Tractor Rape Chain...what is that, some kind of torture device? As I discovered, there is something called rapeseed. What an awful name, it should be removed from the seed family. I don't care if it is the third largest source of vegetable oil in the world. In farming, the tractors are plowing the fields, dragging chains that leave lines as they move along. Gotta get that rapeseed planted.
So what is Robert Pollard trying to tell us? Well, folks, sounds like we got ourselves a metaphor, a metaphor, a metaphor....Is the song about a failing relationship? Parallel lines on a slow decline...two people going along on tracks that never meet. The trust is gone, the environment in unstable. Since the name of the group is Guided By Voices, perhaps Pollard did see a ghost in my room that told him to write these lyrics.
It's probably my favorite song by these guys. I can usually do without the acoustic guitar at the beginning, but once the whole ensemble starts up at 0:18, I am loving it. Wall of guitar, Pollard's Dayton, Ohio, vocals all husky and weathered, the electricity a buzz of a thousands bees?
I've seen this band exactly once, and it was pretty frickin stunning...on stage beer guzzling, lots of smoking, Pollard more energetic as the show went on in spite of the alcohol intake. The whole band was great.
No comments:
Post a Comment