(Your own) Songs that have changed meaning over time

erik · Post by **erik** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 9:39 pm

So, I'm watching Bruce Springsteen on Storytellers. Well, it's on in the room. But he's telling some story about how he used to go to trashy strip clubs and something about a love of a good woman, hell I'm not paying too close attention. But as he's playing the song, he voiceovers that sometimes, you write a song, and the longer you play it, the original meaning changes into something new; that if you sing the song for someone different, the meaning changes; that if you sing the song <em>with</em> someone new, the meaning changes.

I'm curious if anyone has had this happen with one of their own* songs, a songfight song specifically, and if they would like to share what the song used to mean to them, and what it means to them now.

*I feel it's alot easier to change one's mind about the meaning of someone <em>else's</em> song, so I'm not really interested in hearing what people think about the meaning of others' songs. I think it's much more interesting when you *know* what the meaning is (because you wrote it) and yet you still feel it means something else as time passes.

sausage boy · Post by **sausage boy** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 3:09 am

Off hand I can't pick a song, but nearly all of the Jonny Juice and the Good Time Boys meanings have changed. For instance, I know our song Stand And Salute was about faded rock stars, but I keep thinking more and more that its about diggers.

Leaf · Post by **Leaf** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 7:12 am

I know your not interested...but still, I will respond. With my own songs, I just haven't played them live enough to experience this ... although I often wonder what the meaning of any of them is in the first place! But with cover tunes, which I play aplenty, live, and for way too long probably, I have experienced a variety of intrepretations. Often motivated by my mood, the crowd, etc.

But to answer your question directly, I do find that the more cryptic things I 've written change on me... but not a songfight entry to be found in that group.

... I believe this is a true statement of Bruce's.

jack · Post by **jack** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 7:29 am

Leaf wrote:I know your not interested...but still, I will respond. With my own songs, I just haven't played them live enough to experience this ... although I often wonder what the meaning of any of them is in the first place! But with cover tunes, which I play aplenty, live, and for way too long probably, I have experienced a variety of intrepretations. Often motivated by my mood, the crowd, etc.

But to answer your question directly, I do find that the more cryptic things I 've written change on me... but not a songfight entry to be found in that group.

... I believe this is a true statement of Bruce's.

just out of curiousity leaf, do you feel as though your "third string" has taken on new meaning since you recorded it? maybe not, but i know that you recorded it with your friend joe? and there's definitely a story behind that....

personally, i can't say i've experienced what erik is talking about with a songfight tune, although other stuff i've written might be applicable.

Leaf · Post by **Leaf** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 8:48 am

AHHH!! dude, you are so right. Why didn't I think of that? Probably cause I haven't played it in a while, but excellent call.

So, third string was written first as some riffs, then the lyrics were composed by Joe Skogan and myself. We had played in bands for years, but it had been a while since we last worked together, and the lyrics came together in an hour. We wanted to have another take on the title rather than a sports reference, and it was decided that we would write about a guy who gets into trouble in a strange town, and ends up getting lynched. The angle was, that the first time they lynch him, the branch breaks, saving his life briefly. The second time, his weight snaps the rope, but the third time, the rope holds, and he hangs. The background is that he rolls into a strange town, gets drunk, hooks up with a local woman who turns out to be married, and is lyched for adultery.

Well. A month later, Joe is at a party, and this woman who has been hitting on him for months is there. Joe makes advances, but her hsuband is there... Joe was pretty wasted, and not thinking about what he was doing... and she had been a willing participant in the past. Needless to say, the husband wasn't too thrilled, and he ended up beating a defenseless and very drunk Joe up, kneeing him in the head multiple times. Perhaps that was the first string. Joe left the party, and returned by cab at 6:00 in the morning. The cabbie was the last person ever to see Joe. He disappeared that morning. No body, no evidence, nothing.

So, the song took on this prophetic tone all of a sudden. I felt like we had channelled into his future experience. Was the song a warning? Yeah, this is a flakey perspective, but put yourself in my shoes at the time of this event. It sure seemed prophetic in retrospect.

Now, when I listen to that song, or attempt to play it (my band has discussed playing it, as it was the last thing he worked on, and a friend to us all) it's tough to do, cause the subject is so close to the actual events.

On the same vein, in the world of covers, I used to have a hard time doing Santeria...it felt so cheesy, cause it seemed every band was covering that tune... but after Joe left, I find that I think of him while I sing it... and it gives the song a meaning and purpose. It's hard to do that song now and not get a little choked up, cause I wish I DID have a gun that I could pop whomever was responsible for his absence with...

It's all kinda weird.

