IANADOAC - lyrics discussion thread (now with added lyrics!)

Found another one in List Of The Lost. I'm aware that he most likely got the "dog on a chain" from Dylan but apparently he's already had it in his head for a while before covering Only A Pawn In Their Game:

"From here, Rims underwent the bone-splitting agony of deserting Dick Cavett slowness in order to track the tracksters down with trap-tackle and force them face-to-face with the dog on a chain known as Dibbs."
 
Any insight on what he means by "Mama and teddy bear were the first full firm spectrum of time"? The line gives me the impression that he is saying his first experience with the passage of time (and the pain that come along with it) was experienced right away with his mother and his first childhood "friend." Any other interpretations our there? It's a beautiful song but this line confuses me a bit. It's an odd turn of phrase.
 
Any insight on what he means by "Mama and teddy bear were the first full firm spectrum of time"? The line gives me the impression that he is saying his first experience with the passage of time (and the pain that come along with it) was experienced right away with his mother and his first childhood "friend." Any other interpretations our there? It's a beautiful song but this line confuses me a bit. It's an odd turn of phrase.
I think you've got it. As a child 'mama'. As a child 'teddy bear'. 2 major things in a child's life which a child will remember forever.
First full firm spectrum of time...with the emphasis on it being 'firm'...i.e. 1st memory that is established & never forgotten, or erased. Quite poignant.
 
Am I alone in thinking that "What Kind Of People..." sounds reminiscent of "Sexuality" by Billy Bragg? I was absent mindedly humming the former this afternoon and found myself segueing seemlessly into the latter, like this:

What kind of people,
Live in these houses?
What kind of sad dad,
Scratches in this crash pad?

...And just because you’re gay,
I won’t turn you away,
if you stick around,
I’m sure that we can find some common ground.

It does, perhaps not surprising though - "What Kind..." sounds Smithsy and "Sexuality" was co-written by Johnny Marr.
 
He used to say that he always carries a notebook and he also used to write his ideas on pieces and scraps of paper.
There's this picture of him with a piece of paper which was ripped from a book of poetry or something and on that piece of paper he had written a line that would appear in Now My Heart Is Full years later (I'm not sure when exactly the picture was taken. It looks 1985-ish to me but I could be wrong about that.) The line itself is lifted from "At the beating of a drum" by Henry Lawson.
That's how I always imagined him keeping his ideas/inspirations to be honest :LOL:
I guess it's likely that he uses his phone or computer or whatever now to keep notes as well.
View attachment 55490

Rush to danger, wind up nowhere...?
 
Although it's not necessarily about lyrics (although partly it is) 'What Kind of people Live In These Houses' would sit perfectly anywhere within Worker's Playtime. I can actually hear Billy Bragg singing this and making a really good version of it.
 
Not sure if this has been mentioned elsewhere before.
"My hurling days are over..." found in the "Maladjusted Diaries" from the 2009 re-designed edition.

 
Found another one in List Of The Lost. I'm aware that he most likely got the "dog on a chain" from Dylan but apparently he's already had it in his head for a while before covering Only A Pawn In Their Game:

"From here, Rims underwent the bone-splitting agony of deserting Dick Cavett slowness in order to track the tracksters down with trap-tackle and force them face-to-face with the dog on a chain known as Dibbs."
well spotted.
 
Any insight on what he means by "Mama and teddy bear were the first full firm spectrum of time"? The line gives me the impression that he is saying his first experience with the passage of time (and the pain that come along with it) was experienced right away with his mother and his first childhood "friend." Any other interpretations our there? It's a beautiful song but this line confuses me a bit. It's an odd turn of phrase.

yeah - I think that's roughly it - being with his mother & his teddy bear is the first strong memory he has of a time-period he can't get back.

I guess the next one would be school, then The Smiths & so on.
 
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