But then again it's nothing
You just split when day is done
Pitching lips to nowhere, hung up on the paper sun.
I always misheard this as "Hitching lifts to nowhere", which made perfectly
good sense, but "pitching lips"?
Any idea what it means, if anything?
(Full lyrics are at http://www.stevewinwood.com/lyrics/paper_sun.shtml )
I've been happily singing along to "hitching lifts for 35 years!
Lindsay
But this site you've cited looks pretty well-informed, too, and, as you say,
he's going for "hitching lifts".
I mean, "hitching lifts to nowhere" fits in perfectly with the theme of the
song, which is about the girl's dissolute lifestyle: "kicking sand from
beach to beach/ Your clothes all soaking wet" (wonderful lines!) are in a
similar vein.
Lindsay
"vaiben" <pch...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:e4051bf9.0204...@posting.google.com...
> In Traffic's "Paper Sun" (aaah, what a fine, fine song!),
> part of the lyrics go:
>
> But then again it's nothing
> You just split when day is done
> Pitching lips to nowhere, hung up on the paper sun.
>
> I always misheard this as "Hitching lifts to nowhere", which made perfectly
> good sense, but "pitching lips"?
>
> Any idea what it means, if anything?
It's a term used to describe ocean waves, as in surfing.
<<< Taliesyn >>>
As in this from a surfer site, describing a Californian surf:
"...overhead clean lines breaking hard, mainly top to bottom with lots of
pitching lips and quite a few barrels."
(http://area51.upsu.plym.ac.uk/~ric/ric/sessions/california98/)
There's even a surf music band called The Pitching Lips!
It's an odd phrase, though, isn't it?
"You just split when day is done,
Pitching lips to nowhere, hung up on the paper sun."
If "hitching lifts" is a mishearing, it's easy to see how it arose, because
it sounds natural in this context
(i.e. it's something she does as she splits) and it makes good sense.
Thanks for that!
Lindsay
----- Original Message -----
It's lips to my ears. I've listened to it several times. While
"hitching" or "pitching" is debatable, because they both sound alike;
"lips" differs quite a bit from "lifts". And "lips" is definitely heard
by my ears.
And because "Pitching Lips" is found at SteveWinwood.com, the official
source for information on Steve Winwood, then that's fine by me.
<<< Taliesyn >>>
But my first reaction was like vaiben's: it's a fairly obscure surf term,
and it sits very oddly in the context.
Hey, let's contact Steve and persuade him that "hitching lifts" is way
better than "pitching lips"! Maybe he'd change it for us!
Lindsay
"Taliesyn" wrote
> vaiben wrote:
>
> > Well for the time being I will continue to sing 'hitching lifts'.
> I can't argue with the authority of the Winwood site, and listening to it
> again in the car today it does sound like "lips".
>
> But my first reaction was like vaiben's: it's a fairly obscure surf term,
> and it sits very oddly in the context.
>
> Hey, let's contact Steve and persuade him that "hitching lifts" is way
> better than "pitching lips"! Maybe he'd change it for us!
There is an email address given at the official Steve Winwood site for
contacting Steve. Apparently Steve reads them himself.
So, if anyone's losing any sleep over hearing (or mis-hearing) pitching
lips, hitching lifts, or bitching stiffs... go for it! :-)
<<< Taliesyn >>>
"That's all there is to the cosine craze." - The Beach Boys
Bobby
"Taliesyn" wrote
> There is an email address given at the official Steve Winwood site for
> contacting Steve... go for it! :-)
So guess I was just hitching a lift to nowhere... or was I on a
pitching lip?
Guess I'll never know!