Peaches

okaaay, i dunno if anyone's said this, but >_> on vh1's 100 greatest songs of the 90s, they had the band come on and they said they wrote the song from memories of when the one dude was little. He had a crush on this girl, and he went to her house to telll her how he felt, but she wasn't home. She had a huge peach tree in her yard, so he sat under there, 'squishing and eating peaches.' He wrote it based off of that memory. So yes guys, this song ISN'T about sex, and i seriously doubt it's about communism. Well, it might be about sex, but honestly, i think it's just about peaches.

I joined this site having read 'the Marxist interpretation of peaches'. I would agree song lyrics are open to interpretation (personally, the song is about peaches), but there are some basic mistakes in this 'interpretation', currently the leading comment in this thread, that make it incoherent and suggest it need not be considered seriously. For instance:

Marxism is not the same as communism or socialism, and socialism and communism are also very different from one another. No-one who was even vaguely informed about these topics would make them equivalent as they are done in this 'Marxist interpretation'.

There is no mention of 'class', which is the indispensable construct in any Marxist interpretation of anything.

If someone wanted to offer a Marxist interpretation of a song, their primary focus would not be lyrical content. Marxists (as literary critics) are more concerned with questions of process and the socio-historical conditions attendant to any phenomenon such as a song or work of art - relations of production and consumption within the 'culture industry' for instance. The lyrics themselves would be secondary considerations, the main interest is the conditions that gave rise to this particular song, at this particular time (and how it was received). A song, or poem, or book (from the Marxist view of history) is simply a product of socio-historical conditions, so Marxists do not devote much time to considering the intentions of the artist.

What UnseenSoul is trying to do is impose a (very loose and ill formulated) vaguely leftist/revolutionary message onto a song and its writers. This is not 'Marxist Interpretation'.

nope, actually it IS about peaches, not pussy. You just substituted a word to make yourself sound cool. its justr a song about peaches

Has anyone else made a connection to the chorus of John Denver's song, "Blow up your TV":

"Blow Up Your TV, throw away your paper Go to the country, build you a home Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches Try and find Jesus on your own "

Denver was talking about peaches and the country as symbols of a simpler life, maybe the Presidents were saying even simplicity is manufactured and processed these days.......

A little far-fetched, but interesting to think about.

The Marxist Interpretation of Peaches

Before you lauch into this there's something I have to clarify. Just because I say the Presidents are singing about Communism. Doesn't mean that I want Communism. If I said that a certain president's speach last night was about expanding the governemnts role in our lives wouldn't indicate that I agreed with him. I never agree with him. We should have elected the Dole Man, not the guy China paid money for. Many people think "Peaches" is the weirdest song ever written, others think its lame. Both with good reason because it appears to be a pointless rambling of a band who drank a little too much spiked fruitopia. I admit it doesn't seem all that sensible, but if you listen to it enough and ask yourself why anybody would write such a blatantly pointless song. Well the only logical answer is that it isn't blatantly pointless. Just bear with me here. You may just see the hidden meanings. Those of you who hate a deep analysis please link back to my homepage now. If you know the lyrics feel free to hop down to the analysis. I'd like to thank an unknown guy from kings.k12.ca.us who probably found the page while at school and pointed out a lyrics blunder. Basically the lyrics I have here I scrawled down while listning to the tune. I'm sorry for any flubs.

