| The Decemberists – The Infanta Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
First Stanza: The narrator alerts that the infant is coming and then it sets the scene. Here the inf ant comes surrounded by wealth and beauty all far beyond and above (a loose- but accurate- interpretation of the word astride) what her true lineage ("her father's line") could have ever offered. Second Stanza: This stanza goes into even greater details about the procession. There are five score (20) elephants all carrying royalty on their back in palanquin. The narrator points out "Look, there's the duke's daughters!" And there, right by them on the back of another elephant, is the Baron and Baroness." The Baroness, who cannot bear children herself, is rather angry that the king is putting on this massive grandiose parade for this infant. And perhaps, she's even a bit upset that this child wasn't given to her... (When you are done reading my interpretation, see the post script about the Baroness. It'll only make sense when you've read through the other stanzas first though.) Third Stanza: After the elephants come 30 ranks of soldiers, all marching in the parade with their banners gleaming in the sunlight. Behind them is a carriage carrying the Moorish King's wives and the Prince's (the Kings soon.) future virginal wife. Fourth Stanza: The infant looks innocent upon the back of the elephant while, all around her, trumpets are trumpeting and cannons are firing salutes and the crowds are cheering for her. Fifth Stanza: THIS is the stanza which acts as a key to unlocking the entire song so pay attention! So here we are: the narrator has described this MASSIVE extravagant parade for this child. The narrator says that this entire procession is foolish nonsense because the narrator knows the truth: That infant is no princess or goddess come to earth. She was a commoner's child placed in a basket made from the branches of trees ("a bed made of chaparral") and had a circlet (or possibly even a garland made of flowers or vines) placed upon her head and then set afloat down the river. The basket ended up in a lake where she was pulled out and was then adopted by the royal family... Sound familiar? The trope of setting an unwanted baby (or forbidden baby) down a river has been repeated in mythology over and over: Moses, Karna, Sargon, Telephus and so forth. In most mythologies, the child is ordered to be killed by the king because he believes that, one day, that child will bring him harm or overthrow him. The parents, or sometimes the people sent to murder the infant, not wanting to kill the child instead set it afloat in the river so that its fate is out of their hands. Of course, the child has a great destiny so fate makes it to where the child is rescued. Of course, this then allows for the prophecy to come true. (In this sense, you can look beyond the "baby floating down the river" and draw even more parallels with other children that survived-despite-the-king's-orders such as Oedipus and Jesus!) At this point, you can now interpret the song in one of two ways: The narrator is related to the child and knows about the hoodwink that was pulled. This is supported by the first stanza: "All astride on her father's line." The narrator knows hat she is being treated well beyond her actual pedigree. The narrator, and possibly even the crowds, are cheering in joy that the plan worked and the child was not only saved but given a better life. Or, you can interpret the narrator as not being involved. He's just an observer describing everything and we, the listener, have pieced it all together. ----------------------------------- This song is about the beginning of a new legend: this child was, probably for some grave reason, set afloat and has been rescued by the royal family. Now she is assured a life of privilege... In fact, she may have even been mistaken as being the child of or the reincarnation of a god! Does it get any better than that? In time, this child may even grow up to save all those commoners that are standing out there and cheering for her... hence why they've all come to praise her. :) (P.S. About the seething Baroness: she is possibly upset that this kid was not given to her despite the fact she is barren. Or, she could also suspect that this child is not a god's child so she feels this parade is stupid. Or even both... For example: she might be thinking along the lines of "Hey, that infant isn't special and, if you knew it, you'd have left her there to die... but I'd have loved her regardless since I can't bear any kids of my own. But oooh no.... here you go getting all carried away and throwing this f***ing parade... bah humbug.") |
|
| The Decemberists – The Bagman's Gambit Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
^^^^^^^^^^^^I forgot to mention this but, another argument for alliteration ( repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables) being the reason behind calling St. Petersburg "Petrograd" is that "tenth floor tenement" is also an alliteration... And repetition is again found, in the form of consonance, in the repetition of the "all" sound in Recall/Fall/Mall/Stall. Alliteration and consonance really do help build the memorability of a song and I applaud The Decemberists for doing it in a manner that doesn't seem forced. ----------- Also, I want to add that the reason some people (me included) believe that there is a POSSIBILITY that the lover is a male is because of the connection between bathroom stalls and homosexual sex. A quick search on Google does reveal that this is a widspread connection. In fact, here is a QUOTE from some forum user (not myself!!!) confirming this widespread concept: "I don't know how true it is but .I have a gay guy friend who says that there is a common pick up bathroom in every city .You can just walk in there and have sex with whomever. In Charolotte, it's the downtown bus station, Savannah, it's the ogerthorpe Mall. It's also at a Mall in Columbia (not sure which one) . I heard that the pick up spot in DC is the courthouse." (AGAIN, THAT IS NOT MY COMMENT. I found it via Google.) Another reason that bathroom sex makes people think of homosexuality is because of the Larry Craig scandal. This really imprinted the social consciousness with the idea that bathroom stalls were where gay men go when they want a quick hookup... or tryst. ;) |
