Did U Ever Have To 'Splain

[IKnowALittle]

Over the years, these r some of the songs I've had to explain to folks.
Just a small sampling. Mostly blues, but lots of others in every genre.

Spoonful
Back Door Man
CandyMan

 

[11top]

Could someone explain “White Room” to me or is it simply explained by a single word?.............”drugs?”


In a white room with black curtains, near the stations
Black roof country, no gold pavements, tired starlings
Silver horses, run down moonbeams in your dark eyes
Dawn light smiles on your leaving, my contentment

I'll wait in this place where the sun never shines
Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves

You said no strings could secure you at the station
Platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows
I walked into such a sad time at the station
When I walked out, felt my own need just beginning
I'll sleep in this place where the sun never shines
Wait in the dark where the shadows run from themselves

At the party she was kindness in the hard crowd
Consolation from the old wound now forgotten
Yellow tiggers crouched in jungles in her dark eyes
She's just dressing goodbye windows, tired starlings

I'll wait in the queue when the trains come back
Wait here with you where the shadows run from themselves

 

[Tosca]

Could someone explain “White Room” to me or is it simply explained by a single word?.............”drugs?”

Actually...the opposite. The White Room was where the author was living when he gave up drugs, while getting over a relationship.

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1371

 

[László]

The lyrics to “White Room” are both evocative and patently descriptive. It’s clearly about being depressed after a relationship ends and you’ve said goodbye.

Instead of a narrative, there are snapshots of the scenes as poetic images, and ideas rendered in allegory or shorthand for larger concepts.

No gold pavements, for example, merely references the thought that the streets arent “paved with gold” as in some utopian/mythical ideal, similar to the ideal of a perfect relationship. The reference to the train leaving the station is obviously about the other party leaving the relationship, it’s allegorical.

The white room with black curtains is depression, I mean, it’s all black and white, no color, and what could be more depressing decor than blackout curtains?

So after the breakup, he runs into her at a party. She’s aloof, but friendly.

It ends on a hopeful note that the lyricist will wait in line until he gets another shot, either at the woman, or at love (the queue).

There’s nothing at all mysterious about this lyric. It’s all right there on the surface. You probably should have stayed awake in English Lit 101.

You’re welcome. Buy me a beer as a token of your appreciation next time I see you.

 

[gush]

Could someone explain “White Room” to me or is it simply explained by a single word?.............”drugs?”


In a white room with black curtains, near the stations
Black roof country, no gold pavements, tired starlings
Silver horses, run down moonbeams in your dark eyes
Dawn light smiles on your leaving, my contentment

I'll wait in this place where the sun never shines
Wait in this place where the shadows run from themselves

You said no strings could secure you at the station
Platform ticket, restless diesels, goodbye windows
I walked into such a sad time at the station
When I walked out, felt my own need just beginning
I'll sleep in this place where the sun never shines
Wait in the dark where the shadows run from themselves

At the party she was kindness in the hard crowd
Consolation from the old wound now forgotten
Yellow tiggers crouched in jungles in her dark eyes
She's just dressing goodbye windows, tired starlings

I'll wait in the queue when the trains come back
Wait here with you where the shadows run from themselves

Kickass song. I used to sing this in one of my bands

 

[gush]

The lyrics to “White Room” are both evocative and patently descriptive. It’s clearly about being depressed after a relationship ends and you’ve said goodbye.

Instead of a narrative, there are snapshots of the scenes as poetic images, and ideas rendered in allegory or shorthand for larger concepts.

No gold pavements, for example, merely references the thought that the streets arent “paved with gold” as in some utopian/mythical ideal, similar to the ideal of a perfect relationship. The reference to the train leaving the station is obviously about the other party leaving the relationship, it’s allegorical.

The white room with black curtains is depression, I mean, it’s all black and white, no color, and what could be more depressing decor than blackout curtains?

So after the breakup, he runs into her at a party. She’s aloof, but friendly.

It ends on a hopeful note that the lyricist will wait in line until he gets another shot, either at the woman, or at love (the queue).

There’s nothing at all mysterious about this lyric. It’s all right there on the surface. You probably should have stayed awake in English Lit 101.

You’re welcome. Buy me a beer as a token of your appreciation next time I see you.

Impressive! I wonder what I missud sleeping in math ,science and history???

 

[C&M Music - Lafayette]

Yes, time and time again telling folks, "The wind cried Mary" is not about Hendrix's girlfriend. First Hendrix did not really discuss his songs meanings to much, so I guess ultimately we really wont ever know for sure. Secondly, and likely more important, as much as Hendrix's personality is not in line with all the typical rock bullsh@# agenda as people think, he was very much a good american and loved and respected his time in the service. He was an avid reader of the bible. Hence the story of Mary and Martha and the song. Then it all makes sense! As far as the girlfriend, he was a playa! She was'nt all that to him. That is why he did'nt fuss when she stormed out on him. He did'nt really care. He went to the studio and happened to record the song. That is all that song and her have in common besides the name Mary. PEACE!

