[go to the very end if you wanna hear it in a nutshell]
okay here's what i got from the song:
"johanna drove slowly into the city the hudson river all filled with snow"
---johanna arives in new york during winter [because the hudson river is in new york]
"a thousand years in one piece of silver"
---talking about the ring, this can mean that is has some meaning/value to her
"she took it from his lily-white hand"
---could suggest that he is dead
"showed no fear she'd seen the thing in the young men's wing at sloan kettering"
---sloan kettering is a cancer center
so she could have been expecting him to die. and when he did she took the ring
"look outside the raincoats coming say oh"
---i think this means that its raining. and rain can represent a number of things. it can mean sadness/washing something clean/starting over/renew/replenish..whatev..
because the raincoats are coming this could mean that people are coming after her...or not..
"his honor drove southward seeking exotica..turquoise harmonicas"
---now here's where the song gets tricky.
this part doesnt allude to anything that i've heard of
so i think this is just an experience that the writer of the song had.
---i interpreted this as telling us what happend to the boy johanna took the ring from. before he died. lol its hard to explain what i'm thinking
"half of the ring lies here with me but the other halfs at the bottom of the sea"
---she gets rid of the half of the ring the represents his honor and gives the other half to her new love
----okay..in a nutshell.. so this guy is telling the story of his girl johanna. how she gets over [or gets even] with an old love by taking a ring that he has [i think the ring represents her love]. in the end she gives half to her new love and leave the other half behind.
--i dont think the person who wrote this song wants us to know exactly what it means. its left open for interpretation. i think johanna is getting over an old love. thats why rain is mentioned, because it washes away her old mistakes..like a clean slate
I agree with a good bit of your interpretation, but here are some of my own ideas. The problem is that I think the interpretations are too focused on the literal meaning and missing something as a result:
I agree with a good bit of your interpretation, but here are some of my own ideas. The problem is that I think the interpretations are too focused on the literal meaning and missing something as a result:
"A thousand years in one piece of silver"
"A thousand years in one piece of silver"
--- Could have something to do with either a family heirloom, or perhaps something handed down through a secret society, like the Freemasons? This might make more sense of the honorific, "His Honor."
--- Could have something to do with either a family heirloom, or perhaps something handed down through a secret society, like the Freemasons? This might make more sense of the honorific, "His Honor."
"She took it from his lily-white hand"
"She took it from his lily-white hand"
--- Could mean that he's dead, or just that His Honor is some kind of aristocrat, someone that's been rich, pampered and sheltered. I think it's more likely that this refers to her taking it from his dead finger, because of the line that says "she'd seen the thing in the young men's wing of Sloan-Kettering." I'm not sure why it's important that Johanna "showed no fear" though. What is she afraid of? The ring? His Honor?
"Look outside at the raincoats coming, say "oh""
--- For some reason, before I'd really listened to the lyrics very carefully, the first image I had when listening to this song was from this line, and it was of FBI agents (they wear the windbreakers or raincoats that have "FBI" printed across the back). So it could be that it refers to the police or FBI coming after someone (probably Johanna).
--- Pretty much as confused as anyone on this. The "Pueblo huts of New Mexico" led me on a Wikipedia search, and I discovered that the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico is approximately 1,000 years old (I would assume that others in the area are similarly as old). So that gives me some additional thoughts/insight... southwestern American Indians are known for working with turquoise and silver, and a lot of the modern tourist trade they do is in these two materials. The "cut his teeth on turquoise harmonicas" part could just mean that they were a curiosity he found in that experience that set him on a more important course of events.
The last stanza of lyrics before the chorus/bridge to end the song is just as confusing to me, because:
>
Half of a ring is a pretty useless thing.
Half of the ring "lies here with ME" - This means the person telling the story is neither Johanna nor His Honor, since they are both referred to in the third person. I'm assuming that this line also suggests that the teller of the story is dead, and half of the ring was buried along with him (assuming it's a "him").
