|
|
Post by Christian on Nov 12, 2004 11:05:11 GMT -5
You may be right. I realise it's a tribute song. Not sure what 'cerebral rape' refers to though. Maybe there's a clue in the next line: 'visit my nan with unfeasible force'.
|
|
|
|
Post by SnowCover on Nov 12, 2004 15:55:38 GMT -5
The "clean underwear" line didn't bother me until the "Love Untold" thread. Now I'm having nightmares about skidmarks. Maybe his wife lays out his underwear in the morning for him now.  This post interested me, but I can't find the thread. Is there some story behind that line? |
|
|
|
Post by kgp on Dec 6, 2004 10:29:57 GMT -5
While your still reeling from that image, what about the the line from 'only lie worth telling' off stereo/mono "you lied enough, opened wide enough to drive a truck right through' I've always thought this a wonderfully mean spirited and yet pretty song. That line sort of kills it for me. I guess you could take it some other way, but to me it sounds like, 'hey, you're a big slut but don't worry, I like you.' Umm..thanks a lot. Is anyone offened by the 'fell in love with a dyke, married a friend' interlude? (please don't joke, 'yeah his wife'--I get it). Just curious. (that is what he's saying--right? I had to check a few times to make sure.) |
|
rankel
Star Scout
Is this the alley he talks about?
Posts: 569
|
Post by rankel on Dec 6, 2004 13:20:10 GMT -5
That line sort of kills it for me. I guess you could take it some other way, but to me it sounds like, 'hey, you're a big slut but don't worry, I like you.' Umm..thanks a lot. Huh? I never saw it that way. I always thought that line was more like, Your heart was never closed for me, you just never decided that I was the only one you wanted to be with. You heart was so open that you could drive a truck right through it. Never took it to be sexual, more of emotional kinda thing. Not being on the same page in a relationship; where one person takes it more seriously than the other. Who knows, that's how I take that song... |
|
PWIG
First Class Scout
Chasing middle age, I'm pacing in my cage tonight
Posts: 101
|
Post by PWIG on Mar 30, 2005 9:04:00 GMT -5
Hey, just stumbled on this thread, and that line is definitely the worst. To make matters worse, it says, "underneath a big horse," like just mentioning unnatural relations with any horse didn't have enough oomph. Look, if you say something like that to a gal, you can be damned sure that her sexual preference is never going to be you. Oh, c'mon, this is a great reference to an urban legend! www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_109As to this thread? What lines are offensive? None. |
|
|
|
Post by Placemat on Mar 30, 2005 12:40:28 GMT -5
Maybe there's a clue in the next line: 'visit my nan with unfeasible force'.  I think it's, "Invisible man won't be seen without a visible voice." Course it's also one of the lines Paul frequently changes live. & For the record I've always heard "Cerebral" as well. |
|
Pete
Star Scout
Silver Naked Scout
Posts: 304
|
Post by Pete on Apr 1, 2005 23:08:34 GMT -5
Sanitation expert and a maintenance engineer
Garbage man, a janitor and you my dear
A real union flight attendant, my oh my
You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky
You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky
You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky
Was I the only one who wanted to give him a slap for writing this?
|
|
|
|
Post by cellarfullofnoise on Apr 1, 2005 23:13:30 GMT -5
Sanitation expert and a maintenance engineer Garbage man, a janitor and you my dear A real union flight attendant, my oh my You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky Was I the only one who wanted to give him a slap for writing this? that is supposedly one of his mysonogistic lyrics, but the news that it was directed toward his own sister kind of changed it for me. More like sibling teasing. Granted, there is no clue to that in the song itself. I sort of think the line "you're always on strike" indicates an intimacy with the person beyond being a customer. You would hear about it a lot if you were a flight attendant's brother, that your sister was on strike again. As a customer ... it wouldn't register nearly as much. |
|
angela
Beagle Scout
smoochies to you.
Posts: 1,110
|
Post by angela on Apr 2, 2005 12:09:38 GMT -5
Sanitation expert and a maintenance engineer Garbage man, a janitor and you my dear A real union flight attendant, my oh my You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky You ain't nothin' but a waitress in the sky Was I the only one who wanted to give him a slap for writing this? I would more likely give him a hug for writing that because it makes me laugh. While I know it's supposedly about his sister, I would even find it funny if it were just about a random bitchy FA he met. For the record, many flights I've been on have had male FA's and it would suit them just as well. |
|
MikeR
Star Scout
All Hopped Up On Goofballs
Posts: 850
|
Post by MikeR on Apr 2, 2005 22:05:26 GMT -5
The idea that someone could not like a great song like Waitress In The Sky because they feel offended for flight attendants or women in general is so bizarre to me, I really don't know how to respond. Same thing as when people decide they don't like an artist's music because they don't agree with their politics. It's hard for me to imagine how someone who's easily offended could be a rock & roll fan in the first place, because offending easily offended people has kinda one of the main points of the whole exercise from the very start...
