Does anyone know the meaning of the song bitter green? very curious

its about a dog, isnt it?

that sure is one way to listen to it mende !

Bill :)

P. S. In answer to the question: I'm not sure...

Welcome to Corfid teatimeforme,

I always thought that Bitter Green was written about a waitress, working in a seaport restaurant, where she served sailors. And one sailor being her lover was lost at sea.

I heard this somewhere's, but I might be wrong as I often am.

But in the songbook, Gordon Lightfoot himself has this to say about it."Written in a noisy diesel taxicab on the way in [to London] from Heathrow. My wife adopted that as her song after our divorce. I went over to London to write the album, to jog my mind into a writting space."

Bitter Green
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(D) (Em/D) (D) (Em/D)
U(D)pon the bitter green she walked the (A) hills above the town
(F#m/A) Echo to her footsteps as (Em/A) soft as eider down
(F#m/A) Waiting for her master to (Em/A) kiss away her tears
Waiting through the (A) years

Bitter (D) Green they (D/F#) called her
(G) Walking in the (A) sun
(G) Loving every(A)one that she (D) met
Bitter Green they (D/F#) called her
(G) Waiting in the (A) sun
(G) Waiting for some(A)one to take her (D) home

Some say he was a sailor who died away at sea
Some say he was a prisoner who never was set free
Lost upon the ocean he died there in the mist
Dreaming of her kiss

Bitter Green they called her
Walking in the sun
Loving everyone that she met
Bitter Green they called her
Waiting in the sun
Waiting for someone to take her hand

(A) (G) (F) (C) (G) (A)

But now the bitter green is gone, the hills have turned to rust
There comes a weary stranger, his tears fall in the dust
Kneeling by the churchyard in the autumn mist
Dreaming of a kiss

Bitter Green they called her
Walking in the sun
Loving everyone that she met
Bitter Green they called her
Waiting in the sun
Waiting for someone to take her home


-------------------------------------------------

"Waiting for her master to kiss away her tears"

When he says "master", what does he mean? Either Joveski's right, or it's another Chauvinist song.

The last time this question came up here I went to inordinate lengths to espouse my theory, based on Gord's introduction to the song at the Charlottetown festival back in 1969 as
"this one is about the heroine of Pigs Eye Minnesota" whereupon I discovered that Pigs Eye was the original name for St Pauls MN.
I have tried searching here for everthing I can think of that I used in my posting ,and also used google,all to no avail but I did find the other topic in which Jenney gave her reason for thinking that "bitter green" was a dog see her September 13 2004 posting to:-
http://www.corfid.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ul...c;f=1;t=002578
John Fowles
also worth reading as it covers the "meaning" of other gordsongs is this old
Topic: Reading His Mind at:-
http://www.corfid.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ul...c;f=1;t=000995

[ July 13, 2006, 16:52: Message edited by: johnfowles ]

Joveski, your guess is as good as anyone's !

However, even given all of John's chronicling

with impeccably reearched and documented

support of, or at least recordation of URL's :)

again we attempt to quantify the qualitative..

Just one thought though, as I do have a

metaphorical wrench I do not wish to throw in

the metaphorical works............. :

If it is in fact about a dog, a few words

don't jive in context . Would a sailor

be "dreaming of her kiss?" if she were a dog? -

blechhhh !LOL , and

"waiting for someone to take her hand" - in this

case, a preferred paw ? :) - all in good fun. :)

I have no better offering, though. I remember

that someone mentioned they thought it was a

logical "part II" of the song "Brandy" - [ wore a

chain, made of finest silver, from the North of

Spain" - by Looking glass. Meant in principle

the person who thought this; that is just sounded

like and extension of the same idea.

I,however, would not compare Looking Glass to

Gordon Lightfoot, except perhaps in the vane of

contrasting a flash-in-the-pan "one-hit-wonder".

which is the thread THAT came up in [Brandy], to

a Living Folk Legend Singer/songwriter !

the doggie mystery thread continues... ;)

- geo steve

Hmmm... I've heard that theory, too, but I didn't buy it.

This explanation was posted some time ago on alt.music.lightfoot:

I've always gotten from the song that Bittergreen was, maybe, autistic, or "half a bubble off" in some way, possibly born that way, possibly becoming that way after he left. When he finally returns, whether through curiosity, guilt or love (or a combination of all three) she has already gone to her reward, and he is genuinely remorseful about it. FWIW.

Tony Meloche

Works for me...

Geo Steve, In the one hit winders thread, I mentioned that I thought Double's "Captain Of Her Heart" was a logical follow-up to Brandy, but would never have thought of "Bitter Green" as being so - interesting thought, though.

Janice: (steve's tail between his legs) - yes, thats what I was remembering allright ! err... I now remember it WAS indeed your non-GL to non-GL song comparison, not Bittergreen I was remembering in principle. I plead temporary musical insanity. Looks like I mixed my metaphors, doesn't it.?

No need to be polite while snickering LOL; the idea of Brandy being a conceptual precursor to Bitter Green is preposterous to me, too. I was just trying to be polite to whom I thought had made the comparison.

Now that I am corrected and know it was never made, does the tre falling make any noise in the forest ?

I just got the comparison wrong by memory. Oh well. Thanks for getting me out of this bizarre comparison I got wrong. All is well once again.
Thanks ROFL
- GEO sTEVE

Is this another case of someone asking a question and then never seeing the answer ? Are you still with us teatimeforme ?

Bill :)

Auburn Annie -

Gotta ask - I don't hear that expression "half a bubble off" much outside of my profession, where instruments for mapping and surveying are set-up first quick-shot by a bull's-eye bubble, then fine-tuned to level other ways.

Have you heard it in general use ?, or am I being a little presumptuous that we use that phrase only in shop-talk ? LOL - I love that one. hehe
geo Steve

Actually that was in the quote, not my usage, but it sounds like she's a bit off balance, not quite plumb, true or straight (from the bubble in a level where if what you're measuring is exactly right, the 'bubble' is dead center.)