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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | DanAbnrml9@aol.com |
| Subject | Read into the FOW |
| Date | Wed, 16 Jul 2003 21:08:32 EDT |
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In a message dated 7/16/03 5:01:10 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
audities-owner@smoe.org writes:
> I don't know if it changes much about the interpretation of the song, but
> isn't Fire Island considered a gay resort? Hmmm.....
Well, maybe, but from what I understand Fire Island is split--half of the
island is a gay resort, half is a big resort destination in general. So it's not
like only gay people go.
FWIW, my take of this song is a bit more basic--not that the parents are
leaving a "void" per se (I admittedly do tend to take the most cynical views of
FOW songs, so that one is out), but rather that the sad, slow, and beautiful
arrangement made the song sound more substantial. It almost sounds as if it was
written to sound more like "Laser Show" or "Lost in Space", but that the band
realized it was funnier if it was played with this aching, slow melody. And it
is, I think.
Regarding the meaning of "All Kinds of Time", that's the one that's really
baffled me. I actually asked Chris about it when I did my interview with him for
the most recent Amplifier (which most of us/you got in the mail yesterday)
and he admitted he didn't even know--he said it was one of Adam's songs and
while he thought it had a really pretty melody, he had no idea what Adam was
getting at. I actually see both AKOT and "Peace and Love" as moderate apologies to
groups that FOW have traditionally poked fun at. They basically take the
stereotypes we're used to--the high school jock who has unrealistically pinned his
hopes on a career in sports and goofball hippies--and just present them as
they are, sans the judgments we were used to on "Utopia Parkway". That means we
can still laugh at them, we can still say (as someone else mentioned) that the
guy in "All Kinds of Time" was destined to become the guy in "Bright Future in
Sales", but by the flip of the coin we can recognize that, to that
character--and the real life people he represents--that moment truly is important, even
if it seems silly to some of us. Ditto hippies in general on "Peace and Love",
which is a much more cutesy hippie commentary than the last album's
too-scathing "Go, Hippie".
Just my opinion, though. --J
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