|
| The Decemberists – The Bagman's Gambit Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
oops: I accidentally originally posted this under "meaning" when I meant to post it under interpretation. Sorry for the double post. "On the lam from the law On the steps of the capitol You shot a plainclothes cop on the ten o'clock And I saw momentarily They flashed a photograph, it couldn't be you You'd been abused so horribly But you were there in some anonymous room" Interpretation: The narrator is on the steps of the capital and he overhears that his lover, while trying to escape DC, shot a plainclothes cop on the 10 o'clock train. He pays attention to the conversation and he sees a photograph that confirms it's his lover. The lover has been beaten up and abused but she is alive. ((The first two lines do make it seem like the lover shot the cop "on the ten 'oclock" on the "steps of the capital" but that makes no sense. How do you shoot someone "on a 10 'o'clock?" Because of that, I'd say that the first two lines are acting as juxtaposition: He's on the steps of the capital, and she's on the lam. ------- "And I recall that fall I was working for the government And in a bathroom stall off the National Mall How we kissed so sweetly How could I refuse a favor or two? For a tryst in the greenery I gave you documents and microfilm, too" Interpretation: Seeing the images of the lover makes the narrator think back to "that fall" when the two of them were having tryst (meaning sexual romps) and, the narrator, being very much smitten with the lover, was willing to give the lover anything requested... including top secret documents. The narrator is laying in bed at his shabby 10th floor apartment and begins to think back about how the two of them used to lay there together. The lover would often talk about how they were going to escape and never be caught. The narrator is probably awake and restless because he has the knowledge that the lover is captured but is being held in some anonymous room and there is no way for him to know where. ------- "It was late one night I was awoken by the telephone I heard a strangled cry on the end of the line Purloined in Petrograd They were suspicious of where your loyalties lay So I paid off a bureaucrat To convince your captors there to secret you away" Interpretation: Finally, a call comes through: it's the lover. The lover has been illegally apprehended (purloined means "taken dishonestly") in Petrograd (st. Petersburg. Don't read too much into the city's name: using the archaic name of Petrograd is probably simply for alliteration, same way "on the lam from the law" is alliteration.) and is now being held at the American embassy in Petrograd. (Again, obviously illegal but that's just the way espionage works.) The captors were after the lover because of the police shooting but also because of their suspicions that the lover is a spy. The narrator, acing as a bagmand (a person that transports money- often illicitly.) travels to Petrograd and pays the captors "there" (the usage of the word there further builds the case that the lover is being held in Petrograd, not the US) to "secret" the lover away- basically, he paid them off to forget the entire mess. The gambit is that he paid a massive sum for the lover's freedom despite being unsure whether or not the lover would be freed or, if even if the lover was to be freed, if they'd ever be able to have future together. Basically, the bribe was a sacrifice he gladly made. ------- "And at the gate of the embassy Our hands met through the bars As your whisper stilled my heart "No, they'll never catch me now No, they'll never catch me No, they cannot catch me now We will escape somehow Somehow"" Interpretation: The captors did free the lover and released the lover to the other side of the embassy- back out to Russian territory. The narrator finally gets to see that the lover is free for himself. But, of course, the lover and the narrator are on the other side of the gate of the embassy so all they can do is squeeze each others' hands. Again, the lover reassures that they'll never catch him/her... and again alludes to the fact that the two of them will escape somehow. ------- "And I dreamt one night You were there in fours Hands held high In uniform" Interpretation: At some point, the narrator has a dream about the lover. (Ok, I have to admit that I'm sill of the impression that "there in fours" is really "there in force.") In the dream, the narrator sees the lover there in force- meaning, not there surreptitiously but there in confidence, not on the run from the law or anything. There legally and without concern.. Heck, the lover is so legitimate that he/she can even wear his/her uniform withou fear of being apprehended. ... Anyway, The lover's hands are held high in greeting. The lover has come back to the narrator! ------- "It was ten years on When you resurfaced in a motorcar With the wave of an arm You were there and gone" Of course, it was a dream. The lover had not come back. In fact, it was 10 years later before the narrator finally saw the lover again.... in a car... driving by. The lover waves and then is gone. The bagman made the gambit in hopes of having a future together with the lover but it is now obvious that it will never be. All the narrator gets from his sacrifice is a wave as the lover drives on by. Overall, this is a song about all the things you do for love and how, in the end, there's always the chance it'll have been for nothing. |
