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wHAT DOES LEVON ACTUALLY MEAN

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Meat Pie

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Aug 10, 1998, 3:00:00 AM8/10/98
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I love Levon but I don't have a full understanding of the lyrics. Can
anyone enlighten me?
--
Jane Rogan
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Chandler: I win. You suck. I rule all. Mini-wave in celebration of me.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

RegDwight

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Aug 10, 1998, 3:00:00 AM8/10/98
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Well, I'll finally give it away...
 
Levon is, as Elton said, "a 3-minute movie." In it, we learn that...
  1. 'Levon' is a war veteran (Presumably a comment on Vietnam), and damn proud.
  2. He call his child Jesus, because he likes the name.
  3. And he sends him to the finest school in town.
  4. Levon is supposedly rich from the profits from his balloons, and he spends time in a garage counting his moolah. (Sounds like child labor to me! ;-)
  5. He was born in a poor family to an 'unimportant' person on a Christmas day, when the NY Times said 'God Is Dead."; this is a reference to a 70's issue of TIME which asked 'Is God Dead?' on the cover, and understandably stirred up some controversy.
  6. Alvin Tostig, a name picked for yet-unknown reasons, is Levon's father.
  7. He shall be Levon.
  8. He shall be a good man.
  9. The family plan, God knows why, was to name him Levon. (Hmm...Alvin begat Levon, and Levon begat Jesus...weird family!)
  10. Levon sells cartoon balloons (and, from the picture in the LP jacket, they can double as marital aids ;-) in the local town. (See also: #4)
  11. The balloon thing is apparently a family business (sounds like a Jewish family to me! ;-), and Jesus helps his dad blow them up all day, and apparently just watches them rise. (Does this make the joke in #10 even sicker? Sorry!)
  12. Jesus wants to go to Venus, either because he loved that Bananarama song, or because Venus was the goddess of Love and/or creativity. Also, for some reason, Jesus wants to leave Levon behind...maybe because he makes him blow up those damn balloons all day.
  13. Jesus apparently weighs very little, because he has thew ability to take ONE balloon and go sailing. ;-)
  14. Levon slowly dies.
Now, as for the 'Levon' part:
 
The title of 'Levon' was inspired by Levon Helm, a founding member of The Band, who were Bob Dylan's backing band...it is believed that Elton and/or Bernie were good friends with one or more members of The Band.
 
Well, hope that helped!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-RegDwight (dj...@concentric.net)
 
"They just chalked it up in history, but they kept their uniforms
They put their medals on their sideboards, and they went back to their farms.
For it was just a mere reminder that they stood beside the base
That God had saved the chosen few, and the devil took the rest."
 
                                                                               -'The Retreat,' EJ/BT '80
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meat Pie wrote in message <6qn2n5$kr4$1...@mendelevium.btinternet.com>...

Meat Pie

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Aug 10, 1998, 3:00:00 AM8/10/98
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Thanks a lot, that was great. I think that song underlines the greatness of
B.T. I mean who else could put a movie into a song?

--
Jane Rogan
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Chandler: I win. You suck. I rule all. Mini-wave in celebration of me.
----------------------------------------------------------------------


RegDwight wrote in message <6qn6e0$j...@journal.concentric.net>...


Well, I'll finally give it away...

Levon is, as Elton said, "a 3-minute movie." In it, we learn that...

1.. 'Levon' is a war veteran (Presumably a comment on Vietnam), and damn
proud.
2.. He call his child Jesus, because he likes the name.
3.. And he sends him to the finest school in town.
4.. Levon is supposedly rich from the profits from his balloons, and he


spends time in a garage counting his moolah. (Sounds like child labor to me!
;-)

5.. He was born in a poor family to an 'unimportant' person on a


Christmas day, when the NY Times said 'God Is Dead."; this is a reference to
a 70's issue of TIME which asked 'Is God Dead?' on the cover, and
understandably stirred up some controversy.

6.. Alvin Tostig, a name picked for yet-unknown reasons, is Levon's
father.
7.. He shall be Levon.
8.. He shall be a good man.
9.. The family plan, God knows why, was to name him Levon. (Hmm...Alvin


begat Levon, and Levon begat Jesus...weird family!)

10.. Levon sells cartoon balloons (and, from the picture in the LP


jacket, they can double as marital aids ;-) in the local town. (See also:
#4)

11.. The balloon thing is apparently a family business (sounds like a


Jewish family to me! ;-), and Jesus helps his dad blow them up all day, and
apparently just watches them rise. (Does this make the joke in #10 even
sicker? Sorry!)

12.. Jesus wants to go to Venus, either because he loved that Bananarama


song, or because Venus was the goddess of Love and/or creativity. Also, for
some reason, Jesus wants to leave Levon behind...maybe because he makes him
blow up those damn balloons all day.

13.. Jesus apparently weighs very little, because he has thew ability to


take ONE balloon and go sailing. ;-)

14.. Levon slowly dies.

Pianos4me

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Aug 10, 1998, 3:00:00 AM8/10/98
to
This is accurate for the most part, but there's a couple of holes

> 1.. 'Levon' is a war veteran (Presumably a comment on Vietnam), and =
>damn proud.

Even though we're never given a reference of what time this song is set in,
Levon is probably not a veteran from Vietnam consiidering thes song was
released in 1971 an Levon is supposed to be older.


>4.. Levon is supposedly rich from the profits from his balloons, and =


>he spends time in a garage counting his moolah. (Sounds like child labor

This is missing one of the song's biggest points. The balloon selling is a side
business, Levon is rich from another business, though we're never told what
that business is.
gladys

Meat Pie

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Aug 10, 1998, 3:00:00 AM8/10/98
to
Considering it was set in England I think it is most likely World War 2.

--
Jane Rogan
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Chandler: I win. You suck. I rule all. Mini-wave in celebration of me.
----------------------------------------------------------------------


Pianos4me wrote in message
<199808101754...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...


>This is accurate for the most part, but there's a couple of holes
>
>> 1.. 'Levon' is a war veteran (Presumably a comment on Vietnam), and =
>>damn proud.
>
>Even though we're never given a reference of what time this song is set in,
>Levon is probably not a veteran from Vietnam consiidering thes song was
>released in 1971 an Levon is supposed to be older.
>
>

>>4.. Levon is supposedly rich from the profits from his balloons, and =


>>he spends time in a garage counting his moolah. (Sounds like child labor
>

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