Ray Garrison Posted September 4, 2004 Share Posted September 4, 2004 Reading through the American Pie thread made me think of another song that, I think, is even more obtuse. Following are the lyrics to Springsteen's "Blinded by the Light." Anyone want to comment on what they think any of this means? Feel free to cut and paste and annotate a reply... Madman drummers bummers and Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat In the dumps with the mumps as the adolescent pumps his way into his hat With a boulder on my shoulder feelin' kinda older I tripped the merry-go-round With this very unpleasing sneezing and wheezing the calliope crashed to the ground Some all-hot half-shot was headin' for the hot spot snappin' his fingers clappin' his hands And some fleshpot mascot was tied into a lover's knot with a whatnot in her hand And now young Scott with a slingshot finally found a tender spot and throws his lover in the sand And some bloodshot forget-me-not whispers daddy's within earshot save the buckshot turn up the band And she was blinded by the light Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night Blinded by the light, she got down but she never got tight, but she'll make it alright Some brimstone baritone anti-cyclone rolling stone preacher from the east He says: "Dethrone the dictaphone, hit it in its funny bone, that's where they expect it least" And some new-mown chaperone was standin' in the corner all alone watchin' the young girls dance And some fresh-sown moonstone was messin' with his frozen zone to remind him of the feeling of romance Yeah he was blinded by the light Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night Blinded by the light He got down but she never got tight, but he's gonna make it tonight Some silicone sister with her manager's mister told me I got what it takes She said I'll turn you on sonny, to something strong if you play that song with the funky break, And go-cart Mozart was checkin' out the weather chart to see if it was safe to go outside And little Early-Pearly came in by her curly-wurly and asked me if I needed a ride, Oh, some hazard from Harvard was skunked on beer playin' backyard bombardier Yes and Scotland Yard was trying hard, they sent a dude with a calling card, he said, do what you like, but don't do it here Well I jumped up, turnedaround, spit in the air, fell on the ground Asked him which was the way back home He said take a right at the light, keep goin' straight until night, and then boy, you're on your own And now in Zanzibar a shootin' star was ridin' in a side car hummin' a lunar tune Yes, and the avatar said blow the bar but first remove the cookie jar we're gonna teach those boys to laugh too soon And some kidnapped handicap was complainin' that he caught the clap from some mousetrap he bought last night, Well I unsnapped his skull cap and between his ears I saw a gap but figured he'd be all right He was just blinded by the light Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night Blinded by the light Mama always told me not to look into the sights of the sun Oh but mama that's where the fun is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckears Posted September 4, 2004 Share Posted September 4, 2004 I have never been able to figure this one out... for some reason, I had the notion for years that it was telling about a string of unusual characters from Atlantic City or other parts of the Jersey shore - sort of the con-man grifter type - all dressed up with metaphoric or colorful verbiage. But after reading through the lyrics for the first time in 10 or 15 years, I have to admit that I really just have no idea. Oh, and in a rare incident of liking the cover version better than the original, I have to state that the Manfredd Mann version (longer, not the bastardized single version) wins out over The Boss's. BTW, if you quoted all of that from memory, consider me amazed... I did American Pie without looking, but its lyrics are a little more conventional (and easier to understand from the respective performers). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted September 4, 2004 Share Posted September 4, 2004 I have to agree with Chuck here, the original all the way. What a classic song. Still gives me goose bumps to this day and I have no clue what the song is about. I just love the music. Ok I've read it. I have absolutly no clue. Some 70's acid trip? *EDIT* I just read someting about this on the net that I did not know. Apparently the song was originally written by Bruce Springsteen. If that's true, then bruce has 1 song I like and the 1 song is not even his version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sivadselim Posted September 4, 2004 Share Posted September 4, 2004 ---------------- On 9/4/2004 10:29:03 PM m00n wrote: I have to agree with Chuck here, the original all the way. ---------------- chuck said he liked manfred mann's better; which is not the original, as you discovered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
