This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
This is Tiger the Lion
Gimme the Knuckles of Frisco
If there's danger in the language,
Gentlemen,
I suggest no further use of
The two-way radio.
'John Cage had come to feel
That art in our time
Was far less important
Than our daily lives,
To which so many'd become
More or less inclined.
The purpose of it's not unique.
Not to build masterpieces
For a delectative elite
But simply to wake to your life.'
You'll be serving the song
When you find out you won't change
Serving the song
Walking the range.
'John Cage had come to feel
Art in our time
Was much less important
Than our daily life
If there's a perpetual plan
For discovery days
Where everyone can take part
In what he called
Purposeless play
And there's a sign of life in this play
Not to get order from chaos
Tell you how to create
But simply to wake to your life.'
You'll be serving the song
When we find out you won't change
Serving the song
Bombing the range
This is Tiger the Lion
Get me Into the Pillows
If you're painted by radar, gentlemen,
There'll be no further use of
The two-way radio
Gimme the Knuckles of Frisco
If there's danger in the language,
Gentlemen,
I suggest no further use of
The two-way radio.
'John Cage had come to feel
That art in our time
Was far less important
Than our daily lives,
To which so many'd become
More or less inclined.
The purpose of it's not unique.
Not to build masterpieces
For a delectative elite
But simply to wake to your life.'
You'll be serving the song
When you find out you won't change
Serving the song
Walking the range.
'John Cage had come to feel
Art in our time
Was much less important
Than our daily life
If there's a perpetual plan
For discovery days
Where everyone can take part
In what he called
Purposeless play
And there's a sign of life in this play
Not to get order from chaos
Tell you how to create
But simply to wake to your life.'
You'll be serving the song
When we find out you won't change
Serving the song
Bombing the range
This is Tiger the Lion
Get me Into the Pillows
If you're painted by radar, gentlemen,
There'll be no further use of
The two-way radio
Lyrics submitted by black_cow_of_death
Tiger the Lion Lyrics as written by Johnny Fay Gordon Downie
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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John Cage was an experimental music composer who attempted to put Zen Buddhist beleifs into practice through the music he composed. John Cage is actualy quoted as describing his music as "purposeless play" which is where Downie gets this lyric. Cage is also quoted as saying that the purpose of his music is "not an attempt to bring order out of chaos" which Downie also touches on. Cage also stated that his music is meant to "simply to wake up to the very life we are living, which is so excellent once one gets one's mind mind and desires out of the way and lets it act of its own accord.".
This last point is what I think Gord is really trying to get at, the fact that Cage didn't make music to create masterpices, but simply to get people to realize how beautiful the world around them is when we actualy stop to apreciate it.
However, I think downie tries to go deeper with this by using the military analogy. In the first chours, Downie is talking about "serving the song" (which I assume is refering to buying in to what the theory that Cage had about the beauty of life if we let it happen on it's own) and follows this by saying "walking the range". In the second chorus however, Downie changes "walking the range" to "bombing the range". I think what Downie is trying to get at here is that while it can sometimes be good to "serve the song", as he puts it, (meaning to let the mind act of it's own accord) at other times, leting our mind act of its own accord and not questioning where it might lead us can be dangerous. But thats just one man's opinion.
I love when people leave comments that provide background info on the lyrical content like this--thank you from one music nerd to another ;)
We humans demand structure and control, and try to force everything into some systematic hierarchy so we can "understand" it. Gord is saying that, for the most part, we can't change and live in the moment and sit for 4 minutes and listen to the ambient noises and be happy with that. We are almost incapable of letting anything, a song in this case, simply be what it is without trying to force our will on it in some way. This entire website exists solely for people to paste their experiences and meanings on pieces of art, to make it their own in some way. The opposite of simply waking to your life.
Nobody commented on this? Awesome song. Can't claim to be too familiar with John Cage, but the way Downie sings on this track is quite disturbing, and it's gotta be the hardest song I've ever heard from The Hip.
First off, I am not a huge Hip fan. I have always found them to be overrated and academic, but still able to craft a catchy melody or two. Tiger The Lion is BY FAR the absolute best thing they have EVER done. In my opinion the rest of the Music@Work album was boring as all hell, but this song salvaged it for me and is really the only song (maybe next to Nautical Disaster) that is worth mentioning in their catalog! If they wrote more songs like this, I would probably own more of their CDs. Gord Downie and company should probably follow a bit of the advice they liberally quote from John Cage and make their music more 'purposeless play' than radio-friendly and marketable.
This is one of the hardest songs of all time to listen to. There's no catchy riff to pull you in and maybe that's the point of the song and the entire album even. I really got into the last tracks on Music At Work, and they follow a more standard formula of musical creation but they are hard songs to get into as well. All in all, this is a Hip Song so it's worth a listen.