Song Lyrics Analyzed/Explained

[Shalot]

I don't know how quickly this thread will bomb but I got the idea today trying to figure out what this Pearl Jam song is about:




She dont wander in...dont wander in here, she...
She dont wander in here...dont wander in here...

The direction of the eye, so misleading
The defection of the soul, nauseously quick
I dont question, our existence
I just question, our modern needs

She dont wander in...dont wander in here, she...
She dont wander in here...

I will walk...with my hands bound
I will walk...with my face blood
I will walk...with my shadow flag
Into your garden, garden of stone...yeah...

After all is done, and were still alone
I wont be taken, yet Ill go...with my hands bound
I will walk...with my face blood
I will walk...with my shadow flag
Into your garden, garden of stone

I dont show...i dont share...
I dont need, yeah...what you have to give...

Oooh, I will walk...with my hands bound
I will walk...with my face blood
I will walk...with my shadow flag
Into your garden, garden...oh...

I will walk with my hands bound
I will walk into your garden, garden of stone...

I dont know...i dont care...
I dont need you for me to live...yeah, yeah, yeah, oh...


Anyone want to take a stab at it? Is about religion, is about love? or does someone have a better song that they want to post and analyze?

[country doctor]

well the doc has always wanted this little ditty of his analyzed...or explained...either, or...

the doc hears people talkin' bad,
about the way he posts here in his country,
harpin' on the books he's read,
an' gripin' 'bout the threads that were really meant to be
the doc don't mind 'em switchin' sides,
an' standin' up for the writers they believe in
but when they're runnin' down his posts, man,
they're walkin' on the fightin' side of the doc...

[Maximilianus]

In my humble view, a garden of stone may represent a euphemism for a cemetery and, subsequently, an image for death. Perhaps it's referring to a one-way ticket to a graveyard. Besides, we also have the terms "hands bound", "face blood" and "shadow flag" which also give a set of possible euphemisms for death, though I could be wrong. I think the song is related to death. Just my stab at it.

[Sapphire]

I always focussed on "I just question, our modern needs" in this song. I thought the "garden of stone" was our modern world, with carparks and concrete buildings. Seeing it a bit like Big Yellow Taxi by Toni Mitchell...

Now I look at the whole lyrics, I see that it does not quite fit. For why the She in the beginning (and the "I dont need you for me to live")? That might indicate a relation gone bad.

But as Maximilianus points out, there are quite some indications that the song is about death.

:crazy: So, to be honest. I do not know :nonod: It does not stop me from liking the song though :D

[billl]

I don't know how quickly this thread will bomb but I got the idea today trying to figure out what this Pearl Jam song is about:



Anyone want to take a stab at it? Is about religion, is about love? or does someone have a better song that they want to post and analyze?

Might be about two people who are EXTREMELY conscious of themselves, and of the other. They are both 'bound' though (by what? dignity, personal taste, bad habits, responsibilities...?). The singer recognizes vitality in himself (although it is bound, and he "doesn't show", etc.) and sees the same basic cautious thing as a "stone garden", in the other. Growth is possible, but it is frozen, we just get the inflexible version from the other in this particular relationship. It might be just one ego yelling at another... It is beautiful when two people are interested in each other, and take steps to develop trust and intimacy. In this song, the pair decides not to, for whatever reason.

In the end, it sounds like there was some attempt at intimacy, but they weren't a good match. A couple came together, but didn't connect, not for more than a moment anyhow. ("She don't wander in here," seems to suggest that his world/life isn't interesting or safe enough for her to explore). There are some quick, surface events/judgments between them, and then it is done. They don't "need" each other to live.

I think Max is right about 'death', but to me it seems to be about the death of a relationship (or 'romantic' encounter), more than anything else.

That's my stab at it--I remember when this album came out, but I never paid attention to the lyrics in this song before, so there might very well be some better analysis out there somewhere.

[billl]

The more I think about it, Max's literal 'death' interpretation can work pretty good though...

"garden of stone" = cemetary is a pretty good idea for symbolism...

Hands bound? Well, what can you do for a person in the grave?
And then they decide they can live without that person... Time to move on, maybe...

(the stuff in the beginning about the soul and 'modern needs' seems harder to connect to this approach, though, imo...)