|
|
Pete
Star Scout
Silver Naked Scout
Posts: 304
|
Post by Pete on Apr 2, 2005 22:30:24 GMT -5
The idea that someone could not like a great song like Waitress In The Sky because they feel offended for flight attendants or women in general is so bizarre to me, I really don't know how to respond. Same thing as when people decide they don't like an artist's music because they don't agree with their politics. It's hard for me to imagine how someone who's easily offended could be a rock & roll fan in the first place, because offending easily offended people has kinda one of the main points of the whole exercise from the very start... Me personally I don't mind the song but I can see how someone like my girlfriend would listen to this and think he's a total bastard for saying something like "You ain't nothing but I waitress in the sky". And the cheerie music doesn't help. Its like watching "THE SURREAL LIFE". You see these two women with millions and millions of dollars and there working jobs just for fun. Well I can see a lot of working class people being angry at that. Just the same way I can see working class people getting angry with the song. |
|
|
|
Post by TomT on Apr 3, 2005 6:05:46 GMT -5
Its like watching "THE SURREAL LIFE". You see these two women with millions and millions of dollars and there working jobs just for fun. Well I can see a lot of working class people being angry at that. Just the same way I can see working class people getting angry with the song. You probably meant the Simple Life. C'mon man, get your reality TV straight.  And yeah, count me in as one who's pissed about that show. There's something about people who are given a free ride only to then have them flaunt it. I'm talking about them getting mundane jobs on the show and then making a mockery of it all. Ok, back to the topic at hand... |
|
Pete
Star Scout
Silver Naked Scout
Posts: 304
|
Post by Pete on Apr 3, 2005 6:30:32 GMT -5
You probably meant the Simple Life. C'mon man, get your reality TV straight. You are right I did mean the Simple Life. |
|
|
|
Post by GoddamnJob290 on Apr 3, 2005 14:39:13 GMT -5
I love "Waitress in the Sky".
Even before I knew the song was about his sister, I never got the sense that Paul was being misogynist for this simple reason: Rude flight stewardesses do exist, so why should there be some rule against writing songs about it?
Is the song a bit mean spirited? Sure. Should anyone be offended by it? Perhaps that was the intent, but in my opinion (and let me stress the word "opinion" here), I don't think anyone who isn't a flight attendent should have any beef with it. To think of it as anti-working class or anti-woman is totally ludicrious, especially in light of the rest of Tim's subject matter. Sometimes a song about a rude flight attendent is just a song about a rude flight attendent, not sure indictment of the working class.
|
|
|
|
Post by A Regular on Apr 3, 2005 14:45:14 GMT -5
The only ones that might be offended are waitresses. Being thought of as "nothing but" could get on the nerves if that is your profession, which is a common profession for women that lack a diploma and/or college and don't have a trophy husband.
|
|
|
|
Post by kgp on Mar 5, 2010 16:25:00 GMT -5
Is anyone offened by the 'fell in love with a dyke, married a friend' interlude? I found this quote on a blog I sometimes read. It made me think of why initially I found this line offensive, though I couldn't say why: When a member of a privileged* class uses these terms, they are saying, in essence: "I own the culture, and I get to define you." It is an attempt to exercise power, whether conscious or unconscious.
(*privileged - straight (in this case), white, and usually male.) Granted, dyke here isn't really used in a pejorative sense, but it's not entirely innocent either. |
|
|
|
Post by thedroid on Jun 23, 2010 15:45:10 GMT -5
As far was Waitress goes, the Rhino liner notes say he did write it for his sister, and the "narrator" is supposed to be one of the jerks she had to deal with. He made the jerk clever, because it wouldn't be entertaining if he didn't.
Songs can be complete fictions, and most are only partly "true" or based on experience. I mean, how often was PW on a plane in 1985? I think they toured in a station wagon.
|
|
|
|
Post by bigbak on Nov 7, 2010 18:58:46 GMT -5
I've always heard it as "An invisible man who sings in a visible voice"
And the most offensive PW/'mats line I can readily think of is...
|
|
|
|
Post by brianlux on Nov 7, 2010 19:37:14 GMT -5
I've always heard it as "An invisible man who sings in a visible voice" And the most offensive PW/'mats line I can readily think of is... Oh, that line. I agree bigbak, unless it's coffee or tea (but who am I to fault anyone). |
|
I think it's, "Invisible man won't be seen without a visible voice."
