Chalkhills Digest Volume 1, Issue 161
Date: Monday, 20 May 1991
Chalkhills, Number 161
Monday, 20 May 1991
Today's Topics:
Re: Chalkhills #160
Re: Chalkhills #159
XTC stuff
Re: Chords
Introduction
"Pink Thing"
chords to Vanishing Girl
Re: Chalkhills #160
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: dkletter@adobe.com (SUGAR in their vitamins?) Subject: Re: Chalkhills #160 Date: Sun, 19 May 91 18:30:13 PDT Straight from left field, here's...barb@velvet.com (Barbara Petersen)! -> Hmmmmm. I dunno.... that seems unlikely to me. There are just *too* -> *many* lines in the song that make perfect sense if the subject is a -> penis, and little or no sense if the subject is a baby. To wit: was it only me (just as in the first time round we had this discussion) that could see things as a baby or a penis? -> Fathering a child isn't generally considered a disgraceful, sinful act; no, but fathering a bastard child is also considered as disgraceful and sinful as masterbation by some. -> Why the emphasis on having the baby meet women? darlin' it's a "man t'man" kind of thing...trust me. 2:) it certainly makes sense to me both ways. -> brink"-type experiences! And what, in relation to babies, would "that -> missing link thing" be? his mum? certainly alot you cite is what got me to think it could also be a man's penis. but i can also see how it could relate to the baby. hasta. --d --- "Suddenly Peter Frampton's shriveled and purple stump dropped to the floor and squirmed off into the darkness; in search of a better home..."
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Date: Sun, 19 May 91 21:39:49 PDT
From: John M. Relph <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: Re: Chalkhills #159
Nearly half a planet away, ola@robocop.hut.fi asks:
> And back to XTC: how many different versions of "Drums & Wires" exist
>on CD?
Taken from the Chalkhills XTC discography, it looks like the answer is
four different CDs, but only two different track listings (I guess
that makes three).
3. Drums and Wires
Making Plans for Nigel; Helicopter; Day In Day Out; When You're Near Me I
Have Difficulty; Ten Feet Tall; Roads Girdle the Globe; Real by Reel;
Millions; That is the Way; Outside World; Scissor Man; Complicated Game.
i. CD, Virgin UK, CDV 2129 (610 490), 1987. also includes Limelight;
Chain of Command. AAD.
k. CD, Virgin UK, CDV 2129, 1989. reissue with incorrect sleeve, does not
include Life Begins at the Hop as listed. AAD.
l. CD, Virgin UK, CDVP 2129, 1990. also includes Life Begins at the Hop.
limited edition picture disc, included with Collectors' Edition: 3
Limited Edition Picture Discs (TPAK 4).
m. CD, Geffen USA, GEFD-4034, 26 March 1991. AAD. reissue.
(i) and (k) above actually have the same track listing -- only the
sleeves differ. (l) and (m) have one more song than (i) and (k),
however, (l) is a picture CD while (m) is not. So really, there are
two different track listings (one with "Life Begins At The Hop" and
one without), but at least four different discs.
. . .
Kevin Carhart <6600kevc%ucsbuxa@hub.ucsb.edu> asks:
>..does $20 for "skeletons" and "my paint heroes" in the crown-shaped
>box sound like a good deal to you?...
No. $10 does.
. . .
John Purlia <jpurlia@dale.cts.com> wants it now:
>Could anyone please give me information about XTC music books? Ideally I'd
>like to find something like "XTC Complete" for keyboards, but would gladly
>take Skylarking or Oranges & Lemons.
As far as I know there was only one book of XTC music ever made
available, called _Eleven Different Animals_. It was published in
1982 or 1983, in the UK only, and has since gone out of print and is
now extremely hard to find. I have never seen a copy of it.