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

well the doc has always wanted this little ditty of his analyzed...or explained...either, or...

the doc hears people talkin' bad,
about the way he posts here in his country,
harpin' on the books he's read,
an' gripin' 'bout the threads that were really meant to be
the doc don't mind 'em switchin' sides,
an' standin' up for the writers they believe in
but when they're runnin' down his posts, man,
they're walkin' on the fightin' side of the doc...

Sounds like the Country Doc has been listening to too much “Hag”
Merle Haggard for the unenlightened.
One can detect the nuances of Riley in the metering, deep fried in country dialect.
The words exude the angst of a frustrated country Doctor bound by that damned Hippocratic Oath and his futile attempts to dispense “doctors orders” and medicines to a bunch of leather necked cattle punchers, sodbusters and gunslingers.

“Take two times a day? Yeah, whatever you say Doc! Hahaha” .
“Hey Doc, you got uh bottle of whiskey in that little black bag you’re always uh totin a’roun?

At the end of the particular stanza cited above, I believe the doctor’s anger has reached a point, that if he is to attain some modicum of respect, he must resort to “fist to cuffs”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX9X5zJ91Ac&feature=related


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[country doctor]

not bad, but then again is there ever a wrong answer when interpretating the doc's lyrics?

here's another little ditty of the doc's...go ahead and peel the onion...you've got the doc's permission...

hey hey, a country doc, a country doc like me
he ain't never been on welfare, that's one place he won't be
cause he'll be doctoring, long as his two hands are fit to use
then drink a little beer in a tavern
sing a little bit of these country doc blues
yeah drink a little beer in a tavern,
cry a little bit of these country doc blues...

[country doctor]

well it seems that the last ditty by the doc was over the general chatters heads...no matter, that happens alot with the doc's material...it's more important for the folks to read and ponder then to not read at all...someday it might just hit them like a thunder bolt...but in the meantime here's another one for the folks to analyze and or explain from the doc...have at it folks, and enjoy...compliments of the country doctor...skol!

DEAR GENERAL CHAT
dear general chat,
please don't put a price on the doc's soul
doc's burden is heavy,
doc's dreams are beyond his control
when that steamboat whistle blows,
the doc's gonna give you all he's got to give,
and he does hope you receive it well,
dependin' on the way that you live

dear general chat,
please heed these words that the doc does speak
he knows you've suffered much,
but in this you are not so unique
all of us, at times, we might work too hard
to have it too fast and too much,
and any rube can fill his life up
with things he can see but he just cannot touch

dear general chat,
please don't dismiss the doc's case
he's not about to argue,
he's not about to move to no other place
Now, each of us has his own special gift
and you know this was meant to be true,
and if you don't underestimate the doc,
the doc won't underestimate you...
© country doctor

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4Mpp9z2XLg&feature=related


In this allegorical piece we are witnessing the delusional machinations of a scrofulous country doctor envious of the outlaw lifestyle and the quick draw. Born with feeble, flaccid, lactose intolerant body coupled with a proclivity toward the bottle reduced any such possibilities to mere dreams of fancy.

Our doctor begins each stanza with “Dear General Chat” which is symbolic of a landlord.
Upon further examination one can see the clear association to the Litnet Moderators or perhaps the Forums body as a whole. Desperate pleas from a haggard soul pleading with the “Landlord” – “I am here!– savvy?”

“my dreams are beyond control”

This is an understatement if ever I heard one!. Beyond control is quite evident as seen by the inveterate embodiment of his idol; John Wesley Harding as the doctor slips into the nether world of sweet slumber.

“please heed these words that the doc does speak
he knows you've suffered much,…”

In these lines, the Doc understands that the Landlord has suffered much at the hands of his quackish butchering of Haggard and Dylan.

”…but in this you are not so unique”

Apparently other Forums (landlords) have had the esteemed pleasure of Doc’s enigmatic, forced fit melding of his lyrics with others.

please don't dismiss the doc's case
he's not about to argue,
he's not about to move to no other place

It would seem that the Doc’s wish is to maintain his lodging at the Forums come hell or high water.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C5EPmR7YdY&feature=related


Somehow, I don’t think this is what the OP had in mind.