 

[flux]

Yes, I've had to 'splain.

By the same token, however, it took me years to finally realize that "going riding on the freeway of love in my pink Cadillac" wasn't a reference to General Motors or driving enthusiasm.

 

[BMiller]

I dunno. In "White Room" I think that he broke up with her, went through a typical depression, and then ran into her again and was happy to be rid of her. Of course "her" could be any addictive substance or being.

Back many years ago, but long after the song was released, I dated a preppy girl who only dated me to piss off her dad. I was a long haired greaser type and he was a Federal Assistant District Attorney. She was a nasty piece of work just like her mom. I dig the song because I correlate with it......which probably explains my translation of the lyrics. I went through all of the stages....and was happy with the goodbye windows!

Funny thing, her dad and I got along great after we bonded over........music. He was/is a guitar player so we had great talks. Little preppy girl was destroyed that her plan backfired....so I got dumped of course. She hated it when I would show up at her house for jam sessions with her dad and his buddies!

"At the party she was kindness in the hard crowd
Consolation from the old wound now forgotten
Yellow tiggers crouched in jungles in her dark eyes
She's just dressing goodbye windows, tired starlings"

Boom!

 

[JustRob]

Just watched the Classic Albums show for Disraeli Gears. Always wondered about the album title'e reference to Benjamin Disraeli. Didn't get the answer but this thread reminded me to check Wiki.

Nothing like I expected.

Drummer Ginger Baker recalled how the album's title was based on a malapropism which alluded to 19th-century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli:

You know how the title came about – Disraeli Gears – yeah? We had this Austin Westminster, and Mick Turner was one of the roadies who'd been with me a long time, and he was driving along and Eric [Clapton] was talking about getting a racing bicycle. Mick, driving, went 'Oh yeah – Disraeli gears!' meaning derailleur gears...We all just fell over...We said that's got to be the album title.[10]

 

[flux]

So immediately after I'd read the posts about White Room, it started playing on TV during a stoppage in the Wings/Blues game.

 

[11top]

The reference to the train leaving the station is obviously about the other party leaving the relationship, it’s allegorical.

The white room with black curtains is depression, I mean, it’s all black and white, no color, and what could be more depressing decor than blackout curtains?

So after the breakup, he runs into her at a party. She’s aloof, but friendly.

It ends on a hopeful note that the lyricist will wait in line until he gets another shot, either at the woman, or at love (the queue).

There’s nothing at all mysterious about this lyric. It’s all right there on the surface. You probably should have stayed awake in English Lit 101.

You’re welcome. Buy me a beer as a token of your appreciation next time I see you.

As an English major, I guess I was too busy studying grammar. I did learn when to use a semi-colon or a period.

 

[László]

As an English major, I guess I was too busy studying grammar. I did learn when to use a semi-colon or a period.

I knew I shouldn’t have skipped that class. In my defense, I got stoned the night before to learn the chords to White Room, and overslept.

Did I punctuate those sentences correctly?

 

[Deleted member 5962]

Actually...the opposite. The White Room was where the author was living when he gave up drugs, while getting over a relationship.

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1371

So I never was a huge fan of that song (liked it, didn't love it) so I never bothered to try to find out what the lyrics actually meant. I assumed they were just hippie LSD lyrics or something.

Ha... age old mysteries, solved at the PRS forum.

 

[11top]

I knew I shouldn’t have skipped that class. In my defense, I got stoned the night before to learn the chords to White Room, and overslept.

Did I punctuate those sentences correctly?

We will have to get together and play it some day. My band has covered it for years, and I really like singing it; even if I did throw in the occasional “WTF?”. I did find your interpretation interesting.

 

[walrus]

It's like "Badge", where the title seems to make no sense. According to George Harrison, the song's co-writer:

"I helped Eric write "Badge" you know. Each of them had to come up with a song for that Goodbye Cream album and Eric didn't have his written. We were working across from each other and I was writing the lyrics down and we came to the middle part so I wrote 'Bridge.' Eric read it upside down and cracked up laughing – 'What's BADGE?' he said. After that, Ringo Starr walked in drunk and gave us that line about the swans living in the park."

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Impressive! I wonder what I missud sleeping in math ,science and history???

“What a wonderful world this would be! Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, dah, history.....”

 

[sergiodeblanc]

I do some ‘splainin to my wife now that we listen to a bunch of kids songs and nursery rhymes.

If I absolutely can’t stand it, I usually make up a story about how the song has a racist history or is about drugs.

80% of the time I’m proven right regardless of if I actually knew it when she googles that sh!t.

 

[Wakester]

I had to 'splain the concept behind Styx's Kilroy was Here album to my wife, and how it is an allegory to George Orwell's 1984. That made for a long tense car ride.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

I had to 'splain the concept behind Styx's Kilroy was Here album to my wife, and how it is an allegory to George Orwell's 1984. That made for a long tense car ride.

I hope you did it in a Richard Burton voice