Post by **Spud** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 8:51 am

Most of our songs, I never knew what they were about in the first place. I have since figure out that our "Top Drawer" is about time travel. Still workin' on the rest

SPUD

Dr. Phonstopple · Post by **Dr. Phonstopple** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 9:19 am

Back in the day, we used to make some tunes that really made me think of love. Love between men and women. Or that's what I thought. Until that story about Sanchez, Von Cool and the chicken coop broke. New meaning in everything since then.

j$ · Post by j$ » Wed Sep 07, 2005 9:35 am

Spud wrote:I have since figured out that our "Top Drawer" is about time travel. "

I thought it was about wishing you could go back and prepare for a situation that got out of hand in advance. Specifically wasting all your money on going out and getting blasted - which is why when the character finds the key mysteriously reappeared in the top drawer the next morning, he wishes he had put cash in there instead ... i guess that's time travel of a sort

john82 · Post by **john82** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 3:15 pm

no doubt songs you write change what they mean to you, as time moves on.
of course this is mostly because YOU change as time moves on, some people more and some less, so naturally you relate to any text, wether it's yours or not, differently.
Johnny from guitars101

Billy's Little Trip · Post by **Billy's Little Trip** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 3:41 pm

I wouldn't say that my songs ever lose their original meaning, but my original feelings have changed from how I felt at the time I wrote it.

edit: DOH, this thread is over 2 years old.

Post by **Spud** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 3:54 pm

j$ wrote:
Spud wrote:I have since figured out that our "Top Drawer" is about time travel. "
I thought it was about wishing you could go back and prepare for a situation that got out of hand in advance. Specifically wasting all your money on going out and getting blasted - which is why when the character finds the key mysteriously reappeared in the top drawer the next morning, he wishes he had put cash in there instead ... i guess that's time travel of a sort

Yeah, you got it. I think. He tries to go back and both warn himself about future events and prepare for them. But his current self wishes that he had done it differently.

jute gyte · Post by **jute gyte** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:29 pm

I can think of many Pumpkin Buzzard songs that fit the bill. It might be because we have several members writing lyrics on every song, but it can take a while for me to really process the themes sometimes.

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 7:26 pm

{long running songfight inside joke}
Lets just hope that my folks don't ever decide to adopt a girl for any reason.
{/long running songfight inside joke}

Project-D · Post by **Project-D** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:25 pm

Billy's Little Trip wrote:edit: DOH, this thread is over 2 years old.

Well of course it is, because Johnny's in it. But now you've all had 2 years to reflect on the original question, so it's good. But he really does like threads from 2005.

Reist · Post by **Reist** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:29 pm

Johnny's starting to get on my nerves. I can't figure out if he's a spammer or not.

Billy's Little Trip · Post by **Billy's Little Trip** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:44 pm

Some of the SF members sure aren't very friendly. It's not like he's shoving anything down anyones throat. He has a link in his sig, Oh my GOD.
Personally, I respect anyone trying to better him/herself. I base my opinion of a person on how he/she treats others. Thus far, I haven't seen any disrespect.

Niveous · Post by **Niveous** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:53 pm

Everyone's just trying to figure out the unusual behavior of resurrecting all these old threads. It is a bit odd.

anti-m · Post by **anti-m** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 9:05 pm

Billy's Little Trip wrote:Some of the SF members sure aren't very friendly. It's not like he's shoving anything down anyones throat. He has a link in his sig, Oh my GOD.
Personally, I respect anyone trying to better him/herself. I base my opinion of a person on how he/she treats others. Thus far, I haven't seen any disrespect.

I may not be nice, but I'm also no fool. (Well, perhaps that's debatable.)

Johnny, if you have an interest in the boards beyond selling us whatever is in that link in your sig, howsabout participating in some of the threads that haven't been dead for over 2 years? It just looks awfully spammy.

Edit: I just did a little independent research, and found our man Johnny seems to have a similar presence in a number of message boards.

I know it's a grey area -- but my sources say spam. BANZ0R!

Billy's Little Trip · Post by **Billy's Little Trip** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 9:33 pm

Yeah, you two are right. It is a bit odd that he is resurrecting really old threads. But I just wrote it off as a noob to the computer world. But if he owns that site in his sig, he's no noob.

john82 · Post by **john82** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:22 am

Hi,

I didn't realize replying to old threads is such an harassment to the people on this forum.
So I understand it is and i'll stop doing it. no problem.
There's no need though to call me a spammer, because i'm not.
i don't see anything terrible about having a link to a site on my signature.
half of forum users on th web have signatures with links in them.
and expressions such as "fuck off" are very uncalled for.

have a nice day

j$ · Post by j$ » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:37 am

Please continue commenting whenever you want john82, we are just a sensitive, edgy lot, mainly due to endles spammers / nutjobs, and we can't always see the wood for the trees, so to speak. Hope we haven't put you off.

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:23 am

uh, guys...thats not a link in a signature...

THATS whats making the guy all 'spammy' <strike>(+ there was a thread he might have posted the wrong URL in his post... and it was DEFINITELY SPAMTASTIC linkage)</strike> EDIT: That turns out that SOBER changed his link while also pointing out that it's not a signature by using the quote feature.

I noticed that he 'contributes' as well as displaying the link somewhere in another thread. Its just bad form or bad etiquette. Jonh82, all good bro, but put it in your ACTUAL signature so we don't help you promote your site every time we want to quote you. Just a helpful suggestion that illustrates where everybody is coming from.

Now <a href="http://www.breadboxstudios.net" target="resource window">CLICK HERE</a>