|
| The Decemberists – The Bagman's Gambit Lyrics | 13 years ago |
|
"On the lam from the law On the steps of the capitol You shot a plainclothes cop on the ten o'clock And I saw momentarily They flashed a photograph, it couldn't be you You'd been abused so horribly But you were there in some anonymous room" Interpretation: The narrator is on the steps of the capital and he overhears that his lover, while trying to escape DC, shot a plainclothes cop on the 10 o'clock train. He pays attention to the conversation and he sees a photograph that confirms it's his lover. The lover has been beaten up and abused but she is alive. ((The first two lines do make it seem like the lover shot the cop "on the ten 'oclock" on the "steps of the capital" but that makes no sense. How do you shoot someone "on a 10 'o'clock?" Because of that, I'd say that the first two lines are acting as juxtaposition: He's on the steps of the capital, and she's on the lam. ------- "And I recall that fall I was working for the government And in a bathroom stall off the National Mall How we kissed so sweetly How could I refuse a favor or two? For a tryst in the greenery I gave you documents and microfilm, too" Interpretation: Seeing the images of the lover makes the narrator think back to "that fall" when the two of them were having tryst (meaning sexual romps) and, the narrator, being very much smitten with the lover, was willing to give the lover anything requested... including top secret documents. The narrator is laying in bed at his shabby 10th floor apartment and begins to think back about how the two of them used to lay there together. The lover would often talk about how they were going to escape and never be caught. The narrator is probably awake and restless because he has the knowledge that the lover is captured but is being held in some anonymous room and there is no way for him to know where. ------- "It was late one night I was awoken by the telephone I heard a strangled cry on the end of the line Purloined in Petrograd They were suspicious of where your loyalties lay So I paid off a bureaucrat To convince your captors there to secret you away" Interpretation: Finally, a call comes through: it's the lover. The lover has been illegally apprehended (purloined means "taken dishonestly") in Petrograd (st. Petersburg. Don't read too much into the city's name: using the archaic name of Petrograd is probably simply for alliteration, same way "on the lam from the law" is alliteration.) and is now being held at the American embassy in Petrograd. (Again, obviously illegal but that's just the way espionage works.) The captors were after the lover because of the police shooting but also because of their suspicions that the lover is a spy. The narrator, acing as a bagmand (a person that transports money- often illicitly.) travels to Petrograd and pays the captors "there" (the usage of the word there further builds the case that the lover is being held in Petrograd, not the US) to "secret" the lover away- basically, he paid them off to forget the entire mess. The gambit is that he paid a massive sum for the lover's freedom despite being unsure whether or not the lover would be freed or, if even if the lover was to be freed, if they'd ever be able to have future together. Basically, the bribe was a sacrifice he gladly made. ------- "And at the gate of the embassy Our hands met through the bars As your whisper stilled my heart "No, they'll never catch me now No, they'll never catch me No, they cannot catch me now We will escape somehow Somehow"" Interpretation: The captors did free the lover and released the lover to the other side of the embassy- back out to Russian territory. The narrator finally gets to see that the lover is free for himself. But, of course, the lover and the narrator are on the other side of the gate of the embassy so all they can do is squeeze each others' hands. Again, the lover reassures that they'll never catch him/her... and again alludes to the fact that the two of them will escape somehow. ------- "And I dreamt one night You were there in fours Hands held high In uniform" Interpretation: At some point, the narrator has a dream about the lover. (Ok, I have to admit that I'm sill of the impression that "there in fours" is really "there in force.") In the dream, the narrator sees the lover there in force- meaning, not there surreptitiously but there in confidence, not on the run from the law or anything. There legally and without concern.. Heck, the lover is so legitimate that he/she can even wear his/her uniform withou fear of being apprehended. ... Anyway, The lover's hands are held high in greeting. The lover has come back to the narrator! ------- "It was ten years on When you resurfaced in a motorcar With the wave of an arm You were there and gone" Of course, it was a dream. The lover had not come back. In fact, it was 10 years later before the narrator finally saw the lover again.... in a car... driving by. The lover waves and then is gone. The bagman made the gambit in hopes of having a future together with the lover but it is now obvious that it will never be. All the narrator gets from his sacrifice is a wave as the lover drives on by. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall, this is a song about all the things you do for love and how, in the end, there's always the chance it'll have been for nothing. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.