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old hand
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'tis the anniversary. RIP Ritchie, Buddy and BB. Waddya reckon - should Don MacLean be afforded the highest wordie status for his song's lyrics? Or was it just a ramble loosely cobbled together in an overpowering fit of self indulgence? http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_398b.html for them that's interested. stales
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Carpal Tunnel
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an aside; on another page we find this subhead:
Fighting Ignorance Since 1973
(It's taking longer than we thought)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Neat link, stales, in that includes words from the man himself (these come after he indicates he has not and will not give answers): songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence. --Don McLean, Castine, Maine
Now, I happen to really like this song, and Vincent too (hi, lusy!) which in these two cases mean I also like and have some respect for Don McLean. So I will say that possibly some of his terms are actual references; but I agree with Mr. Adams that the most likely truth for some of them is that they rhyme.
For many other songwriters, and I have to say for artists (painters) too, my personal opinion is that quite often there isn't any "deep" [significant look e] meaning. They just put a bunch of words down that sound good together, because they sound good together. Period. Speaking of periods--I agree with the character Charlene from the old show Designing Women, when she was talking about how supposedly-sophisticated art critics come up with hidden meanings in a painting that consists of a big red dot. She says, "Come on--it's just a big ol' red dot!"
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tsuwm, I couldn't find your page, but I did find this: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_065.htmlI thought we had discussed this topic before, but a search on pompatus gave no results, and I didn't remember the explanation given in this link, anyway.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Or, as the English professor said to Isaac Asimov, "Just because you wrote it what makes you think you have any idea what it's about?"
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Carpal Tunnel
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which leads us directly to the "deconstructionists".
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member
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Bad news on the doorSTEP
I couldn't take one more STEP
Er, genius?
Sorry, that couplet always bugged the heck out of me!
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I know what you mean. But digging a bit deeper, although the word appears and sounds the same, the referent is different: in one case it's a physical construction
12. a. A flat-topped structure, normally made of stone or wood and some six or seven inches high, used, singly or as one of a series, to facilitate a person's movement from one level to another
and in the other it's a human pace:
1. a. An act of bodily motion consisting in raising the foot from the ground and bringing it down again in a fresh position; usually, an act of this kind as constituting by repetition the progressive motion... (OED2)
It could also suggest a dance step, in the context of the music dying.
In addition there is also the internal rhyme of door/more... which even Jackie would prolly make rhyme!! eg
but hey, if it doesn't work for you, there are plenty of songs to go round :)
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> there are plenty of songs to go round :)
Really? I thought the song remains the same.
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I thunk he were referring to the odd, hiccuppy sort of rhythm:
on the DOOR step
take one more STEP
is how it should go, but you get that
take one MORE step
plus the more is jammed up against the step a little too hard. They do it to fit the rhythm of doorstep, but.
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