspiration for this lyric. The first stems from a gig the Hip played in Buffalo, New York. Stories vary as to whether a shoe throwing incident or an overly rowdy crowd are what made the show so memorable.

[Chris Tanz]

I was at a shoe-throwing in Toledo, but I don't think Chagrin Falls is about Sketchers.

ct

[cferneyh]

I say the city because sometimes he switches it up with "Tokyo".

He usually subs Tokyo for Hengelo, though; doesn't he? ("I remember buffalo [the animals] and I remember Tokyo" rather than "I remember Tokyo and I remember Hengelo").

Yup. My bad. :oops:

[grimes]

I always assumed it was the animal...but after reading this thread I decided to check the lyrics in the CD insert, and what do you know, it says Buffalo. So now I'm thinking maybe I should change my vote.

[opiated]

perhaps he's singing about Buffalo Wings...they're pretty tasty

[Chris Tanz]

I always assumed it was the animal...but after reading this thread I decided to check the lyrics in the CD insert, and what do you know, it says Buffalo. So now I'm thinking maybe I should change my vote.

That's cheating!!!!!

The printed lyrics also say "I remember every single warm, bloody, and horrible thing I know" ... so don't go believing everything you read.

sick and ashamed and happy,
ct

[laliber]

the lyrics have lower case for buffalo on the TTH website...and in the song there is a thinking about the past (the landscape trying to recall itself?) thing going on - corduroy road - weeds standing shoulder high

and if you are talking great plains you would remember buffalo

-to bad Gord could have made this easy by singing

I remember, I remember bison and I remember Fort Garry
At the ninety seventh meridian where the great plains begin

[skippy the wonder dog]

There's no "both" option -- life's full of hard decisions.

Both.