Eels – Mr. E's Beautiful Blues

• +4
  My Interpretation:While I agree that the song might be taken to be extremely sarcastic, given the juxtaposition of the negative things with the chorus of positive affirmation, however I think that just because it is sarcastic, it isn't exactly that.
  
  I think it is a case where the positive affirmation, the sarcasm as it were, is supposed to be emphatic. That is to say, yes, it is a pretty crappy day, but its still a beautiful day. You're alive aren't you? Yes the day is shitty, but god damned right its a beautiful day. Nothing will change that all of this is terrible, but I refuse to be bowed by it.
  
  I feel like that this song is about how yes, realization that the world is shitty and rapidly going to the fukin' dogs, stress, distress, all of it, just piling up, but god damned right its a beautiful day. This will not beat me, this will not break me, and what does not kill me, makes me stronger.

  Flagged samhall555on December 26, 2010   Link

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    I agree with this. It's a pretty common theme in E's music and it's how I've always taken this song.

    Flag Gazoinkson February 29, 2012  
• 0
  General Comment:Oh, yeah, for you young kids, the line about the tear in the Indian's eye refers to an anti-littering ad from the 70s. It shows people throwing stuff from car windows, and litter flapping about on the roadside, then the angle opens up to show an old Native American guy looking out over it, and a tear slides down his cheek.

  Flag law4on June 24, 2010   Link

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• 0
  General Comment:I think it's about the denial people live in, in order to stay sane. Terrible stuff is happening all around us, all the time (as recounted in the verses), and we are powerless to change most of it. So we force it out of our consciousness, and even insist that it's not happening--"You're god damn right it's a beautiful day!"--to keep ourselves from drowning in despair.

  Flag law4on June 24, 2010   Link

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• 0
  Lyric Correction:"The kids flip their lids when their heads hear that crazy sound"
  should be
  "The kids flip their lids when their ids hear that crazy sound"
  
  and also
  
  "And I don't know how you take in all the shit you see
  should be
  "And I don't know how you're takin' all the shit you see

  Flag nattyishon May 30, 2010   Link

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• +1
  General Comment:"The load on the road...Indian's eye"--18 wheelers bringing goods across the country that will be used and discarded.
  
  "Ringmaster Telecaster" It's got to be television.
  
  “Girl with the curl...Daddy just don’t care” We sit in front of the television while our sweet daughters climb out the back window to go party with the Eels
  
  “Clown with the Frown..Quite a scare” You never know what guy that seems happy, is really about to drive down to a public place and start randomly shooting.
  
  
  “Kids flip their lids” Obviously kids are flipping their hats up and/or around backwards. Maybe a statement on white kids liking hip hop so much.
  
  “Neighbor digs the flavor...different town” The dude next door kinda likes it too, but he doesn’t want to live next door to it.
  
  “Don’t believe anyone, but most of all don’t believe me” kinda invalidates the first part right? It’s like the song targets the “ignorance of every day life”, but then at the end falls back into it.
  
  

  Flag soonerxiion December 14, 2008   Link

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• 0
  General Comment:Irony is the correct term, I think. I know this, Im old, I heard of the EEls from my youngest daughter who is 16. I loved the sentiment the elephant, the reference to that damn Indian, so forth. I went on to look at/listen to/read the other Eels songs, they have several with an ironic feel. I'm a country music fan but this is art, real art. They remind me of the beatniks, attitude, the icy coolness of it. Also kinda made me think of a little know australian band called Flash and the Pan. Awesome, artsy, nice.

  Flag Brachson July 14, 2008   Link

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  General Comment:and to banshee1... im sure things could be alot worse for that elephant stuck inside his cage... or the clown whose just killed himself... or the crying indian whose earth is being ruined!!

  Flag light_bulb101on June 08, 2008   Link

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• 0
  General Comment:yep. juxtapositioning (is that a word..?) between the verses and chorus..
  
  
  clearly a very sarcastic song

  Flag light_bulb101on June 08, 2008   Link

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• -2
  General Comment:@sdine07, actually he is being sarcastic. It has a sarcastic tone. If something is intentional, or created by someone with a specific intent, it isn't irony. Irony demands that it was happenstance or by accident, and can only be asserted after the fact.

  Flag Solarioon January 20, 2008   Link

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    +1

    You're entirely wrong. Irony is a rhetorical device.
    The usage you mention is metaphorical ("the irony of fate").

    Flag azkmon November 24, 2008  
• 0
  General Comment:I think sometimes when you're in a good mood, you can see all those things, and as much as everyone will have a different perception (right or wrong), it doesn't matter to you, cause it just is such a beautiful day. And it just feels so right to be alive.

  Flag deli_ellyon November 01, 2007   Link

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