Can I get opinions (or maybe even the real answer:)) on something? I love "Bitter Green," but am having a bit of trouble with the story. What does Gordon mean by "loving everyone that she met?" On the surface, it sounds merely like she is a nice, friendly girl. But when you put it in context...she's waiting for her lover to come back and she's not sure he will, it seems a bit odd. I would have thought she'd be anxious, lonely, and sad, which seems at odds with loving everyone that she met.

I also think it was a bit strange that she's "waiting for her master." You usually don't hear people call their lovers "master" unless there is some strange S&M or slave-type thing going on.

Anyway, please let me know what you think.

Ken

LOL!! That is the age old question here. If you search through the archives we have discussed this many times. I personally still hold to the idea that Bitter Green is a dog, if only because it is an endearing idea. Besides Gord loves dogs.

AAAGGGHH! Thak may ruin the song for me! It is so heart-wrenching when sung about a girl, which is why I love it. But if it is about a dog........uggh, not so much. Unfortunately, that actually would answer both of my questions though. Dang. Forget I asked:).

Ken

http://www.corfid.com/ubb/ultimatebb...=002578#000000

try this one.....but read the whole thread, Ken.

Thanks! Great thread. And I was wondering about a dog who would wait for her master to kiss away her tears;).

Ken

I'm with you folks on this thread - I believe the song is about a dog - which makes the song all the more wistful to me...

OK...Here's a couple of thoughts to consider:

1. The word "master" is often used in to describe the pilot or captain of a boat. Dictionary.com says, "a person who commands a merchant ship; captain." The song suggests that the man (dog)who went missing could have been lost at sea or taken prisoner. I don't know about you, but it would make sense that the word "master" relates to the man's occupation. Masters of merchant ships would often be lost at sea or taken prisoner by pirates.

2. If you accept #1, then the last verse makes sense too. The weary stranger is the "master" returning from his extended sea voyage (due to shipwreck or piracy). He kneels in the church yard at "Bitter Green's" grave and dreams of her kiss. It's a tragedy. He finally returns, but now she is gone.

3.One other thought in respose to the question of "loving everyone." I've always seen that as a reckless, careless love. Perhaps a physical love, but not a true emotional bonding. Her true love is gone. She tries to fill the void, but the relationships are empty and meaningless. She's waiting for her "master" to return.

This is how I've always thougth about this song. Does this make sense to you folks? To me, while it's a cute idea to think that the song is about a dog, the above interpretation fits more with Gord's style.

MM

But But But as I have previuously posted here somewhere it is a fact that when Gord sang this greart song at the 1969 Charlottetown,PEI Summer Festival (a concert recorded and broadcast on CBC-FM radio on October 5th 1969 he carefully and clearly introduced the song as follows
"we're gonna do a song about the heroine of Pig's Eye,... Minnesota"
No amount of searching reveals who this person was and when asked Gord was vague but it is another fact that:-
"The original name of the settlement that became St. Paul was Pig's Eye. Named for the French-Canadian whiskey trader,
Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant, who had led squatters to the settlement"
It was renamed St Pauls as being a more dignified name for what was to become the state capital
and "Pig's eye Landing was founded by a notorious, though popular, retired fur trapper whose talents had been turned to moonshining, Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant."
Another fact is that the famous American explorers Lewis and Clark were "accompanied by a crew of men, and later, the Shoshone Indian guide and interpreter Sacajawea (also spelled Sacagawea)"
and that 'most historians agree that Sacagawea married a French-Canadian fur trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau"
so just possibly Gord had read about both those facts on his 1968 song writing trip to England stories and that they became fused together in his mind when he wrote Bitter Green
John
P.S, found on my hard drive while searching for notes
http://www.pigdog.org/skunkschool.html
"Skunk School -- Learn Why Not To Keep Skunks As Pets"
which points out
"Skunks have a ground speed of nearly 85 miles per hour, close to that of the cheetah."
and
"The only recourse a skunk owner has is to build skunk traps baited with chocolate. Chocolate is an irresistible substance to skunks, and it is also a a deadly poison to them."
that fact enabled me to kill a pair of annoying and breeding skunks in our yard a while ago
ewwwww!!

Well, whether Gord meant for it to be about a dog or not, the beauty of Gord songs is that they can mean whatever you want them to. If you'd like to imagine it's about a woman, that's fine. :cool: If you'd like to imagine it's about a dog, that's fine. :) If you'd like to imagine it's about 1952, that's fine. :confused:

OK, it can't be a dog. Dogs don't cry...at least not with tears the way we do. And a dog would not "wait for her master to KISS away her tears" even if she could cry. Also, a sailor might dream of his dog while dying, but he isn't likely to dream of her kiss. Then there is the curchyard grave, in which a dog would not be buried. The more I think on it, the sillier the notion becomes.

Ken

My granddog cries. Also in that other thread there was postings about Bobby and that there are dog graves in the Church yard. I stick with the dog, because I like it. Thanks Douglas.

I just take the song as a nice little ballad,I don't want to spoil it for myself by over-analyzing it. :rolleyes:

Re: "Loving Everyone That She Met?"
 

fFurther research suggests that Gord's "heroine" might well have been a teacher from Vermont named Harriet Bishop
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Bishop
who having "moved to Saint Paul,Minnesota in 1847. started the first public school in the Minnesota Territory, the first Sunday school in the territory, was a founding member of temperance, suffrage and civic organizations, played a central role in establishing the First Baptist Church of St Paul, and was an active promoter of her adopted state"
in related note
Minnesota in Sioux actually means "cloudy water,"
which nicely contrasts with the UK town where I was born many years ago
Sherborne in Dorset
from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherborne
"The town was named scir burne by the Saxon inhabitants, a name meaning "clear stream" (see: Bourne (placename) and is referred to as such in the Domesday book."
(not to be confused with Sherborn up near Boston
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherborn,_Massachusetts)
Amazingly I also discovered that
Clear Lake is a city in Sherburne County, Minnesota!
Here endeth today's history/geography lesson boys and girls
OK Wikipedia may not always be accurate but comprises so many unexpectedly useful pages