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Time (The Revelator) Lyrics
Darling remember when you come to me,
I�m a pretender; I�m not what I�m supposed to be But who could know if I�m a traitor? Time�s the revelator. They caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride The fortune lady came along, she walked beside But every word seemed to date her Time�s the revelator The revelator. Up in the morning, up and on the line Drive into Corning, and all the spindles whine And every day it's getting straighter, Time�s the revelator The revelator. Leaving the valley, fucking out of sight Think I�ll go back to Cali where I can sleep out every night And watch the waves and move the faders Time�s the revelator The revelator. Queen of fakes and imitators Time�s the revelator.
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07-28-2002
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07-28-2002
i kind of seems in the beginning of the song, hes flashing back, and then in the middle of the song where he says "They caught the Cady and left me a mule to ride ". i guess someone kidnapped her, i don't know and he is lost without her.
I dont know-- UYI
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08-02-2002
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06-23-2003
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01-31-2005
I believe this should be "They caught the Katy..." in reference to the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. Also a line the Taj Mahal song "she caught the Katy, and left me on a mule to ride"
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05-14-2005
Check out the rest of her music, she's awesome.
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08-24-2005
It is "They caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride". To catch the Katy is to jump onto one of the goods carriages of a moving train and hitch a free ride, common practice for those crossing the country looking for work duing the depression (the authentic voices). She's saying they experienced the real thing, she is left with only an echo of those times.
I think it's "and all the spindles white", i.e. the waggon wheels used as decoration on houses, which are generally painted white. They're meant as tokens of rural authenticity, but ("everyday it's getting straighter"), that they're equally pretenders. She's tired of the pretensions and sets off for California, she no longer feels the need to live the rural life to write songs. Time's the revelator :)
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08-24-2005
It is "They caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride". To catch the Katy is to jump onto one of the goods carriages of a moving train and hitch a free ride, common practice for those crossing the country looking for work duing the depression (the authentic voices). She's saying they experienced the real thing, she is left with only an echo of those times.
I think it's "and all the spindles white", i.e. the waggon wheels used as decoration on houses, which are generally painted white. They're meant as tokens of rural authenticity, but ("everyday it's getting straighter"), that they're equally pretenders. She's tired of the pretensions and sets off for California, she no longer feels the need to live the rural life to write songs. Time's the revelator :)
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10-19-2005
The line about the "Fortune Lady" could be a reference to Emmylou Harris, who was the first major artist to record one of Welch's songs (Orphan Girl). But maybe not ;)
The line "watch the waves and move the faders" seems like a direct reference to recording in a digital type (Pro Tools) environment, where the audio waveforms actually move across the computer screen, and the faders are the volume sliders on the mixing console. This once again points out the collision between "then" (when records were sung into one mic, straight to acetate disk) and "now". But waves also serve as a double reference, with their more obvious meaning being the California ocean.
The last two lines are particularly revealing, and are sung (especially live) with quite an edgy, somewhat bitter tone. "Queen of fakes, and imitator"...almost as if those are the vicious words coming straight out of a critic's mouth.
This is a heck of a song, lyrically AND melodically. David Rawlings has one of the keenest sence of harmony I've ever heard. He perfectly comlements Gillian on this tune.
11-18-2009
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03-22-2006
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05-27-2007
s easy to glorify time, but when it comes to it, times a revelator.
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12-12-2007
"time's the revelator"
Part of the song is placed in Kansas [Corning] and The Cady is the Katy - the railroad as Paega mentions above. Leaving the mule to ride implies she feels she is being left behind, a representation of the old morality and sensibilities of a woman caught between two worlds, one very staid and conservative, and one very modern and free.
It's a juxtaposition of the old [the spindles whine, hitching a ride on a freight train] and the new .. the 'fortune lady' is a shrink or a spiritual guide, who is trying help her understand her own inner feelings. But every day seems to date her: this person does not understand the yearnings within the woman's inner desires.
She's made up her mind, as she deals with the day to day drudgery of her life ..
"Up in the morning, up and on the line
Drive into Corning, and all the spindles whine
And every day it's getting straighter,"
'Going back to Cali' and 'move the faders' is the escape from an old fashioned husband or boyfriend by a woman who is torn between traditional values and being free to do what she wants - forced to 'keep the fucking out of sight'.
At the end, there's the bittersweet realization she is indeed a traitor.
"Queen of fakes and imitators
Time’s the revelator."
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12-12-2007
"time's the revelator"
Part of the song is placed in Kansas [Corning] and The Cady is the Katy - the railroad as Paega mentions above. Leaving the mule to ride implies she feels she is being left behind, a representation of the old morality and sensibilities of a woman caught between two worlds, one very staid and conservative, and one very modern and free.
It's a juxtaposition of the old [the spindles whine, hitching a ride on a freight train] and the new .. the 'fortune lady' is a shrink or a spiritual guide, who is trying help her understand her own inner feelings. But every day seems to date her: this person does not understand the yearnings within the woman's inner desires.
She's made up her mind, as she deals with the day to day drudgery of her life ..
"Up in the morning, up and on the line
Drive into Corning, and all the spindles whine
And every day it's getting straighter,"
'Going back to Cali' and 'move the faders' is the escape from an old fashioned husband or boyfriend by a woman who is torn between traditional values and being free to do what she wants - forced to 'keep the fucking out of sight'.
At the end, there's the bittersweet realization she is indeed a traitor.
"Queen of fakes and imitators
Time’s the revelator."
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03-09-2008
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03-29-2008
Regarding the lyrics themselves, I thought the line was "Driving the corn in, and all the spindles whine", with the spindles being part of some sort of mechanical harvester. She really slurs the syllables together so it's hard really say for sure, but that hearing makes the most sense to me...
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12-12-2008
Gillian and I are definitely getting married...just have to tell her about that.
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