"Peaches" is a song discussing the coming of socialism and warning that the revolution shouldn't occur at this exact moment but its coming. The Presidents of the United States of America make repeated reference to the oppression of the capitalistic world and their desires to leave it far be hind. Verses espousing communism are quite prevalent to the end with scattered warnings not to both the revolutionaries and the establishment. In order to escape the capitalistic decay of the city they are moving to the country as indicated by the first stanza. This is repeated like a chorus and contains a double meaning, both with socialistic implications. The most apparent is that the narrator is moving away from the smog of industry to what American's call the country, a rural unindustrialized community with a low population and a high sense of community bonding. The people are geographically more distant but ore emotionally closer. In such communities most of the people work in the area and the community is self-sufficient. There is no more than one of each business (basically a general Store and a gas station). These communities are almost communistic, and generally supported by the US' agrarian socialism programs. The other interpretation is that he is moving to a foreign socialistic country. Once there he's going to eat lots of peaches. The peaches where he is now are tainted with oppression but in the country (which ever one it is) are fresher and more free. The third stanza discusses capitalism as an unnatural thing. peaches are fruit, and fruit comes from fruit trees not cans. The "It was put there" lines show capitalism as a sexist institution a non-gender specific term like worker, or employee would have been used other wise. The term "factory" is a reference to the factories of the Industrial Revolution when people worked long hours for mere pocket change. Industrial society has lead to placing beautiful nature into a can. Line 14 shows that Nature's candy has been forced into can. The word hand has long been a symbol of a force and strength and also oppressive control hence the American idiom "I've got them eating out of my hand." By placing pie after the can, the Presidents, are implying that we feed upon this oppression. The wishes embodied in the fourth stanza imply a desire and a plan to over through the establishment. A daily consumption of fresh peaches would only be allowed to the common person by a socialistic or communistic economy. Of course the obstacle in the way of the daily peach is the "Sun soaking bulges in the shade". These bulges are the portly capitalists who do nothing but lounge around in the shade while trying to get a tan, because their delicate complexion couldn't take the sun. They're people who haven't worked all their life and have lived by walking on the backs of men. Capitalism is declared decadent and inescapable. In seventh stanza the Presidents turn up the imagery. The twenty fourth line vents anger at the decay capitalism has caused. By squishing a "rotten peach in my fist" there is an angry attempt to shrink the decay caused by capitalism and squish it out of existence. The anger is given intense force by the word fist which produces an image of anger and strength. The previous line about talking a nap may seem silly and out of place but implies that at present the only way to squish the "rotten peach" of capitalistic decay is in dreams. The 25th line reinforces this idea. Communism and socialism are beliefs that are publicly seen to be feminine. During the Industrial Revolution and the two American Red Scares (after World War I and II) socialists were seen as something less than masculine. They were ridiculed as being week and woman like (as the women's rights movement hadn't quite happened and such a belief was socially acceptable). In modern thought the woman artistically represents an entity of great beauty and equal intelligence, as far as The Presidents of the United States of America are concerned a socialistic/communistic state would be a beautiful thing. Also the tisted roots symbolize the change in ideals from our parents. It is most likely that anyone who grew up in the 50's sees communism as twisted. In America, roots are seen as a metaphor for someone's cultural base, a twist in them would be a twist or change in them. The Presidents have diverged from the beliefs of their parents. The final verses of the song are set over a heavy slamming of the basses (guibass and bassitar, as they call them) with some distortions producing the sounds of a waging revolution. If one hasn't heard it, you need not fear, the lyrics express the message far more effectively. The Revolution will happen but, the presidents warn that now is not the time with screams of "Not now" and "Not Yet". They hope in time the world will be ready for what the revolution will bring. Where the "beneficial" fruit of communism, here symbolized by peaches, will be free for millions. Enough interpretting. We may stop and be amused at the ultimate irony. The Presidents of the United States of America are singing favorably about communism. The same communism that Americans have been fighting for years. Please note I don't always agree with the Presidents of the united States of America, whether they are a band or an "elected" man.

Anything above the dashes were written by somebody else. I dont know who wrote this. I'm lookin for the author. This interpretation is better than the "girl parts" one. - Unseen

ohhh and by the way that communist interp. is pretty damn good...........i mean any real PUSA fan has got to believe that the presidents are too intelligent to write just another stupid song about poontang

...shut the fuck up unseensoul.

okay some questions... how did a pussy come from a can? and it wasnt put there by a man? just something to think about i just think the song is about peaches...the made the song just for enjoyment nothing to really think about.just my opinion

i always thought it was about peaches... esp the part about "Peaches come in a can, they were put there by a man"

this controversy is very amusing...no reason for people to get all worked up about it. I mean can't a guy just enjoy some peaches?