Post by Lucas on Feb 9, 2014 19:32:04 GMT -5
Another day I was listening to the album Warchild, and I love the song Sealion. I caught myself thinking about the lyrics of it, so I checked Cup of Wonder and found some pretty good interpretations, but I thought of something a little bit more auto-biographical, or it might have some auto-biographical parts in it.
I might be seeing (or hearing) things there are not there, but let's take a look at the lyrics:
When the band was on tour, they obviously did more flying then driving, but this could be a metaphor for touring and travelling around.
Who would be the "sad-glad paymasters"? I don't know, but maybe the audience itself who paid for the tickets?
The part about the golden handshake is interesting. A golden handshake, as I researched and you guys might know better, is kind of a package of benefits a executive has for when he is fired or retires, something like that. Would it mean Ian felt like he himself was the golden handshake of someone else, maybe Terry Ellis? It's known he was tired of the routine of composing, recording and touring since after the TaaB tour, and maybe part of the reason he kept on was by the insistance of Terry, who knows. Cigarette is obvious since he smokes a lot.
Know, balancing the world on the tip of his nose, it should not be easy composing, recording, touring, and keeping his personal life, marriage and everything going well, So with all that he might feel like a circus attraction, struggling to keep up with everything.
Now, who might be the Animal Trainer? Maybe, following the previous line of thought, the management of the band, Terry Ellis?
The shiny skin and the funny hat could be about the outfits Ian and the guys wore. Court Jester, Minstrel, and so on. Jeffrey used a lot of hats.
I don't think it was in terms of bark ever-so-slightly, it does not sound like Ian at all, but again, as a metaphor for his relationship with Terry, or whoever it was who might be pressuring the band for more albuns and tours and everything, it might work.
The whiskers melting, well, Ian's "whiskers" surely melted, of got soaked in sweat in the shows with his antics and all, although it would not be at noon.
That's interesting. Long-legged ring-mistress. Somehow I instantly thought of the flute! It's kind of the ring-mistress of the show, it starts and stops and is understandable to call it "long-legged". The following part about the act wearing thin might reflect Ian's dissapointment of playing TaaB and APP specially in the USA, where the audience was too enthusiastic and noisy.
This verses, in my interpretation, reflect the professionalism of Ian. Grinning all along, even with an noisy audience, and never, no matter what, giving up in a concert before the end of it, no matter how annoying it might get.
Tull shows don't allow improvisation. It's all carefully rehearsed and executed. It is clear from bootlegs of the same period I heard, they are all the same shows, even pieces that look like improvisations are actually the same in all shows.
The middle verses might represent his determination to play the concert as best as he could and not blow the whole thing.
In the last verses he includes the whole band in the balancing of the world in the tip of their noses.
So what you guys think? Too imaginative of my part? Does it make any sense at all?
I might be seeing (or hearing) things there are not there, but let's take a look at the lyrics:
SeaLion
Over the mountains, and under the sky
riding dirty gray horses, go you and I.
Mating with chance, copulating with mirth
the sad-glad paymasters (for what it's worth).
Over the mountains, and under the sky
riding dirty gray horses, go you and I.
Mating with chance, copulating with mirth
the sad-glad paymasters (for what it's worth).
When the band was on tour, they obviously did more flying then driving, but this could be a metaphor for touring and travelling around.
Who would be the "sad-glad paymasters"? I don't know, but maybe the audience itself who paid for the tickets?
The ice-cream castles are refrigerated;
the super-marketeers are on parade.
There's a golden handshake hanging round your neck,
as you light your cigarette on the burning deck.
And you balance your world on the tip of your nose
like a SeaLion with a ball, at the carnival.
the super-marketeers are on parade.
There's a golden handshake hanging round your neck,
as you light your cigarette on the burning deck.
And you balance your world on the tip of your nose
like a SeaLion with a ball, at the carnival.
The part about the golden handshake is interesting. A golden handshake, as I researched and you guys might know better, is kind of a package of benefits a executive has for when he is fired or retires, something like that. Would it mean Ian felt like he himself was the golden handshake of someone else, maybe Terry Ellis? It's known he was tired of the routine of composing, recording and touring since after the TaaB tour, and maybe part of the reason he kept on was by the insistance of Terry, who knows. Cigarette is obvious since he smokes a lot.
Know, balancing the world on the tip of his nose, it should not be easy composing, recording, touring, and keeping his personal life, marriage and everything going well, So with all that he might feel like a circus attraction, struggling to keep up with everything.
You wear a shiny skin and a funny hat
the Almighty Animal Trainer lets it go at that.
You bark ever-so-slightly at the Trainer's gun,
with you whiskers melting in the noon-day sun.
the Almighty Animal Trainer lets it go at that.
You bark ever-so-slightly at the Trainer's gun,
with you whiskers melting in the noon-day sun.
Now, who might be the Animal Trainer? Maybe, following the previous line of thought, the management of the band, Terry Ellis?
The shiny skin and the funny hat could be about the outfits Ian and the guys wore. Court Jester, Minstrel, and so on. Jeffrey used a lot of hats.
I don't think it was in terms of bark ever-so-slightly, it does not sound like Ian at all, but again, as a metaphor for his relationship with Terry, or whoever it was who might be pressuring the band for more albuns and tours and everything, it might work.
The whiskers melting, well, Ian's "whiskers" surely melted, of got soaked in sweat in the shows with his antics and all, although it would not be at noon.
You flip and you flop under the Big White Top
where the long-legged ring-mistress starts and stops.
But you know, after all, the act is wearing thin
as the crowd grows uneasy and the boos begin.
But you balance your world on the tip of your nose
you're a SeaLion with a ball at the carnival.
where the long-legged ring-mistress starts and stops.
But you know, after all, the act is wearing thin
as the crowd grows uneasy and the boos begin.
But you balance your world on the tip of your nose
you're a SeaLion with a ball at the carnival.
That's interesting. Long-legged ring-mistress. Somehow I instantly thought of the flute! It's kind of the ring-mistress of the show, it starts and stops and is understandable to call it "long-legged". The following part about the act wearing thin might reflect Ian's dissapointment of playing TaaB and APP specially in the USA, where the audience was too enthusiastic and noisy.
Just a trace of pride upon our fixed grins
for there is no business like the show we're in.
There is no reason, no rhyme, no right
to leave the circus `til we've said good-night.
for there is no business like the show we're in.
There is no reason, no rhyme, no right
to leave the circus `til we've said good-night.
This verses, in my interpretation, reflect the professionalism of Ian. Grinning all along, even with an noisy audience, and never, no matter what, giving up in a concert before the end of it, no matter how annoying it might get.
The same performance, in the same old way;
it's the same old story to this Passion Play.
So we'll shoot the moon, and hope to call the tune
and make no pin cushion of this big balloon.
Look how we balance the world on the tips of our noses,
like SeaLions with a ball at the carnival.
it's the same old story to this Passion Play.
So we'll shoot the moon, and hope to call the tune
and make no pin cushion of this big balloon.
Look how we balance the world on the tips of our noses,
like SeaLions with a ball at the carnival.
Tull shows don't allow improvisation. It's all carefully rehearsed and executed. It is clear from bootlegs of the same period I heard, they are all the same shows, even pieces that look like improvisations are actually the same in all shows.
The middle verses might represent his determination to play the concert as best as he could and not blow the whole thing.
In the last verses he includes the whole band in the balancing of the world in the tip of their noses.
So what you guys think? Too imaginative of my part? Does it make any sense at all?