middlecreekguy Posted September 5, 2004 Share Posted September 5, 2004 I guess I`m showing my age here but I prefer the writer`s version of the song over Manford`s even though they did a hell of a job covering it. I`ve got a bootleg from the `70`s of Bruce and his band doing this live on a radio show and he just laughs through the whole thing. I always got the impression he knows everybody in that song. And by the way, it`s from his very first album. The record promoters were selling him as the next Bob Dylan. He loved Dylan but really did not like that comparison. If any of you that for the most part do not like Bruce have never heard his first couple of albums, they contain some of his best work. As you can tell, he`s one of my all time favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckears Posted September 5, 2004 Share Posted September 5, 2004 ---------------- On 9/5/2004 1:09:32 AM middlecreekguy wrote: If any of you that for the most part do not like Bruce have never heard his first couple of albums, they contain some of his best work. As you can tell, he`s one of my all time favorites. ---------------- This is the surprise: I consider Springsteen to be one of the most prolific artists of our time, and own all of his major releases (I haven't cared much for his last 3 or 4); but the Manfredd Mann BBTL wins out with me. I love how all the verses receive a complete run-through with the chorus repeats at the end... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted September 5, 2004 Share Posted September 5, 2004 So does ray actually know the answer to his question or is he sending us on a whild goose chase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwillwalk Posted September 5, 2004 Share Posted September 5, 2004 you just have to put your self in the same state of min he was in when he wrote & it makes perfect sence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted September 5, 2004 Share Posted September 5, 2004 ---------------- On 9/5/2004 1:20:09 PM iwillwalk wrote: you just have to put your self in the same state of min he was in when he wrote & it makes perfect sence ---------------- And whats that state of mind? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted September 6, 2004 Author Share Posted September 6, 2004 No, Ray does not have any idea. Just to give you an idea of what some intelligent people think of the denseness of Springsteen's prose, allow me to quote from a John Marks article in the Stereophile archives... "However, if you are totally new to Springsteen or know only his more recent work, in my opinion the best place to start is with his first three records: Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.; The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle; and Born to Run (which includes "Thunder Road"). You can probably pick up the CDs used for not much, and the vinyl for not much at all. The vinyl sounds richer than the digital transfers. In "Thunder Road," after first imploring Mary, the girl on the porch, to "Show a little faith, there's magic in the night," Springsteen's character tells her: You can hide 'neath your covers And study your pain Make crosses from your lovers Throw roses in the rain Waste your summer praying in vain For a savior to rise from these streets Well now I'm no hero That's understood All the redemption I can offer, girl Is beneath this dirty hood This is remarkably dense and multilayered writing for a rock song. "Oooh, baby, baby" it is not. In a few lines, at least to my ears, Springsteen alludes to Saints Thérèse of Liseux, John of the Cross, Teresa of Ávila, and Francis of Assisi, while confronting the eternally vexing problem of the relationship (or disconnect) between human intimacy and divine transcendence. Perhaps the writing is a bit overwrought. But then again, some people do experience moments when whether or not the person whom they desire can make a reciprocal gesture to bridge the space between them seems more than a matter of mere life and death; it is a matter of eternal destiny. It should not then be too much of a shock to discover that another song on the Springsteen video anthology is entitled "Leap of Faith." Quick, name another rock song that owes its title to Danish theologian and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) (footnote 4). Kierkegaard's notion of a "leap of faith" was more than the idea that the transcendent was not accessible to human reasonthat you could not get from here to the ultimate "there" by taking one logical step at a time. There were at least two other important components. First, the state from which one was leaping was the state of anxiety that comes from the limitless possibilities inherent in human freedom. Second, leaving behind the anxiety can be accomplished only by leaping: one has at least temporarily to lose contact with one's groundings, and leave one's previous state completely behind. Faith invites, but itself requires an act of faith to accept the invitation. For these and many other reasons, Kierkegaard is often regarded as the originator of modern psychology. Some even credit him as the forerunner of all modern thoughtnot only philosophical existentialism, but modern physics as well. In his magisterial book The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Richard Rhodes puts forward a compelling case that Kierkegaard's thought had a decisive impact on Niels Bohr's contributions to the development of quantum physics. Am I supposing that Bruce Springsteen sits around his farmhouse and pages through nearly impenetrable theological speculation by a neurotic 19th-century Dane? Don't be absurd. I am not. But Kierkegaard did focus his attention, as few thinkers yet had, on the philosophical implications of the gritty particularity of daily modern life (what Kierkegaard called "everydayness"). Kierkegaard was the first to put his finger on the pervasiveness of anxiety and dread in modern life. And Bruce Springsteen did say this: "When I started in music, I thought, 'My job is pretty simple. I search for the human things in myself, and I turn them into notes and words, and then in some fashion, I help people hold on to their own humanity." The characters in Springsteen's songs are aware of their failings, yet they continue to seek redemption, despite the fact that at times their quest seems doomed to fail. At least they take a stand. " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 Excellent posts Ray and of course, I join with you in expressing total confusion and lack of