Song meanings

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Still trying to exactly pin this one down since the 1980's...
Chris DeBurgh's "Don't Pay the Ferryman"...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INmrR9DmSZ4
^(music and lyrics)^.
My long-time suspicion is that it's a lashing out against fradulent televangelists and ministries.

Interesting song^.

Never heard it before. I didnt know Chris Deburgh did anything besides "Lady in Red".

In the comment section a U Tube viewer said that the ferryman is Charon: the boat man who takes you across the River Styx to the Underworld. But that doesnt explain why you shouldnt pay him. So I dont know what its about exactly. But I like it.

Another cryptic song is "American Pie". Don Maclean himself never claimed to know the meaning. The lyrics just sort of came to him all at once.

http://understandingamericanpie.com/

Interesting read.




Always assumed it was "Lenin read a book of Marx".

I never realized that it was "Lennon read a book of Marx".

yeh, it seems traditional catholic don maclean thought the beatles were subversive, especially after lennon's remark about how the beatles were more popular than Christ.

It's a short history of American rock and roll, and the loss of American innocence at the end of the 1960s

The day the music died---the day that Buddy Holley, Richie Valenz, and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash. Front page news in the papers left on doorsteps.

The "pink carnation and a pick-up truck" lyric is a reference to Marty Robbins' song, A White Sports Coat and a Pink Carnation.

The Jester is Bob Dylan. He was on the sidelines in a cast when he had a motorcycle accident. The King who had his crown stolen by the Jester is Elvis.

The Marching Band is the Beatles. The Sergeants who played a marching tune (reference to Sgt. Peppers album). Also the quartet that practice in the park, while Lennon read his book on Marx.

The Players who tried to take the field are the Stones. The "no angel born in hell" lyric is a reference to their Altamont concert, where the promoter hired some Hell's Angels as security, and someone wound up getting stabbed to death. The Jack Flash references are self explanatory.

Helter Skelter is a reference to the Manson family murders--Manson claimed that hidden messages in that Beatles song inspired him.

The Byrds and 8 Miles High is pretty self-explanatory.

The girl who sang the blues---Janis Joplin.

Tons of different theories on who the father, son, and holy ghost were. I think that it was a throw-away line to rhyme with coast, personally.

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am not quite sure what Stephen Foster was saying in this song- was he lamenting his own situation or inquiring as to why others were lonely?

lyrics-

Dark is the soul that has nothing to dwell on!
How sad must its brightest hours prove!
Lonely the dull brooding spirit must be
That has no one to cherish and love.
Many a fair one that dwells on the earth
Who would greet you with kind words of cheer,
Many who gladly would join in your pleasures
Or share in your grief with a tear.
No one to love!
No one to love!
Why no one to love?
Where have you roamed in this beautiful world
That you’re sighing of no one to love?

No need to wonder anymore
How we made: Gary Kemp and Steve Norman on True