but what does it mean?

[Briar Rose 7457]

the three best mystery songs of my youth:


Paul Simon - Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

The mama pajama rolled out of bed, and she ran to the police station
When the papa found out, he began to shout, and he started the investigation
It's against the law, it was against the law
What the mama saw, it was against the law.
The mama looked down and spit on the ground ev'ry time my name gets mentioned
The papa say "Oy, if I get that boy
I'm gonna stick him in the house of detention."
I'm on my way, I don't know where I'm goin',
I'm on my way, I'm takin' my time, but I don't know where.

Goodbye to Rosie, the Queen of Corona
See you, me and Julio down by the schoolyard
See you, me and Julio down by the schoolyard

In a couple of days they come and take me away
But the press let the story leak
And when the radical priest come to get me released
We's all on the cover of Newsweek
Well, I'm on my way, I don't know where I'm goin'
I'm on my way, I'm takin' my time, but I don't know where

Goodbye to Rosie, the Queen of Corona
See you, me and Julio down by the schoolyard
See you, me and Julio down by the schoolyard
See you, me and Julio down by the schoolyard



Ode To Billie Joe

( Bobbie Gentry )

It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat
And Mama hollered out the back door "y'all remember to wipe your feet"
And then she said "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge"
"Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

And Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas
"Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please"
"There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow"
And Mama said it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

And Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night?
"I'll have another piece of apple pie, you know it don't seem right"
"I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge"
"And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

And Mama said to me "Child, what's happened to your appetite?"
"I've been cookin' all morning and you haven't touched a single bite"
"That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today"
"Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way"
"He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge"
"And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

A year has come 'n' gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe
And Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring
And now Mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge

And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge





















American Pie -- Don McLean



A long, long time ago,
I can still remember how that
Music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance,
And maybe they’d be happy for a while.

But February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep.
I couldn’t take one more step.
I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride.
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.

So, bye bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry

And them good old boys were
Drinkin’ whiskey and rye, singin’:
This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die.

Did you write the Book of Love?
And do you have faith in God above.
If the Bible tells you so.
Do you believe in Rock and Roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?

And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well I know that you’re in love with him
‘Cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym.
You both kicked off your shoes.
Man, I dig those Rhythm and Blues.

I was a lonely, teenage bronkin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pick-up truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died.

I started singin’:
Bye bye, Miss American Pie.
Drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry.

And them good old boys were
Drinkin’ whiskey and rye, singin’:
This’ll be the day that I die:
This’ll be the day that I die.

Now for ten years we’ve been on our own.
And moss grows fat on a rolling stone,
But that’s not how it used to be.

When the Jester sang for the King and Queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
In a voice that came from you and me
Oh, and while The King was looking down
The Jester stole his thorny crown.
The courtroom was adjourned.
No verdict was returned.

And while Lennon read a book on Marx,
The quartet practiced in the park,
And we sang dirges in the dark,

The day the music died, we were singin’:
Bye bye, Miss American Pie.
Drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry.

And them good old boys were
Drinkin’ whiskey and rye, singin’:
This’ll be the day that I die:
This’ll be the day that I die.

Helter Skelter in the summer swelter,
The Byrds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and fallin’ fast
Landing’ foul on the grass,
The players tried for a forward pass.
With the Jester on the sidelines in a cast.

Now, the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the Sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance.

‘Cause the players tried to take the field,
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed,
The day the music died? We started singin’:

Bye bye, Miss American Pie.
Drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry.

And them good old boys were
Drinkin’ whiskey and rye, singin’:
This’ll be the day that I die:
This’ll be the day that I die.

Oh, and then there we were, all in one place;
A generation lost in space,
With no time left to start again.
So come on, Jack, be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick,
Cause fire is the devil’s only friend.
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage,
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.

No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan’s spell
And as flames climbed high into the night
To moonlight the sacrificial right
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died, He was singin’;

Bye bye, Miss American Pie.
Drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry.

And them good old boys were
Drinkin’ whiskey and rye, singin’:
This’ll be the day that I die:
This’ll be the day that I die.

I met a girl who sang the blues,
And I asked her for some happy news
She just smiled and turned away.

I went down to the sacred store,
Where I’d heard the music years before,
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play
And in the streets the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.

But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire the most,
The Father, Son and The Holy Ghost,
They caught the last train for The Coast

The day the music died.
And they were singin’;
Bye bye, Miss American Pie.
Drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry.

And them good old boys were
Drinkin’ whiskey and rye, singin’:
This’ll be the day that I die:
This’ll be the day that I die.
And they were singin’;

Bye bye, Miss American Pie.
Drove my Chevy to the levee
But the levee was dry.

And them good old boys were
Drinkin’ whiskey and rye, singin’:
This’ll be the day that I die:
This’ll be the day that I die.

 

[PandyPaws]

Not sure exactly about the first two, but here'sAmerican Pie's line-by-line analysis

 

[nativetxn]

That was interesting, Donna. Personally, I think Don MacLean just chose words that rhymed, LOL.

Don't know what the other two songs mean either.

 

[mowsie dreamer]

American Pie has always been one of my favorite songs.

Personally, I think the perceptions of some of the song writers during the 60's & 70's might have been a little bit......ummm....hazy. I wonder if even *they* know what they meant.

 

[shep]

I like the last two..
THanks for that info Donna..That is pretty neat..

 

[Lovely2CU]

Mine have always been two of the Beatles songs - I Am The Walrus and Norwegian Wood.

Some of the Bee Gees album track lyrics from around 1968/69 were a bit, er, surreal to say the least.

And what about Donovan - "First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is"?

Yeah okay, I know one explaination may be to do with ones 'state of mind' at the time of listening!