Gilliatt

[Shalot]

whoa, I totally forgot about this thread. But I do remember the issue that prompted this thread and I can say that I think the issue has passed. But I like the interpretation given --- makes good sense. So thanks.

[country doctor]

well as always, the doc's lyrics are open for interpretation...and the doc is loathe to consider any interpretation 'wrong'...as with all great works of art, there is plenty ofroom for differing viewpoints...that said, it's on to the next ditty by the doc...have at it chatters...and ENJOY your next assignment from the doc!

PERSONAL DOCTOR
your own, personal, doctor
someone to hear your prayers,
someone who cares

your own, personal, doctor
someone to hear your prayers,
someone who's there

feeling unknown
and you're all alone,
flesh and bone,
by the telephone,
lift up the receiver,
the doc'll make you a believer

Take second best,
put the doc to the test,
things on your chest,
you need to confess,
the doc will deliver,
you know he's a forgiver

reach out and grab your meds
reach out and grab your meds

your own, personal, doctor
someone to hear your prayers,
someone who cares

your own, personal, doctor
someone to hear your prayers,
someone to care

feeling unknown
and you're all alone,
flesh and bone,
by the telephone,
lift up the receiver,
the doc'll make you a believer
he will deliver,
you know he's a forgiver

reach out and grab your meds
reach out and grab your meds
reach out and grab your meds...
© country doctor

[country doctor]

well remember general chatters...you can't win if you don't try...go ahead and take a wack at the next gem penned by the doc...

TODAY THE DOC STARTED POSTING HERE AGAIN
Today the doc Started posting here Again
doc's right back where he's really always been;
doc got over here just after the broken bones began to mend,
then Today the doc started posting here Again

What a fool the chatters were to think they could get by
With only these hundred posts that the doc has tried
they should have known the BEST was yet to come
And that posting time for doc had just begun

'Cause Today the doc Started posting here Again,
doc's right back where he's really always been;
doc got over here just after the broken bones began to mend,
then Today the doc started posting here Again...
© country doctor

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

well as always, ...as with all great works of art, there is plenty ofroom for differing viewpoints

PERSONAL DOCTOR
your own, personal, doctor
someone to hear your prayers,
someone who cares...


Robbing lyrics from anesthetized artists to sell on the black market will be the ruin of Country Doc.
Malpractice lawsuits will bury him.
Country Doc must stop and ask himself; WWPJD? (What would personal Jesus do?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZu4R9vpjZs&feature=related




...take a wack at the next gem penned by the doc...

TODAY THE DOC STARTED POSTING HERE AGAIN
Today the doc Started posting here Again
doc's right back where he's really always been;...


...What a fool the chatters were to think they could get by
With only these hundred posts that the doc has tried
they should have known the BEST was yet to come
And that posting time for doc had just begun...



“they should have known the BEST was yet to come”

The original, unsoiled lyrics, state: “the WORST was yet to come”
Are we to suffer further anguish from lockjaw at the hands of Country Doc and his dull rusty scalpel?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9Ivl_JxSfk


I’m not in the “Mode” to analyze further.


Gilliatt

[country doctor]

well chatters the doc is sorry that he's been away for awhile, but work comes first w/ the doc...had to get all around the country and administer those flu shots...

lots of folks out there that don't live as good and healthy as the doc...for those folks the doc sympathizes and tells them to roll up their sleeve...but now that he's been able to catch his breath, it's time for another ditty of the doc's for the chatters to either analyze or explain...here you go chatters...something to chew on...courtesy of the country doctor...

THE COUNTRY DOCTOR
who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it with dew
cover it with chocolate and a miracle or two
the country doctor, oh the country doctor can
who can take a rainbow, wrap it in a sigh
soak it in the sun and make a groovy lemon pie
the country doctor, oh the country doctor can
now you talk about your chatter-like wishes,
you can even eat the dishes
oh, who can take tomorrow, dip it in a dream
separate the sorrow and collect up all the cream
the country doctor, oh the country doctor can
now you talk about your chatter-like wishes
you can even eat the dishes...
© country doctor

and just because the chatters have had to wait so long for the doc, here's a twofer...on the house...ENJOY! ANALYZE! EXPLAIN!

