...and its lyrical reference:
Bus stop rat bag, ha ha, charade you are
You fucked up old hag, ha ha, charade you are
You radiate cold shafts of broken glass
You're nearly a good laugh
Almost worth a quick grin
You like the feel of steel
You're hot stuff with a hat pin
And good fun with a hand gun
You're nearly a laugh
You're nearly a laugh
But you're really a cry.
Hey you Whitehouse, ha ha, charade you are
You house proud town mouse, ha ha, charade you are
You're trying to keep our feelings off the street
You're nearly a real treat
All tight lips and cold feet
And do you feel abused?
You gotta stem the evil tide
And keep it all on the inside
Mary you're nearly a treat
Mary you're nearly a treat
But you're really a cry.
_______________________________
Mary Whitehouse was a conservative British social activist (see link). Roger Waters probably considered her the equivalent of Anita Bryant.
Mary Whitehouse was a conservative British social activist (see link). Roger Waters probably considered her the equivalent of Anita Bryant.
Speaking of Roger Waters, didn't he recently catch some flak for flying a giant inflatable pig with a Star of David?
28 comments:
Roger Waters and Ray Davies both critiqued British society: compare and contrast.
A lot of those old rockers weren't anywhere near as hip politically as they thought.
What could be more hip than to be a raving anti-Semite. How hip is Obama, for example?
Althouse is mocking this poem
I don't see why.
No doubt the adolescent girl reads it as lilies and bluebirds and the adolescent boy doesn't get it at all.
But the guy is saying he likes to be with her, is willing when she wants to invite people over to show him off to her friends, and is willing when she wants him to be alone with her.
If she learns to show him she's satisfied with him regularly it will work out.
@rhhardin: ee cummings shrunk the majuscule ego. Maybe it's related.
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
Is Pink Floyd the band that's named after a dildo or is that the other one?
You're thinking of Steely Dan.
))) whap (((
Damnit!
* looks up majuscule *
I knew that.
Animals was always the Pink Floyd album that fell in between the cracks for me. Wish You Were Here? Timeless. The Wall? Ripe and over-dramatic, but still looming enormous like a scrap-heap so vast it had been given the name of a mountain by awed and infuriated locals cast in its shade. But Animals was inessential.
"Wish You Were Here" (1975) may have been the last real Pink Floyd LP -- at least as a collaboration. "Animals" was just sort of a warm up for Waters' "The Wall."
That's the poem Woody used in Hanna and her Sisters.
In Carell and Hathaway's Get Smart, the appropriateness of the dance scene comes from the Russian lady representing 99.
As part of the British porn industry's revenge on Mary Whitehouse, they proceeded to name an monthly issued titters & bums magazine after her.
Needless to say, the link is NSFW.
While not at the level of Wish You Were Here or Dark Side, Animals is a pretty damned great album. Great lyrics, great guitar work.
The lines about Whitehouse are pretty spot on. Well past the point of a caricature, she was, and even in her own time this was known.
Still, when you've made Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, it's no surprise that your other records can wind up pale by comparison.
1) I know little about Pink Floyd except there used to be a certain kind of guy who learned how to play electric guitar but never got any further than imitating David Gilmour's pentatonic noodling.
(2) I've never had anybody tell me how great the alarm clock thing is who didn't try to counter my disagreement by saying, "You have to listen to it when you're high."
(3) It was funny on "The Simpsons" when Peter Frampton toured with a pig dirigible he bought second-hand from Pink Floyd's "Animals" tour.
(4) Did I mention that I never cared much for Pink Floyd?
I've never had anybody tell me how great the alarm clock thing is who didn't try to counter my disagreement by saying, "You have to listen to it when you're high."
Which is weird, because "Time" is about as straightforward as a song can get.
It might be enjoyable to listen to while high; I can't speak to that. I can say that it is kind of depressing to listen to when older than 35. :)
I saw them in SF in the early 70's at Filmore West. Mostly their songs went ON AN ON AND ON in marathon guitar solos, drum solos. But...then....that was the style back then.
Didn't care for much of their stuff in the very early years, but did appreciate some of the late 70's early 80's
It might be enjoyable to listen to while high; I can't speak to that. I can say that it is kind of depressing to listen to when older than 35. :)
My peak Floyd years were definitely high school and I can speak to that. I thought then that the worst thing a person could amount to was to end up "spent yet malcontent."
Speaking of mental illness (or just brilliant eccentricity), let's drink a glass (or pop a tab) to Syd Barrett.
Yeah, I think of Pink Floyd as a quintessential "high school" band too. For every generation, probably, even now.
@Yashu: The copyright nazis have blocked all the high resolution versions of this but I thought it was nicely done: link
Thanks for that, Pollo.
I really love(d) that song; haven't listened to it in ages.
Good ol' Floyd can still give me goosebumps. Now I'm going to have to put on "Comfortably Numb."
Roger Waters hates Israel and loves him some Palestinians, so hence the pig with the Star of David. He is subtle that way.
Speaking of rats though...
If I shunned art produced by terrible people there wouldn't be much art left to enjoy.
Revenant said...
If I shunned art produced by terrible people there wouldn't be much art left to enjoy.
Very true. My point is that it's possible to out grow certain things which seemed so certain.
I mean isn't it ironic to mock a power plant using highly amplified music? Seriously doubt whether Waters realized that irony.
Sort of like The Exploited and their fascination with Lady Thatcher.
And eddie, I'm sure they feel the same way about you. That is--if you'd ever done anything for there to be a reason for them to know you exist.
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