About the song...
It's an interesting take about it being about the Canadian immigration issue, although I wonder if that was the true or whole reason that it was written; sometimes it seems you get a whole lot more of information from the songs than from the man, which is OK by me.
I've always wondered about some of the wry and/or contradictory parts of the song. People have often, on this site, seen it as a sort of "philosophy of life" song; I've always seen it as kind of cynical, especially given the atmosphere of the mid-to-late '70s, the Watergate stuff, the scandals in the House of Representatives, etc. The hypocritical attitudes towards immigration would actually fit in well here, too. "Beware of strange faces and dark, dingy places/Be careful while bending the law" is hardly a moral compass, and "the song that you sing should not be too sad and be sure not to sing it too slow"--in other words, keep things upbeat no matter how you're truly feeling or what you're trying to say--doesn't seem to work as a way of life. As to immigration right now, one could certainly relate it to what's happening right now, as far as "bending the law" on both sides of the border, as I stated in my earlier post. I always half took (that is I 50% considered, not Touhy-speak for "I have taken")the song as an admonition to the legislature (the "house") for its two-faced attitudes--keep outward appearances looking on the up-and-up ("beware of the darkness, be kind to your children, remember the woman who waits"; "be calm in the face of all common disgraces and know what they're doing it for"), while looking out for your own venal interests ("decide what it is that you need; is it money, or love, or learning to live, or is it the mouth you must feed?"), and deceiving the public (not "be candid", but "be known as a man who will always be candid ON QUESTIONS THAT DO NOT RELATE"--it sounds like "be evasive about what you mean, and try to steer things elsewhere"--that's one thing GL is a master at!!).
Sorry if my political spiel overcame the talk about the song. I'll try to move it to the "Small Talk" area when I get a chance, if you like; some of the other posts should probably be moved as well.
DQ
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