Curious lyrics...

[michelew]

Hey y'all!

This is just a silly thread, or deadly serious depending on how you look at it of course.

So... I'm listening to and trying to replicate Dink's Song (Fare Thee Well). It's a fantastic song. I love the feel, the emotion and the way it changes slightly in unexpected ways.

Now the lyrics have me a little puzzled. The second verse in the movie version, played in Inside Llewyn Davis, is:

The woman I loved, is long and tall
She moves her body, like a cannonball
Fare the well, oh honey, fare thee well.

My big questions to you all. Is moving like a cannonball a GOOD thing? ... Or perhaps part of the reason for the "fare thee well"? I can't decide. I'm singing it like I love how cannonballs move... But should I? From memory this was originally written by a woman, so perhaps she was singing to a man. Would that have made moving like a cannon ball more desirable? Hmmmm... I'm not sure... But then... i may just be a little out of touch. :woohoo: :laugh:

To be clear...I'm not sure I'd want my man to move like a cannonball either. Sounds sort of menacing and violent.


Thoughts?

Got any other gems that the community might unravel the meaning of?

Yep I'm just being stupid of course. But it is curious.

[fjeanmur]

Hi Michele--

I don't know the song, but I suspect the line might just be attributed bad lyric writing. You know those gems that leave you shaking your head as you say "What is that supposed to mean?" For me that would be just about anything by America (Sorry America fans. I think their music is great, but the lyrics keep me laughing after all these years.). It makes me appreciate even more the lyrics of someone like Paul Simon who is defiantly a word crafter in my book.

So my opinion would be, just keep singing, Michele, but don't take the words too seriously. Sometimes they're there just because they fit!

[wrsomers]

fjeanmur wrote:

Hi Michele--

I don't know the song, but I suspect the line might just be attributed bad lyric writing. You know those gems that leave you shaking your head as you say "What is that supposed to mean?" For me that would be just about anything by America (Sorry America fans. I think their music is great, but the lyrics keep me laughing after all these years.). I makes me appreciate even more the lyrics of someone like Paul Simon who is defiantly a word crafter in my book.

So my opinion would be, just keep singing, Michele, but don't take the words too seriously. Sometimes there there just because they fit!

Regarding America and Paul Simon, I'm with you Jean. I always thought America's lyrics were inane. I would like to add Jackson Browne to the list of great lyricists.

Bill

Moving like a cannonball might mean straight and fast??

[daryl]

wrsomers wrote:

fjeanmur wrote:

Hi Michele--

I don't know the song, but I suspect the line might just be attributed bad lyric writing. You know those gems that leave you shaking your head as you say "What is that supposed to mean?" For me that would be just about anything by America (Sorry America fans. I think their music is great, but the lyrics keep me laughing after all these years.). I makes me appreciate even more the lyrics of someone like Paul Simon who is defiantly a word crafter in my book.

So my opinion would be, just keep singing, Michele, but don't take the words too seriously. Sometimes there there just because they fit!

Regarding America and Paul Simon, I'm with you Jean. I always thought America's lyrics were inane. I would like to add Jackson Browne to the list of great lyricists.

Bill

Moving like a cannonball might mean straight and fast??

....and when it reaches its destination it explodes. Hmmm.

[willem]

daryl wrote:

wrsomers wrote:

fjeanmur wrote:

Hi Michele--

I don't know the song, but I suspect the line might just be attributed bad lyric writing. You know those gems that leave you shaking your head as you say "What is that supposed to mean?" For me that would be just about anything by America (Sorry America fans. I think their music is great, but the lyrics keep me laughing after all these years.). I makes me appreciate even more the lyrics of someone like Paul Simon who is defiantly a word crafter in my book.

So my opinion would be, just keep singing, Michele, but don't take the words too seriously. Sometimes there there just because they fit!

Regarding America and Paul Simon, I'm with you Jean. I always thought America's lyrics were inane. I would like to add Jackson Browne to the list of great lyricists.

Bill

Moving like a cannonball might mean straight and fast??

....and when it reaches its destination it explodes. Hmmm.

not always Daryl,

[davidrfinn99165]

So then Shel... you started this merry little diversion - perhaps you'd like to summarise the discussion so far... :woohoo: :woohoo:

[fjeanmur]

davidrfinn99165 wrote:

So then Shel... you started this merry little diversion - perhaps you'd like to summarise the discussion so far... :woohoo: :woohoo:

Oh boy, Michele, now you're in trouble. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[auntlynnie]

Great question, Michele.
Personally, I would not want to be described as moving like a cannonball, but it is a fun lyric to sing, i.e. it sure sounds like it means something. It kind of reminds me of Jim Croce's Roller Derby Queen, that says something like "She was built like a fridgerator with a head...." Always thought that one was funny, but it made sense in context.
Lynn

[tombo1230]

michelew wrote:

Hey y'all!


She moves her body, like a cannonball
Fare the well, oh honey, fare thee well.
:woohoo: :laugh:

.

Maybe she is moving like she has been shot from a cannon? i.e. far away from the singer at great speed, as he/she is crap at writing lyrics? :laugh: :laugh:


Tom N.

[fjeanmur]

tombo1230 wrote:

michelew wrote:

Hey y'all!


She moves her body, like a cannonball
Fare the well, oh honey, fare thee well.
:woohoo: :laugh:

.

Maybe she is moving like she has been shot from a cannon? i.e. far away from the singer at great speed, as he/she is crap at writing lyrics? :laugh: :laugh:


Tom N.

My sentiments exactly.