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Who's that stomping all over my face?
Where's that silhouette I'm trying to trace?
Who's putting sponge in the bells I once rung?
And taking my gypsy before she's begun?
To singing the meaning of what's in my mind,
Before I can take home what's rightfully mine.
Joinin' and listenin' and talkin' in rhymes,
Stoppin' the feeling to wait for the times.
Who's saying baby, that don't mean a thing,
'Cause nowadays Clancy can't even sing.
And who's all hung-up on that happiness thing?
Who's trying to tune all the bells that he rings?
And who's in the corner and down on the floor?
With pencil and paper just counting the score?
And who's trying to act like he just in between?
The night isn't black, it can only be screened.
Don't bother looking, you're too blind to see,
Who's coming on like he wanted to be.
Who's saying baby, that don't mean a thing,
'Cause nowadays Clancy can't even sing.
And who's coming home on the old ninety five?
Who's got the feeling to keep him alive,
Though havin' it, sharin' it ain't quite the same,
It ain't no gold nugget, you can't lay a claim.
Who's seeing eyes through the crack in the floor,
There it is baby, don't you worry no more.
Who should be sleepin', but is writing this song,
Wishin' and a-hopin' he weren't so damned wrong.
Who's saying baby, that don't mean a thing,
'Cause nowadays Clancy can't even sing.
Who's saying baby, that don't mean a thing,
'Cause nowadays Clancy can't even sing.
Where's that silhouette I'm trying to trace?
Who's putting sponge in the bells I once rung?
And taking my gypsy before she's begun?
To singing the meaning of what's in my mind,
Before I can take home what's rightfully mine.
Joinin' and listenin' and talkin' in rhymes,
Stoppin' the feeling to wait for the times.
Who's saying baby, that don't mean a thing,
'Cause nowadays Clancy can't even sing.
And who's all hung-up on that happiness thing?
Who's trying to tune all the bells that he rings?
And who's in the corner and down on the floor?
With pencil and paper just counting the score?
And who's trying to act like he just in between?
The night isn't black, it can only be screened.
Don't bother looking, you're too blind to see,
Who's coming on like he wanted to be.
Who's saying baby, that don't mean a thing,
'Cause nowadays Clancy can't even sing.
And who's coming home on the old ninety five?
Who's got the feeling to keep him alive,
Though havin' it, sharin' it ain't quite the same,
It ain't no gold nugget, you can't lay a claim.
Who's seeing eyes through the crack in the floor,
There it is baby, don't you worry no more.
Who should be sleepin', but is writing this song,
Wishin' and a-hopin' he weren't so damned wrong.
Who's saying baby, that don't mean a thing,
'Cause nowadays Clancy can't even sing.
Who's saying baby, that don't mean a thing,
'Cause nowadays Clancy can't even sing.
Lyrics submitted by Broken_Arrow
Track duration: 03:27
"Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing" as written by Neil Young
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is a song about an artist who thinks he has lost his muse. But that's the paradox:
the song itself is beautiful and works.
Perhaps it is not everything it should be in the eyes of he who wrote it, but the power
of the increasing motion of the waltz cadence makes it perfect to me.
It's a song of regret for talent lost and wasted. It is self reproach, and a call to be honest.
The "who" is a question: who is to blame for his inability to connect to his art and his audience?
It is a song that says, "you know perfectly well that it is you yourself who is in your own way.
Thus, nobody is stomping on his face, its an excuse he will no longer abide.
He says to himself:
You once "rang bells" that is you could hit the audience where they lived.
You once could concentrate and work patiently with the "gypsy" which is inspiration.
You pretend someone has kidnapped her, but you let her go yourself, "stopping the feeling",
in order to be hip.
The second verse shows him looking in all the wrong places. (By the way, "it can only be screened"
should be "it can only be green") which makes sense if he is saying
that only nature can bring back his talent, he can't get it artificially.
In the third verse he's turning a corner, recognizing he still values what he does, although it gets harder to do it.
See what he does here and see if you agree:
youtube.com/…
The second verse is definitly about people who worry too much about everything being perfect, that things are a certain way and you just got to deal with it.
Ex.-tune all the bells, counting the score etc
The third is about how happiness is intangible and you just have to find it.