Can someone explain this?
Lawrence A. (Wes) Westhaver
I've been pondering the lyrics from 'For Michael Collins, Jeffrey And Me'. I
can't stand it any longer! What's it mean??? What is 'the ape's curiosity?
What are the 'yellow soft mountains'? Who is L.E.M? What is the 'Humanoid
thrill'?
I love this song but man.... what is this stuff???
Wes....
Watery eyes of the last sighing seconds,
blue reflections mute and dim
beckon tearful child of wonder
to repentance of the sin.
And the blind and lusty lovers
of the great eternal lie
go on believing nothing
since something has to die.
And the ape's curiosity --
money power wins,
and the yellow soft mountains move under him.
I'm with you L.E.M.
though it's a shame that it had to be you.
The mother ship is just a blip
from your trip made for two.
I'm with you boys, so please employ just a little extra care.
It's on my mind I'm left behind
when I should have been there.
Walking with you.
And the limp face hungry viewers
fight to fasten with their eyes
like the man hung from the trapeze --
whose fall will satisfy.
And congratulate each other
on their rare and wondrous deed
That their begrudged money bought
to sow the monkey's seed.
And the yellow soft mountains
they grow very still
witness as intrusion the humanoid thrill.
JTullFan68
The chorus and references to the LEM are about the Apollo 11 mission. Michael
Collins was the man who had to stay in the ship while the other two became the
first men to walk on the moon. The part of the ship that he watched them from
was called the LEM or Lunar Excursion Module. The whole song probably follows
a similar trend. Hope this helps,
Dan
reddred
Lawrence A. (Wes) Westhaver wrote:
>
> I've been pondering the lyrics from 'For Michael Collins, Jeffrey And Me'. I
> can't stand it any longer! What's it mean??? What is 'the ape's curiosity?
> What are the 'yellow soft mountains'? Who is L.E.M? What is the 'Humanoid
> thrill'?
>
> I love this song but man.... what is this stuff???
>
> Wes....
>
heres my tentative interpretation.
Michael Collins was an astronaut on the first Appollo missions to the
moon.
> Watery eyes of the last sighing seconds,
the countdown to landing on the moon...
> blue reflections mute and dim
> beckon tearful child of wonder
MC, IA and Jeffrey?
> to repentance of the sin.
the view of the moon...
> And the blind and lusty lovers
> of the great eternal lie
> go on believing nothing
> since something has to die.
> And the ape's curiosity --
> money power wins,
the ape is mankind. his curiosity about the universe is part mystical
and part practical(money,power) but the mystical tends to fade, or
'die' for the 'blind and lusty lovers.'
> and the yellow soft mountains move under him.
This is the view of the moon from the spaceship.
>
> I'm with you L.E.M.
one of the other astronauts?
> though it's a shame that it had to be you.
Michael Collins was the astronaut who stayed in orbit while the others
walked on the moon.
> The mother ship is just a blip
MC is distant and alienated, although essential.
> from your trip made for two.
> I'm with you boys, so please employ just a little extra care.
> It's on my mind I'm left behind
> when I should have been there.
he might have been a bit jealous.
> Walking with you.
>
> And the limp face hungry viewers
people watching the 'drama' on tv on earth
> fight to fasten with their eyes
trying to make contact with one another- as difficult as landing on the
moon
> like the man hung from the trapeze --
> whose fall will satisfy.
the mystical spacewalk is just another show to the majority of viewers
as is life
> And congratulate each other
> on their rare and wondrous deed
> That their begrudged money bought
> to sow the monkey's seed.
the monkey is man. Again, focused on the material.
> And the yellow soft mountains
> they grow very still
> witness as intrusion the humanoid thrill.
the thrill of man on the moon, the mountains of the moon bearing silent,
eternal witness(in judgement?) to the actions and motivations of man.
Its interesting that Anderson included Jeffrey. was he talking about
Jeffreys alienation or his relationship to the band?
REDDRED
JessK
>I've been pondering the lyrics from 'For Michael Collins, Jeffrey And Me'.
I
>can't stand it any longer! What's it mean??? What is 'the ape's curiosity?
I've been pondering the title of that song actually. Is it supposed to
indicate that somehow Ian and this recurring Jeffrey (whoever he is) somehow
just missed out on a really amazing thing, as Collins did? Or what? Just
curious.
