What is Livin' Thing About?
Randy Yates
I've got a, er, rather embarassing question. Is "Living Thing"
about what I think it's about? "Rollin' and ridin' and slippin'
and slidin'"... I.e., is it about doing the dirty deed?
--
% Randy Yates % "Midnight, on the water...
%% Sonar Signal Processing % I saw... the ocean's daughter."
%%% Florida Atlantic University % 'Can't Get It Out Of My Head'
%%%% <ya...@shadow.net> % *El Dorado*, Electric Light Orchestra
http://www.shadow.net/~yates <cya...@oe.fau.edu>
Dundagel
You've been watching too much news this week!!! :)
Mark Dodsworth
So that's why they call you Randy.....Only joking.....
I used to think the same, a song about sex and losing viginty....'it's a
terrible think to lose....'
But I've got a interview with Jeff when he said people read all kinds of
things in to his songs.
He was asked if Livin' Thing was a song about a 'Whale' and someone even
said it was a song about Abortion....But Jeff said it was a song about
nothing - '....the words just rhymed, that all.'
Mark
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/mark.dodsworth/whoistedblight.html
ICQ 1035147 - Netmeet User
MURKsoyg
"Livin Thing" is about 4 minutes long.
"Stomping on your granny, 'til she's good and dead,
Then I take her diaper, and wear it on my head"- anonymous
m...@meeself.i
Mark Dodsworth wrote:
> But I've got a interview with Jeff when he said people read all kinds of
> things in to his songs.
> He was asked if Livin' Thing was a song about a 'Whale' and someone even
> said it was a song about Abortion....But Jeff said it was a song about
> nothing - '....the words just rhymed, that all.'
>
> Mark
I've heard his say such about this song, and others too; I think it's
just an attempt at self-effacement. Sort of a aw-shucks, I dunno whut
the songs is about, I just writes em... I figure he'd rather let
people draw their own interpretations, which is more important than what
he had in mind anyway, really. I just can't believe the song is about
'nothing.'
My own take, derived mainly from the chorus, is that the 'lining thing'
is naivete, innocence, and wide-eyed illusions that everybody loves you
back.
But I dunno.
regards,
hammer
wesley millard
Jeff Lynne, after winning the Grammy award , shoving some "Flaming Pie"
down his former bandmates throat, and reconciling with Roy Wood and Don
"The Godfather" Arden, asked me to reply as thus.... I always thought
"Steppin Out' was written about a vasectomy. And speaking of awards,
Mrs. Sandi Kapelson Lynne should get a rock n" roll medal of valor for
standing by her man and for understanding the importanceof her husband's
work, and him being away for weeks and months at a time. The same award
also goes to Mrs. Valerie Bevan and Mrs. Sheila Tandy.
SMURPHY5
>The same award
>also goes to Mrs. Valerie Bevan and Mrs. Sheila Tandy.
Bev and Valerie are divorced and Sheila is Richard's 2nd wife.
jk
SMURPHY5 wrote in message <19980130221...@ladder02.news.aol.com>...
>>The same award
>>also goes to Mrs. Valerie Bevan and Mrs. Sheila Tandy.
>
>Bev and Valerie are divorced and Sheila is Richard's 2nd wife.
Correction Bev & Val are NOT divorced!!!!
jk
K Guinea
I'm not sure what "Livin' Thing" is about...and I've heard as well that most of
Jeff's songs aren't really about anything...it was all about the music...but
when I listen to that song...I remember that one timeI was thinking about
it...and what I got out of it was it's about life...life is a given thing and
it is a terrible thing to lose...looking back on your life, seeing where you
are going and where you've been "moving in line then you look back in time to
your first day" ...taking chances "Takin' a dive" ... and once you do you have
to go with the flow "cos you can't halt the slide" Basically life...but I guess
I got that out of it cos my friend was feeling kind of desperate at the time
when I was thinking about it. I find that many of Jeff's songs will mean
different things to you at different times in your life...it may mean one thing
to you one day ..then it'll change the next week...but that's part of the
beauty of ELO they always have something bright and new to offer you...
Sarah
Dundagel
> I find that many of Jeff's songs will mean
>different things to you at different times in your life...it may mean one
>thing
>to you one day ..then it'll change the next week...but that's part of the
>beauty of ELO they always have something bright and new to offer you...