-- John
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Sun, 19 May 91 22:19:42 PDT From: John M. Relph <relph@presto.ig.com> Subject: XTC stuff In the latest issue of _Record Collector_ magazine, XTC are listed as the 61st most collectable artists (up 15 from last year's 76). Not bad, but I personally rate them as Number One. Also, the latest issue of the Kate Bush 'zine _Homeground_ contains an article all about the White Horse of Uffington, that selfsame horse which appears on the cover of _English Settlement_. In case I hadn't mentioned it, Andy and Colin are thanked in the liner notes to Peter Blegvad's 1985 album _Knights Like This_, produced by David Lord. -- John
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] From: dschmidt@athena.mit.edu Date: Mon, 20 May 91 01:36:27 -0400 Subject: Re: Chords Date: Thu, 16 May 91 14:18:01 EDT From: "WES WILSON, PKO3-2/T12, 223-4891" <wilson@psylo.enet.dec.com> Subject: Dave Stewart/Chords Also, has anyone tried figuring out "Vanishing Girl", the chords that is? I think it starts with an A maj chord and then B min, but I'm having trouble figuring it out after that! I haven't listened to the song in a while, so this is entirely off the top of my head, but it's probably pretty close (assuming the song is in A): Verse: A Dm A Dm Chorus: F#m E F#m E F#m E F#m G D A G D Esus E Bridge: A A/G D/F# Dm/F A/E Dm/F A (plus a little thing, maybe Dm/F E A?) Hope this helps. - Dan
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Subject: Introduction Date: Mon, 20 May 91 11:29:28 -0400 From: caleman@rpi.edu Hiya everyone, I'm Xian, and I just joined the list. I've been listening to XTC (and Dukes of Stratosphere) for about three years now. I've only found that I like Skylarking (since I really like Rundgren), Black Sea, and English Settlement (I've just heard that). I find that I like Dukes' collected "Chips from the Chocolate Fireball". I didn't really like Big Express, though, sorry :) What are some other good CDs? And dontcha wish you didn't have to wait for the imports. Christ, sigh. ----------- Christian "Xian" Ratliff INTERNET caleman@rpi.edu BITNET caleman@RPITSMTS "And I turned around and fourty thousand headmen bit the dirt; firing twenty shotguns each, and man it really hurt..." -Traffic (what constitution :) )
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Date: Mon, 20 May 91 09:39:43 CDT
From: oconnor!jtl@oddjob.uchicago.edu (Joe Lynn)
Subject: "Pink Thing"
Given Mr. Partridge's tendency to use double-meanings in
his lyrics, I am shocked that there would actually be
a *debate* as to whether "Pink Thing" is about Andy's child
or his own genitalia.
Just as "Another Satellite" could be about planets or extramarital
affairs ("Why on earth do you revolve around me / aren't you aware
of the gravity?") "Pink Thing" is obviously a double-entendre.
barb@velvet.com (Braarbara Petersen) gave the following analyses:
"Pink Thing what would straight folks say?
That man isn't fit to enter heaven
That man is a sinner
Ever burning in disgrace"
> Fathering a child isn't generally considered a disgraceful, sinful act;
> if the song is talking about babies, this theme is pretty much coming
> from out in left field somewhere. Masturbation, on the other hand, is
> often considered a disgraceful, sinful act.
How about the earlier line: "That man isn't fit to be a father"? I think
this passage, plus the one quoted above are part of Andy's self-deprecating
humor (take a listen to the "XTC Acoustic Tour" tapes and you'll hear
what I mean).
"I want to take you out and show you to the girls
Pink Thing they're a whole new tribe
If you could only see the way the gingham swirls
Pink Thing it's a whole new vibe"
(and)
"Don't you think it's time you met some female Pink Thing?"
> Why the emphasis on having the baby meet women?
Obviously, Barbara does not know the old "baby as 'chick magnet'" ploy
many of us guys have used :-).
In "Garden of Earthly Delights", Andy is telling a newborn child about
the wonderful (and not-so-wonderful) facets of life: in "Garden",
Andy talks about "taking up with another": the "Pink Thing" lines
quoted above merely continue this theme. I'm not trying to sound
sexist here, but I think Andy is trying to say that women (or, indeed,
members of the opposite sex) are another of life's "delights."
"I want to introduce you
Take you to the brink thing
[....]
I want to introduce you
Make that missing link thing"
> Why would he want to take his child to the brink of something? Most
> people don't want their very young children having "take you to the
> brink"-type experiences! And what, in relation to babies, would "that
> missing link thing" be? Sorry, those two lines sound an awful lot like
> sex to me....
How about "I want you to experience life to the fullest?" A parent
usually wants his/her child to have the most fulfilling life possible:
this is not to say Andy wants his kid to go tooling around in his
Fisher-Price wagon picking up (literal) babes: it just means he wants
to show his child all the wonderment of life.
"So why is it I'm happy when there's tears down in your eye?"
> Most babies have two eyes. And don't generally cry from just one of
> them.
This is hair-splitting. "A tear in his/her/its eye" is a very common
literary device.
