Flower

I hate to crack an egg of knowledge all over everyone's theories, but the lyrics used in "Flower" are sampled from an old African American children's song called "Green Sally Up," which shares similarities with the British children's song, "Ring Around The Rosie." The actual lyrics being sung in the "Flower" sample are "Green Sally up, Green Sally down. Last one squat gotta tear the ground." Samurai was correct in assuming that this song is rooted historically in the slave culture of the American South, but it was more a song to entertain and occupy the children out in the fields than it was a commentary on slavery. Like "Ring Around The Rosie," "Green Sally Up" has an accompanying game that's played in time and accordance with the lyrics. 'Green Sally' means 'little girl,' hence the first two lines direct the children to rise up and then squat down in rhythm with the song. "Last one squat gotta tear the ground" means, quite plainly, that the last child to squat has to help the adults with the cotton picking. It's assumed that this was not a literal rule of the game, but a threat of the "last one home is a rotten egg" variety. The lines, "Old Miss Lucy's dead and gone, left me here to weep and moan" is indeed a reference to the death of a slave 'owner', and in the original song is followed by the lines, "If you hate it, fold your arms; if you love it, clap your hands," which was a signal for those listening to indicate their feelings towards their 'master' by either joining in the rhythmic clapping that accompanies the song, or by refraining from doing so, which would indicate a measure of love/respect/complacency that the individual may have had for the 'owner'. Yes, I know how messed up that sounds, but c'est la vie. Here's a clip of the original recording from which Moby drew his sample: youtube.com/watch

I like to think that this song is from a slave's point of view during the pre-civil war era. I don't know what "green sally" is referring too (sounds like "bring sally up, bring sally down") but "lift and squat, gonna tear the ground) sounds like working in fields. "Ol' Miss Lucy" might have been their previous "owner" and perhaps was nicer to them and "left me here to weep and moan" means the pain and suffering from heir new owner who perhaps is a little meaner. That's just what i get from it.

Just one thing, were does the Song Title fit in?

i like the combination of older sounding vocals with newer bass in the back...

i like the combination of older sounding vocals with newer bass in the back...

Great song, it was the main theme to Gone In Sixty Seconds.

Sick.

love this song, but i eventually had to give up and look up the lyrics, lol. couldn't understand anything other then the ol' miss lucy bit

Samurai, just wow, you know your meanings. Very good interpretations. I wouldn't have thought of that, but it makes really good sense

I have to second Samurai's motion.

But.. when I first heard it I got the impression that everyone was at a party when they had heard that "Miss Lucy" had died, perhaps a close friend or a relative.

Not really, sure, I'm willing to go with Samurai's interpretation though.