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Post by Veets on Feb 3, 2009 22:04:25 GMT -5
Was listening to Folker again today and these lines in Anyway's All Right,
Waiting' for that fool The one that cuts your hair To tell you what to do And remind you "I will dare"
reminded me of the cover on "The Shit Hits The Fans" with Bob's Barber Shop.
So are they lines that just rhyme, or is this is reference to Bob Stinson? The "I will dare" reference seems to reinforce the idea. Anyone know if Paul has ever talked about the song in an interview?
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cford
Star Scout
Posts: 803
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Post by cford on Feb 4, 2009 11:00:04 GMT -5
Was listening to Folker again today and these lines in Anyway's All Right, Waiting' for that fool The one that cuts your hair To tell you what to do And remind you "I will dare" reminded me of the cover on "The Shit Hits The Fans" with Bob's Barber Shop. So are they lines that just rhyme, or is this is reference to Bob Stinson? The "I will dare" reference seems to reinforce the idea. Anyone know if Paul has ever talked about the song in an interview? That's a pretty interesting observation.. I wouldn't put it past Paul to throw in a Bob reference. The song itself seems to be sort of a hodge-podge of thoughts under the unifying idea - "anything's alright, anyway you can." Did Bob actually cut hair? Maybe there was something behind the "Bob's Barbershop" drawing that sticks in Paul's memory. CF
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Post by ClamsCasino on Feb 4, 2009 22:39:51 GMT -5
I never heard it as a hodge podge of ideas. I hear it as an unrequited love story about falling in love with a lesbian (a theme that's repeated later in the album), and trying to figure out how to make it work anyway.
I don't see how Bob fits into that. For me, the "fool...who cuts your hair" line is the kind of detail that makes the entire scenario feel real, and not some dramatic fiction. Lyrically, the story connects with a few other Paul songs. There's the obvious: "Fell in love with a dyke/married a friend." But there's also that second Joan Jett collaboration, where he sings, "I never got past that little rock 'n roll ass." On the Lucky's Revenge boot, he actually uses Joan's name in the lyrics to Someone I Once Knew, making it clear that it was about her. I wouldn't be surprised if Anyway's All Right was about her too.
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Post by Veets on Feb 4, 2009 23:27:31 GMT -5
Nice - those details about Joan Jett, if true, fill in some blanks. I have the same take on the overall theme of the song.
I see Bob fitting in as the friend that he goes to for advice on the situation, and Bob's response, which seems like total Bob from what I've read, was to tell him to take a chance.
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Post by ClamsCasino on Feb 5, 2009 0:51:29 GMT -5
But the line says that she's getting advice from the fool who cuts her hair. He's not the one seeking advice. So unless Bob was once Joan Jett's (or whoever's) hair stylist...
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cford
Star Scout
Posts: 803
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Post by cford on Feb 5, 2009 12:18:37 GMT -5
I never heard it as a hodge podge of ideas. I hear it as an unrequited love story about falling in love with a lesbian (a theme that's repeated later in the album), and trying to figure out how to make it work anyway. Possibly, but I'm not sure I'm buying that this song is nothing more than an ode to unrequited gay/hetero love (even though the first verse clearly expresses that idea)...To me it sorta sounds like two different songs that were cobbled together (something that Paul admits to doing)... Does the "I'm the dog that's broken" part seem to kinda come out of left field? CF
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Post by Veets on Feb 6, 2009 16:27:06 GMT -5
But the line says that she's getting advice from the fool who cuts her hair. He's not the one seeking advice. So unless Bob was once Joan Jett's (or whoever's) hair stylist... I thought right from the opening line the person waiting was the guy (e.g., Paul, if first person): Waiting' for a girl To tell you that she's gay She don't know it yet You want her anyway Full lyrics here: www.paulwesterberg.com/folker.htm
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Post by jstrummer1977 on Feb 6, 2009 16:35:37 GMT -5
Just b/c it's in the first-person doesn't necessarily mean Paul is writing about himself.
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Post by BronxTeacher on Feb 6, 2009 17:36:10 GMT -5
And just because it's in the second person doesn't mean that Paul isn't writing about himself. Dylan once gave an interview, right after his motorcycle crash, where he said that he realized that in all of his earlier songs the 'you' that he spoke of was really himself.
This is a song that has always mystified me, and I'm not sure or not if I like it.
I tend to agree with Clams about the unrequited (and impossible) love interpretation. To me, the bridge is the best part of the song, and I've always thought it was about breaking away from convention or inhibition or any kind of restraints whatsoever. Anyway's all right, even if it's wrong or impossible or contradictory or paradoxical as falling for a lesbian might be for a hetero guy. The last verse continues this idea when he sings, "to really be in love/To go our separate ways." Another paradox. Is he talking about the impossibility of love in general here?
As a side note, I'm certain this song dates from the Suicaine era. In the booklet of the deluxe edition of that album, there's a photo of a handwritten songlist, and one of the songs listed is "Flower Bedroom."
Also, during the last tour Paul took the bridge out of this song and added it to AAA. Maybe Paul was never satisfied with the song...?
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cford
Star Scout
Posts: 803
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Post by cford on Feb 8, 2009 4:31:46 GMT -5
Also, during the last tour Paul took the bridge out of this song and added it to AAA. Maybe Paul was never satisfied with the song...? Yea.. I remember that... That's probably why it struck me as possibly the song was actually two separate ideas. ("Im the dog", etc) Cf
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ndesimon
First Class Scout
well she's a ramp rat...
Posts: 163
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Post by ndesimon on Feb 8, 2009 20:23:36 GMT -5
I'm not sure if this has anything to do with anything, but I do recall that the boys (at least around the time of PTMM - DTAS) claimed to have cut their own hair.
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Post by ClamsCasino on Feb 11, 2009 22:22:20 GMT -5
Does the "I'm the dog that's broken" part seem to kinda come out of left field? CF Sort of. It does switch from third person to first person. Which isn't a crime to my ears, but does make it seem a little schizophrenic. I think the lyrics certainly fit together. He wants to have sex with a lesbian. He's "hopin' to be laying in your pretty flower bedroom." It all fits together for me.
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Post by dee on Feb 12, 2009 16:17:20 GMT -5
Could the lyric be...
Waiting for a girl to tell you that she's game?
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Post by ClamsCasino on Feb 13, 2009 0:58:32 GMT -5
Could the lyric be... Waiting for a girl to tell you that she's game? Oh man, you may have just shattered everything I thought I knew about this song. ...Yeah, you might be right, but it seems like there are too many other lyrical hints to the unrequited hetero/home love crush. Not the least of which is the "fell in love with a dyke" lyric in one of the "interludes" later in the album.
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Post by Veets on Feb 17, 2009 20:04:53 GMT -5
Cover below, for the sake of completeness. Nobody ever looked better in a tutu.
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