A parent finds wonder in just about everything their newborn child
does: crying, smiling, rolling over, etc. Andy is happy to see
his child is just "living."
> Given that the info in the article John quotes is far from first-hand,
> I'm still not prepared to believe the "baby first" theory.
The recurring theme of _Oranges and Lemons_ is the
"child" metaphor: "Garden of Earthly Delights", "Mayor of Simpleton",
"Hold Me My Daddy", "Pink Thing", and "Chalkhills and Children" all
evoke this.
"Pink Thing" is about both topics. Maybe Andy didn't cover
all his tracks, but I think the double-entendre is obvious.
We don't have to believe the "baby first" theory, but we can
certainly give in to the "baby also" theory.
Joe Lynn
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Date: Mon, 20 May 91 9:46:14 PDT
From: John M. Relph <relph@presto.ig.com>
Subject: chords to Vanishing Girl
"WES WILSON, PKO3-2/T12, 223-4891" <wilson@psylo.enet.dec.com> says:
>Also, has anyone tried figuring out "Vanishing Girl", the chords
>that is?
>
>I think it starts with an A maj chord and then B min, but I'm having
>trouble figuring it out after that!
(verse)
A F7+13
Someone's knocking in the Distance
But I'm deaf and blind
She's not expected home this evening
So I leave the world behind
(chorus)
F#m
for the Vanishing Girl
E6 F#m
The Vanishing Girl
E6 F#m
Yes she'd give you a twirl
E6 F#m
But she vanishes from my world
G D
So burn my letters and you'd better leave
A
Just one pint a day
G
The whole street's talking about my
D A+11 E
White shirts looking so grey
(verse)
People gossip on the doorstep
Think they know the score
She's giving him the runaround
The man from number four
(chorus)
Has a Vanishing Girl
a Vanishing Girl
Yes she'd give you a twirl
But she vanishes from my world
Yes the paint is peeling and my
Garden is overgrown
I got no enthusiasm to even answer the phone
A A7 D
When she's here it makes up for the time she's
F7+13
not and it's all forgotten
A F7+13 A F7+13 A
But when she goes I'm putting on the pose
(chorus)
For the Vanishing Girl
(end on) A6
Unfortunately my music theory is not very good. On guitar I'm playing
a barred A (5th fret), F7+13 (F7 1st fret, +13 2nd string 3rd fret), E6
(open, +6 2nd string 2nd fret), barred A11 (A 5th fret, +11 3rd string
7th fret). The F#m might be an F#m7 but it sounds fine plain.
-- John
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] Date: Mon, 20 May 91 14:38:00 PDT From: John M. Relph <relph@presto.ig.com> Subject: Re: Chalkhills #160 Speaking for us all, lyle@whidbey.stanford.edu speeches: >I think it's just OK. And I happen to speak for a large constituency. >We all think it's just OK. Hmm, tyranny of the majority, I suppose. Well, Jon, I guess it's you and me against the heathens. . . . Barbara Petersen <barb@velvet.com> writes: >> Hence, it was first >> written with a baby in mind, but the author doesn't rule out the penis >> interpretation either. > >Hmmmmm. I dunno.... that seems unlikely to me. > "I want to take you out and show you to the girls > Pink Thing they're a whole new tribe > If you could only see the way the gingham swirls > Pink Thing it's a whole new vibe" > >Why the emphasis on having the baby meet women? If you suppose that the baby is a boy, then the father could be telling his new son that he can't wait for the day when the boy is old enough to enjoy the pleasure of women, just as the father did in order to create the son in the first place. But personally, I agree that it really is about his penis. . . . "WES WILSON, PKO3-2/T12, 223-4891" <wilson@psylo.enet.dec.com> reviews _1967: Through the Looking Glass: >The first song on this CD is "Strawberry Fields" by Colin's Hermits. ... > It's good to hear this, but...the rest of the CD >is a mixed bag. They're all covers, but some of the covers are >dogs I pretty much agree with this review. Some good, some very bad. So far I like _1966: TTLG_ better. -- John
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] For the latest update to the list of music-oriented mailing lists, please drop us a line. For all administrative issues, such as change of address, withdrawal from the list, fan club addresses, discography requests (last update 12 May), back issues, etc., send a message to the following address: <chalkhills-request@chalkhills.org> All views expressed in Chalkhills are those of the individual contributors only. Penis! Baby! Penis! Baby!
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