WHEN DOC PAINTS HIS MASTERPIECE
oh, the streets of rome are filled with rubble,
ancient footprints are everywhere
a chatter can almost think that he's seein' double
on a cold, dark night on the spanish stairs
doc's got to hurry on back to his hotel room,
where he's got him a date with botticelli's niece
she promised that she'd be right there with the doc
when doc paints his masterpiece

oh, the hours the doc's spent inside the coliseum,
dodging lions and wastin' time (roar)
oh, those mighty kings of the jungle, the doc could hardly stand to see 'em,
yes, it sure has been a long, hard climb
train wheels runnin' through the back of the doc's memory,
when he ran on the hilltop following a pack of wild geese
someday, everything is gonna be smooth like a rhapsody
when doc paints his masterpiece

sailin' 'round the world in a dirty gondola.
oh, to be back in the land of coca-cola

the doc left rome and landed in brussels,
on a plane ride so bumpy that he almost cried
chatters in uniform and young girls pullin' muscles,
everyone was there to greet the doc when he stepped inside
newspaper chatters eating candy
had to be held down by big police
someday, everything is gonna be different
when doc paints his masterpiece...
© country doctor

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

.

I'm coming to the conclusion that Country Doc has been sipping a little too much of his own snake oil.

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS1ZAqdg39eUbxqtfV2LQKECgI9Vjfn2 PGw639qf59-hA1gpKI&t=1&usg=__wXfON0CMBxhVsZ8DtEfEX03retA=


Perhaps Doc would be so kind as to analyze this! :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyTejjdHejs


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[country doctor]

well chatters, it's that time again for the doc to show his work and have it scrutinized by you all...analyzed, explained, what have you...the doc is secure enough about his ability that he can take constructive criticism...and you do have the doc's permission to enjoy while you learn...that's the way it is when the doc's preparing the lessons for all the general chatters out there...

WHITE RABBIT (GO ASK THE DOC)
One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you
Don't do anything at all
Go ask THE DOC
When he's ten feet tall

And if you go chasing rabbits
And you know you're going to fall
Tell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillar
Has given you the call
Call THE DOC
When he was just small

When men on the chessboard
Get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom
And your mind is moving slow
Go ask THE DOC
he's sure to know

When logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's "off with her head!"
Remember what the DOCTOR said;
'FEED YOUR HEAD'...
© country doctor

[country doctor]

well chatters in doc country it's still the last day of 2010 and the doc thinks that it'd be approbo that he put up another ditty of his to be analyzed/explained by his fellow chatters...now don't be shy chatters...there are no wrong answers, just chatters being enlightened by the doc and his songs...it's time to ROAR! with the doc, chatters...

DOC'S ALWAYS BEEN CRAZY
the doc's always been crazy and the trouble that it's put him through
he's been busted for things that he did, and he didn't do
doc can't say he's proud of all of the things that he's done
but the doc can say he's never intentionally hurt anyone
doc's always been different with one foot over the line
winding up somewhere one step ahead or behind
it ain't been so easy but the doc guesses he shouldn't complain
doc's always been crazy but it's kept him from going insane...
© country doctor

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

...it's time to ROAR!...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUBnxqEVKlk


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[country doctor]

chatters time for another musical lesson from the doc...time to analyze/explain one of the doc's ditties...don't be shy now, chatters...there are no real wrong answers when studying doc's art...enjoy!

COME WITH DOC
if you're in a bind,with a troubled mind
the doc's a mountain,come on and climb
because there's so much to life,to be so down
it won't take much chatters to turn it all around
come with doc,come with doc
the feeling's free, just come with doc
get on a cloud chatters,and ride it high
say hello sun, as you sail bye...
© country doctor

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

How about this little ditty from Tool:

Dreaming of that face again.
It's bright and blue and shimmering.
Grinning wide
And comforting me with it's three warm and wild eyes.

On my back and tumbling
Down that hole and back again
Rising up
And wiping the webs and the dew from my withered eye.

In... Out... In... Out... In... Out...

A child's rhyme stuck in my head.
It said that life is but a dream.
I've spent so many years in question
to find I've known this all along.

