I'm pretty sure five_to_one nailed it on the head when he said the statue they speak of is probably that of Willy Mays, outside the San Francisco Giants stadium. It not only fits the setting of the song, but the band hints at it with a clever turn of phrase when they speak of the statue in the second verse,
'We hung about the tenderloin and tenderly you tell, About the saddest ending of a book you ever read, It always makes you cry, The statue's crying too and well he may.'
The way that Stuart sings that very last line he pulls those last three words, 'well he may' in together very tightly, making the phrase sound very much like the name Willy Mays. It's fairly subtle wordplay but exactly the sort of thing that makes Belle and Sebastian lyrics so much fun to listen to.
I'm pretty sure five_to_one nailed it on the head when he said the statue they speak of is probably that of Willy Mays, outside the San Francisco Giants stadium. It not only fits the setting of the song, but the band hints at it with a clever turn of phrase when they speak of the statue in the second verse,
'We hung about the tenderloin and tenderly you tell, About the saddest ending of a book you ever read, It always makes you cry, The statue's crying too and well he may.'
The way that Stuart sings that very last line he pulls those last three words, 'well he may' in together very tightly, making the phrase sound very much like the name Willy Mays. It's fairly subtle wordplay but exactly the sort of thing that makes Belle and Sebastian lyrics so much fun to listen to.