I have no idea why half of the ring "lies here with me" and the "other half's at the bottom of the sea." The song doesn't really suggest why the ring is in two pieces, how those two pieces got separated, or why one half is at the bottom of the sea (or who put it there).
[go to the very end if you wanna hear it in a nutshell] okay here's what i got from the song:
"johanna drove slowly into the city the hudson river all filled with snow" ---johanna arives in new york during winter [because the hudson river is in new york]
"a thousand years in one piece of silver" ---talking about the ring, this can mean that is has some meaning/value to her
"she took it from his lily-white hand" ---could suggest that he is dead
"showed no fear she'd seen the thing in the young men's wing at sloan kettering" ---sloan kettering is a cancer center so she could have been expecting him to die. and when he did she took the ring
"look outside the raincoats coming say oh" ---i think this means that its raining. and rain can represent a number of things. it can mean sadness/washing something clean/starting over/renew/replenish..whatev.. because the raincoats are coming this could mean that people are coming after her...or not..
"his honor drove southward seeking exotica..turquoise harmonicas" ---now here's where the song gets tricky. this part doesnt allude to anything that i've heard of so i think this is just an experience that the writer of the song had. ---i interpreted this as telling us what happend to the boy johanna took the ring from. before he died. lol its hard to explain what i'm thinking
"half of the ring lies here with me but the other halfs at the bottom of the sea" ---she gets rid of the half of the ring the represents his honor and gives the other half to her new love
----okay..in a nutshell.. so this guy is telling the story of his girl johanna. how she gets over [or gets even] with an old love by taking a ring that he has [i think the ring represents her love]. in the end she gives half to her new love and leave the other half behind. --i dont think the person who wrote this song wants us to know exactly what it means. its left open for interpretation. i think johanna is getting over an old love. thats why rain is mentioned, because it washes away her old mistakes..like a clean slate
wow. that was long. please tell me what you think
I like it, very nice
I like it, very nice
I agree with a good bit of your interpretation, but here are some of my own ideas. The problem is that I think the interpretations are too focused on the literal meaning and missing something as a result:
I agree with a good bit of your interpretation, but here are some of my own ideas. The problem is that I think the interpretations are too focused on the literal meaning and missing something as a result:
"A thousand years in one piece of silver"
"A thousand years in one piece of silver"
--- Could have something to do with either a family heirloom, or perhaps something handed down through a secret society, like the Freemasons? This might make more sense of the honorific, "His Honor."
--- Could have something to do with either a family heirloom, or perhaps something handed down through a secret society, like the Freemasons? This might make more sense of the honorific, "His Honor."
"She took it from his lily-white hand"
"She took it from his lily-white hand"
--- Could mean that he's dead, or just that His Honor is some kind of aristocrat, someone that's been rich, pampered and sheltered. I think it's more likely that this refers to her taking it from his dead finger, because of the line that says "she'd seen the thing in the young men's wing of Sloan-Kettering." I'm not sure why it's important that Johanna "showed no fear" though. What is she afraid of? The ring? His Honor?
"Look outside at the raincoats coming, say "oh""
--- For some reason, before I'd really listened to the lyrics very carefully, the first image I had when listening to this song was from this line, and it was of FBI agents (they wear the windbreakers or raincoats that have "FBI" printed across the back). So it could be that it refers to the police or FBI coming after someone (probably Johanna).
"his honor drove southward seeking exotica..turquoise harmonicas"
--- Pretty much as confused as anyone on this. The "Pueblo huts of New Mexico" led me on a Wikipedia search, and I discovered that the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico is approximately 1,000 years old (I would assume that others in the area are similarly as old). So that gives me some additional thoughts/insight... southwestern American Indians are known for working with turquoise and silver, and a lot of the modern tourist trade they do is in these two materials. The "cut his teeth on turquoise harmonicas" part could just mean that they were a curiosity he found in that experience that set him on a more important course of events.
The last stanza of lyrics before the chorus/bridge to end the song is just as confusing to me, because:
>