This song has a beautiful, haunting, slow-dance melody but lyrics that not many can understand. So here's a short rationale that I found on the net. It captures the meaning of the lyrics quite closely.
The lyrics:
I was a quick, wet boy
Diving too deep for coins
All of your street light eyes
Wide on my plastic toys
Then when the cops closed the fair
I cut my long, baby hair
Stole me a dog-eared map
And called for you everywhere
Have I found you
Flightless bird, jealous, weeping
Or lost you, American mouth
Big pill looming
Now I'm a fat house cat
Nursing my sore, blunt tongue
Watching the warm, poisoned rats
Curl through the wide fence cracks
Pissing on magazine photos
Those fishing lures
Thrown in the cold and clean
Blood of Christ mountain stream
Have I found you
Flightless bird, grounded, bleeding
Or lost you, American mouth
Big pill stuck going down
The rationale according to 'nachosgrande':
"There are dual themes running through this song: (1) an individual's loss of innocence/idealism; and (2) the degradation/dissolution of the mythical "American" dream.
The first verse sets our protagonist as an innocent child (quick, wet, diving too deep) - newly born, baptized, full of energy/enthusiasm, carefree. We get a glimpse of what's to come through the "blind" eyes of the adult world whom the child can already see seem focused on material things ("plastic toys"). The "cops" (his own adulthood) crash the party and he's forced to grow up and give up his pure youthful enjoyment of life (cut his baby hair). Thus, he begins his quest to find his meaning/life in this adult American landscape. For me, it also brings to mind the end of the idealism of the peace/protest movement of the late 60's...the system crushes the uprising...the hippies cut their hair...and wander off...going on to what?
Well, the second verse tells us exactly where our protagonist's journey has landed him...a big fat safe spot with the adults of his youth. He's achieved the "American Dream", or has he? Now all talk and no action. He curses himself and the wrong/injustice he sees around him, yet he idly sits and watches these "poison rats" (the establishment, big business, corrupt government) slither by and destroy his ideal world. He bides his time in his magazines, finding pleasure in viewing some advertisement of folks fishing in some idyllic river. He is not out there himself, but even if he was, he would be merely pillaging/ruining/sacrificing a place of nature ("blood of christ mountain stream").
It's a really depressing song, but it's certainly beautiful."
Enjoy!
2 comments:
i think this is right on except for one other aspect. it seems he is singing to the youth of america, young women in particular. the magazine photos of celebrity/perfection ARE the captailist 'fishing lures' that cause us to question our own sacredness. the youth are the corrupted 'christ mountain stream.' this is why the flightless bird is jealous, weeping, broken, and bleeding and in such need of solace from the 'big pill', which symbolizes our dependency on pharmaceuticals- an industry that is one of the 'fat, poison rats.' and of course the pill keeps our 'american mouths' from being lucid and outraged. the soft, sweet melody makes this such a powerful song.
I really can see the interpretation of the political aspect being the meaning but the more and more that I listen to it I find it to be a beautiful and sad story of love. The first 4 lines is the boy being an innocent child with nothing to have to concentrate on but his childhood play things. The cops closing the fair is the end of childhood and cutting the hair symbolizes growing up. Stole me a dog-eared map is the stolen glance of his true love that he has searched for. He then questions himself if he can believe that it's true. Has found his true love? flightless bird meaning such a spoecial unique person then the weeping lost you american mouth is wondering if through his jealousy or negative attitude lost her? Is the end of the relationship closing in. Now the relationship is just familiar and has lost it's specialness. He is nursing a wounded ego and have hurt each other with thoughtless words that have probably cut too deeply. The next line are all of the obstacles that find their way into the relationship to either test or destroy. Pissing on magazine photos is looking back and realizing that the great relationship was treated so poorly. The fishing lures is that there is no more thrill of "catching" or courting the person. Clean blood represents how they each and the relationship have been changed since they first began. Then back have I found you grounded, bleeding meaning can we still move forward from here? Has our thoughtlessness to our relatinoship destroyed it to the point that there is no going back? Lost you american mouth is saying is that there could be something left to say to save this relationship. Big pill stuck going down is how he isnt going to give up fighting for the realtionship and at this point they're at a standstill but at least the relationship hasn't fully ended. Sorry I am a hopeless romantic
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