Analogy

[charlene]

I don't know if anyone thinks Gord wrote our anthem..never heard that one before..

[jj]

Originally Posted by Nightingale

Steve, I understand where you are coming from with the Stephen Foster idea but most of us don't know that much about his music.

I Dream Of Jeannie With The Light Brown Hair....okay, a very beautiful song. It's the only S. Fsoter song that comes to mind readily.

like i was saying, we canucks study more american history than our own, lol....how about: oh susannah, camptown races, my old kentucky home, etc

Wayne's www.lightfoot.ca site has a thorough section you and Steve might enjoy:

STEPHEN FOSTER

Foster of course is the famous 19th century American songwriter with songs to his credit such as "Swanee River", "Beautiful Dreamer", "Old Folks At Home", among others. Lightfoot and Foster share a romanticism and to quote Marco Adria from his book "Music Of Our Times" which has a chapter devoted to Lightfoot, "Lightfoot and Foster share a passion for taste, craftsmanship and
the animation of song and folklore."

Lightfoot claims the common bond between his songs and Foster's are the "simplicity and individual character of each melody. We all took Foster songs in school and some of that rubbed off on me. I was always a fan of Stephen Foster."

There are even some direct parallels in Lightfoot's lyrics to Foster's: Lightfoot's "banjo in my hands" in "Biscuit City" to Foster's "banjo on my knee" from "Oh Susanna". "Biscuit City" in particular has been cited as a very Fosteresque song in both lyric and melody.

Some other Lightfoot/Foster similarities include, quoting Adria, "Foster wrote for the commercial market, without abandoning his innate artistic standards, just as Lightfoot has done. John Howard's reference to Foster in this regard applies equally to Lightfoot: 'The market never soiled Foster's work - it merely gave him a voice that could be understood.' Second, for Lightfoot and Foster alike, the autobiographical component is present in the songs, although most autobiographical detail is disguised or transformed by the exigencies of the well-made song. Third, both Lightfoot and Foster share a poetic stance of romanticism. In Foster's songs this is made clear in the expressions of longing (Old Folks At Home) and sensual imagery (Jeannie With The Light Brown Hair). In Lightfoot's work, romanticism is most evident in the contemplations of the Canadian wilderness, although the wilderness Lightfoot celebrates is not one that remains untouched by civilisation. For him, the romanticism of the wilderness is complete only when man has imparted order to it, as the famous line from the "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" states: 'The green dark forest was too silent to be real.' Thus, it is not the Canadian prairies or Rockies that he praises, but the prairies and Rockies transformed by the steel rails. It is not the land that is noble, but the land sowed with the sweat and tears of the anonymous naavies. We can also see romanticism in the imaginative names for women he has created in his songs: Lavender, Cotton Jenny, Bitter Green, Sundown, Dream Street Rose, and Knotty Pine."

geo Steve already totally convinced me and jj too!


But when I think of a single song that truly embodies the American spirit:

YouTube - Simon & Garfunkel - American...

[RM]

Originally Posted by jj

We can also see romanticism in the imaginative names for women he has created in his songs: Lavender, Cotton Jenny, Bitter Green, Sundown, Dream Street Rose, and Knotty Pine."

"Sundown" is a reference to a woman ? Personally, I can't think of any guy I know who would threaten a woman for creepin' round his back stairs. In fact, I think they would encourage it.

[charlene]

I believe it possibly references Ms. Cathy Smith .. and she sings backup on it too..apparently her vocals were added By Lenny Waronker, producer, without Mr. Lightfoot's knowledge..
FROM SONGBOOK: Lightfoot says:
A song about infidelity. Lenny Waronker, a producer and former Warner Bros. Records president, and all of us at the studio realized when we laid it down that it would be the single. There's nothing like unrequited love with a touch of infidelity to captured people's imaginations. In the whole time I've been recording, I've never had the sense that a song was going to click the way it did with this one. I lived out in the country when I was writing that album, and each night there was a beautiful, big sunset to the west of the barn, and that imagery made it into the song. The cover of the album was taken at the farm, where I'm sitting on a bale of hay. The farmhouse was a very good workroom, I have fond memories of working there.

[RM]

Originally Posted by charlene

I believe it possibly references Ms. Cathy Smith ..

Yes, I think the song is about his relationship with Cathy Smith, but the title "Sundown" refers to a male who might have been pursuing her. Stormy days.

[charlene]

Originally Posted by RM

Yes, I think the song is about his relationship with Cathy Smith, but the title "Sundown" refers to a male who might have been pursuing her. Stormy days.

Is "Sundown" not the woman creeping around the backstairs?? - possibly the 'third party' in the scenario that is the reason for the infidelity in the relationship??

perhaps not wanting her to come around any longer causing trouble when he's 'winning again' ?? meaning he's got his relationship on track and then she shows up and he falls off the wagon again..and he feels like he's winning and then she comes around and he's losing again...

just a thought...

[RM]

Originally Posted by charlene;

just a thought...

Plausible.........but why would he warn: 'you'd better take care' ?

Perhaps I've been watching too much football.

[charlene]

cuz he's gonna take her up on her offer?? and then he;s gonna feel like he's winning when he's losing again..losing the relationship he's trying to keep but is being enticed by Sundown at every turn/staricase?

or in football terms he's gonna go for the goal..
lol

[RM]

Originally Posted by charlene

or in football terms he's gonna go for the goal..
lol

I can see the penalty flags flying now, with the pronouncement: "Illegal formation, number 70, offense. 5 yard penalty, still 3rd down."

[jj]

i thought creeping 'round my backstairs is a metaphor for sneakin 'round behind my back

apparently Lenny had a relationship with Smith

maybe HE is Sundown...then again, it could be about Warren Beatty, lol

"All it is, is a thought about a situation where someone is wondering what his loved one is doing at the moment. He doesn't quite know where she is. He's not ready to give up on her, either, and that's about all I got to say about that." GL 1975

[charlene]

geee - if you were talking hockey I'd have a clue..
lolol

Maybe Sundown needs to get an "Instigator' penalty...