understandng of his lyrics on this song. Some lines like "blinded by light" seem to snap into foucs for me and some are just wierd, too obscure, or the result of a man's mind seemingly hooking up words with thoughts, feelings in an almost random order. One of the things I like most about some of the rock that grew up in the 60's and 70's is the transformation taking the musician from a singer to a poet. Springstein could be described as a poet of and for the working man. Plus he's a hell of a rocker. Another poet/singer that I really like is Leonard Cohen a gravelly voiced bard whose writings invoke beauty at almost every turn, religous musings, harsh and soft charechterisations of persons and of course, lots and lots of sex. If you are into lyrics the best of these folks evoke politics, social issues, meanings of life, the beauty that surronds us, the dark side of our souls and the emotional aspects of love and life. Much better then your tired old love songs which seems to be the grist for the mill of almost all of music of any genre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted September 6, 2004 Author Share Posted September 6, 2004 Thebes, I *LOVE* Leonard Cohen!!! One of the truly transcendental experiences I've had was being in the Grotto in New Haven quite a few years back, and I heard two "What the Hell was THAT????!!!!" songs one right after the other. The first was Sinead O'Conner's "Jackie", then followed Leonard singing this... "Everybody knows that the dice are loaded Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed Everybody knows that the war is over Everybody knows the good guys lost Everybody knows the fight was fixed The poor stay poor, the rich get rich Thats how it goes Everybody knows Everybody knows that the boat is leaking Everybody knows that the captain lied Everybody got this broken feeling Like their father or their dog just died Everybody talking to their pockets Everybody wants a box of chocolates And a long stem rose Everybody knows Everybody knows that you love me baby Everybody knows that you really do Everybody knows that youve been faithful Ah give or take a night or two Everybody knows youve been discreet But there were so many people you just had to meet Without your clothes And everybody knows Everybody knows, everybody knows Thats how it goes Everybody knows Everybody knows, everybody knows Thats how it goes Everybody knows And everybody knows that its now or never Everybody knows that its me or you And everybody knows that you live forever Ah when youve done a line or two Everybody knows the deal is rotten Old black joes still pickin cotton For your ribbons and bows And everybody knows And everybody knows that the plague is coming Everybody knows that its moving fast Everybody knows that the naked man and woman Are just a shining artifact of the past Everybody knows the scene is dead But theres gonna be a meter on your bed That will disclose What everybody knows And everybody knows that youre in trouble Everybody knows what youve been through From the bloody cross on top of calvary To the beach of malibu Everybody knows its coming apart Take one last look at this sacred heart Before it blows And everybody knows Everybody knows, everybody knows Thats how it goes Everybody knows Oh everybody knows, everybody knows Thats how it goes Everybody knows Everybody knows" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 I love that song. I thnk he actually wrote it for Jonette Nopolitano, the lead singer of Concrete Blonde. You should also hear Don Henley's version of it. Check out my comments in this weeks Memeber Music Recommendations thread down in Entertainment/DVD Music Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Speaker Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 Ray, thats a great Leonard Cohen song! The Mandolin string sound is actually an Oud. Or how about Im your Man? My girlfriend at the time that song came out, really liked it. If you want a lover Ill do anything you ask me to And if you want another kind of love Ill wear a mask for you If you want a partner Take my hand Or if you want to strike me down in anger Here I stand Im your man If you want a boxer I will step into the ring for you And if you want a doctor Ill examine every inch of you If you want a driver Climb inside Or if you want to take me for a ride You know you can Im your man Ah, the moons too bright The chains too tight The beast wont go to sleep Ive been running through these promises to you That I made and I could not keep Ah but a man never got a woman back Not by begging on his knees Or Id crawl to you baby And Id fall at your feet And Id howl at your beauty Like a dog in heat And Id claw at your heart And Id tear at your sheet Id say please, please Im your man And if youve got to sleep A moment on the road I will steer for you And if you want to work the street alone Ill disappear for you If you want a father for your child Or only want to walk with me a while Across the sand Im your man If you want a lover Ill do anything you ask me to And if you want another kind of love Ill wear a mask for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted September 6, 2004 Author Share Posted September 6, 2004 RE the Henley version, it's pretty cool not only because he does a great cover of it, but also because it's an uncredited 13th song on the Actual Miles album. It's not listed on the liner notes, on the packaging, Cohen is not mentioned anywhere... you get to the end of the album, and if you don't hit Stop or jump up to change CD's this song starts playing. If you've never heard Cohen's version, it's quite, uh, something the first time you hear it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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