Sarah, if Jeff heard you say that, he'd smile. In a radio interview in the
late 70's, he spoke of getting great satisfaction from writing songs to which
people related. He felt he was really accomplishing something. Jeff told a
story about a guy coming up to him and telling him how the lyrics of "Telephone
Line" related to his life, and Jeff was really touched by that.
:D
Steven Acevedo
On 31 Jan 1998 03:14:29 GMT, kgu...@aol.com (K Guinea) wrote:
>I'm not sure what "Livin' Thing" is about...and I've heard as well that most of
>Jeff's songs aren't really about anything...it was all about the music...but
>when I listen to that song...I remember that one timeI was thinking about
>it...and what I got out of it was it's about life...life is a given thing and
>it is a terrible thing to lose...looking back on your life, seeing where you
>are going and where you've been "moving in line then you look back in time to
>your first day" ...taking chances "Takin' a dive" ... and once you do you have
>to go with the flow "cos you can't halt the slide" Basically life...but I guess
>I got that out of it cos my friend was feeling kind of desperate at the time
>when I was thinking about it. I find that many of Jeff's songs will mean
>different things to you at different times in your life...it may mean one thing
>to you one day ..then it'll change the next week...but that's part of the
>beauty of ELO they always have something bright and new to offer you...
I think you hit it on the head what the song ACTUALLY means. Jeff is a
lot like me. I unconsciously write things down in my poetry or stories
with no set frame in mind.
They are nice tunes which is something that might be lost on Today's
Generation. I can figure what songs mean later on. It's the music.
melody and harmony I want to hear first.
Steven Acevedo
On 31 Jan 1998 06:16:21 GMT, dund...@aol.com (Dundagel) wrote:
>> I find that many of Jeff's songs will mean
>>different things to you at different times in your life...it may mean one
>>thing
>>to you one day ..then it'll change the next week...but that's part of the
>>beauty of ELO they always have something bright and new to offer you...
>
>Sarah, if Jeff heard you say that, he'd smile. In a radio interview in the
>late 70's, he spoke of getting great satisfaction from writing songs to which
>people related. He felt he was really accomplishing something. Jeff told a
>story about a guy coming up to him and telling him how the lyrics of "Telephone
>Line" related to his life, and Jeff was really touched by that.
That's the sad part about Today's contemporaries. They don't have a
thought to how songs relate to people sometimes. There's more to the
business than writing songs and making the money. It's about changing
or saving lives.
Grassshirt
This has nothing to do with the topic. I just wanted to say how proud I am of
you guys for taking a thread and running with it before it becomes a base for
ELOp2 / ELO comparisions.
This thread is a shining example of what alt.music.elo should be about.
D
SMURPHY5
>Correction Bev & Val are NOT divorced!!!!
>
>jk
Sorry John,
I was told that by "Buffalo Jill" and she seems to know them pretty well.
Maybe it's just cause Bev acts like a "single person" sometimes, ya know? But
I 'll take your word for it!
Susan
Randy Yates
In article <19980131174...@ladder03.news.aol.com>, grass...@aol.com says...
As the thread originator, I'm beaming!
Really, though, I would love to do much more of this discussing
what the meaning of many of ELO's songs is with others in the
group. I think that they have held much mystery for me and,
like a layman unearthing Merlin's secrets, I would love to
discover the meanings of the ELO songs.
--
% Randy Yates % "Watching all the days go by... Who are you
%% Sonar Signal Processing % and who am I?"
%%% Florida Atlantic University % 'Mission (A World Record)',
%%%% <ya...@shadow.net> % *A New World Record*, ELO
http://www.shadow.net/~yates <cya...@oe.fau.edu>
MURKsoyg
>>This has nothing to do with the topic. I just wanted to say how proud I am
>of
>>you guys for taking a thread and running with it before it becomes a base
>for
>>ELOp2 / ELO comparisions.
>>
>>This thread is a shining example of what alt.music.elo should be about.
>>
>>D
>
>As the thread originator, I'm beaming!
>
>
I'll tell you something, ELO 1 does the song live MUCH better than ELO 2.
Hehehe.....
MJJHose
If chimps are gaining, do not go to the trees, go to the water.
Mitch