"So good to see you.
I've missed you so much.
So glad it's over.
I've missed you so much
Came out to watch you play.
Why are you running away?
Came out to watch you play.
Why are you running away?"

Shrouding all the ground around me
What is this holy crow above me?
Black as holes within a memory
And blue as our new second sun.
I stick my hand into his shadow
To pull the pieces from the sand.
Which I attempt to reassemble
To see just who I might have been.
I do not recognize the vessel,
But the eyes seem so familiar.
Like phosphorescent desert buttons
Singing one familiar song...

"So good to see you.
I've missed you so much.
So glad it's over.
I've missed you so much.
Came out to watch you play.
Why are you running away?
Came out to watch you play.
Why are you running away?"

Prying open my third eye.
Prying open my third eye.
Prying open my third eye.
Prying open my third eye.

So good to see you once again.
I thought that you were hiding.
And you thought that I had run away.
Chasing the tail of dogma.
I opened my eye
I opened my eye
I opened my eye
and there we were...

Open my eye
Open my eye
Open my eye
and there you were...

So good to see you once again
I thought that you were hiding from me.
And you thought that I had run away.
Chasing a trail of smoke and reason.

Prying open my third eye.

[1n50mn14]

I will have to come back to this, but just wanted to say for now... I love Pearl Jam... and Tool xD. Keep it cool, Lit-Net.

[country doctor]

buckle up chatters...another ditty from the doc to be analyzed/explained...

THE DOC AND THE CHATTERS

they're the doc and the chatters
yes, doc and the chatters
one is a genius
the others are insane
before each night is done
their plan will be unfurled
by the dawning of the sun
they'll take over the world
they're the doc and the chatters
yes, doc and the chatters
© country doctor

[country doctor]

well it's time again, chatters...the doc has written a new ditty and it's time for all the chatters to take a whack and analyze or explain the doc's lyrics...don't be shy chatters, there are no wrong answers...sometimes the chatters do get the questions mixed up, though...no worries, this one should give all the chatters something to think about as they go through the rest of their day...

GENERAL CHAT, GENERAL CHAT
Start spreading the news, the doc's back here today
he wants to be a part of it - general chat, general chat
These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it - general chat, general chat

the doc wantsta wake up in a land, that doesnt sleep
And find he's king of the hill - top of the heap

These little town blues, are melting away
the doc'll make a brand new start of it - in old general chat
If the doc can make it there, he'll make it anywhere
Its up to the chatters - general chat, general chat

general chat, general chat
the doc wants to wake up in a land, that never sleeps
And find he's a number one, top of the list, king of the hill
A number one

These little town blues, are melting away
the doc's gonna make a brand new start of it - in old general chat
And if the doc can make it there, he's gonna make it anywhere

Its up to the chatters - general chat, general chat...
© country doctor

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

well it's time again, chatters...the doc has written a new ditty and it's time for all the chatters to take a whack and analyze or explain the doc's lyrics...

GENERAL CHAT, GENERAL CHAT
Start spreading the news, the doc's back here today
he wants to be a part of it - general chat, general chat
These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it - general chat, general chat...

© country doctor


Analysis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MiBVrxbvBg


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[country doctor]

well it's been awhile general chatters since the doc's had an opportunity to pick up a pen and write a new ditty for all his reading audience...but while he's been pinned down by the enemy's shrapnel for the last few days, he's taken the time to pen a new one for all the followers down here in the trenches...enjoy!

THE BOTTLE AND THE DAMAGE DONE
the doc caught you knockin'
at his cellar door
that chatter is trashed,
can he have some more
Ooh, ooh, the damage done

doc hit the city and
he lost his band
doc watched the bottle
take another man
Gone, gone, the damage done

the doc sings the song
because he loves the man
the doc knows that some
of you don't understand
Milk-blood
to keep from running out

the doc's seen the bottle
and the damage done
A little part of it in everyone
But every alkie's
like a settin' sun...
© country doctor

ROAR!

[Gilliatt Gurgle]

Doc, you got snake oil on your hands, the guilt weighs heavy in that little black bag your tot'n roun.
Losing one with such a "sound mind" has caused quite a stir around these parts lately.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvb65dCMjZI

Oh no...looks like the bottle got to Alice as well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Vp5ejFbxM

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