Duane
On Tue, 05 May 1998 13:22:10 -0400, reddred <red...@ix.netcom.com>
wrote:
<snip>
>>
>> I'm with you L.E.M.
>
>one of the other astronauts?
<snip>
The meaning of LEM has been discussed to an
extreme here, (or was it on the SCC?), so
I don't want to start another debate over
a few letters, but here goes.
Lunar Excursion Module (or something like that)
was the ship that actually landed on the moon,
(not the 'little car they drove around' on
later missions)
unlike the command module that MC rode in,
by himself, even on the far side of the moon,
isolated from his cohorts on the surface of
the moon and isolated from communication
with earth - now THAT'S getting away from
it all.
-Duane
Lawrence A. (Wes) Westhaver
Thanks for all of the interpretations! Once I was enlightened about the
Michael Collins/L.E.M. references the song started to make a bit more sense.
I actually lived across the Indian river from Cape Kennedy in 1967 and my
grandfather worked for NASA. I was pretty thoroughly indoctrinated into all
things Apollo so I feel pretty stupid not getting the L.E.M. reference.
I still have some parts that I'm unclear on:
>Watery eyes of the last sighing seconds,
>blue reflections mute and dim
Is this the view of the earth as it receded into the distance?
>beckon tearful child of wonder
>to repentance of the sin.
Is the sin our intrusion upon the moon? Technological arrogance?
>And the blind and lusty lovers
>of the great eternal lie
Given Ian's penchant for religious references what does he consider to be
the great eternal lie?
>go on believing nothing
>since something has to die.
What has to die? Is this a reference to the Apollo 1 astronauts who died a
on the launchpad earlier?
>and the yellow soft mountains move under him.
You think these mountains are the mountains of the moon? I never thought of
them as yellow? I did think that the yellow soft mountains might have been
the enormous billows of smoke and fire that grew from the rocket engines
upon take-off.
>I'm with you L.E.M.
>though it's a shame that it had to be you.
Why is it a shame? Is it jealousy that the other guys got to land on the
moon?
>The mother ship is just a blip
>from your trip made for two.
>I'm with you boys, so please employ just a little extra care.
>It's on my mind I'm left behind
>when I should have been there.
>Walking with you.
Wond'ring aloud about being the odd-man out? Jealousy?
>And the limp face hungry viewers
>fight to fasten with their eyes
>like the man hung from the trapeze --
>whose fall will satisfy.
I love this last line. It seems to be human nature to want to see the man on
the trapeze fall, and I suspect we also had a morbid desire to see the
astronauts fall as well.
>And congratulate each other
>on their rare and wondrous deed
Once it became clear that the astronauts wouldn't 'fall' everyone then
stepped up and took credit for their part no matter how small.
>That their begrudged money bought
>to sow the monkey's seed.
Is the Monkey's seed our technology, trash left behind etc?
>And the yellow soft mountains
>they grow very still
>witness as intrusion the humanoid thrill.
I think the yellow soft mountains (on the moon) makes sense here since they
are still witness to the debris we left behind and will be for the next
several million years.
Wes....
W. S. Gumby
>>It's on my mind I'm left behind
>>when I should have been there.
>>Walking with you.
Lets just concentrate on these three lines. I believe this is Jeffrey
speaking (or Ian trying to see things from Jeffrey's point of view).
Jeffrey's best friend has achieved all this success and he somehow has been
left out. Perhaps this is more about Ian's feelings of guilt rather than
Jeffrey feeling excluded. It is interesting to note that on the very next
album Jeffrey is in the band.
W. S. Gumby
Steve Cox
reddred <red...@ix.netcom.com> wrote in article
<354F4AC2...@ix.netcom.com>...
> Lawrence A. (Wes) Westhaver wrote:
> >
>
>
>
> > And the blind and lusty lovers
> > of the great eternal lie
> > go on believing nothing
> > since something has to die.
> > And the ape's curiosity --
> > money power wins,
>
> the ape is mankind. his curiosity about the universe is part mystical
> and part practical(money,power) but the mystical tends to fade, or
> 'die' for the 'blind and lusty lovers.'
>
>
> > And congratulate each other
> > on their rare and wondrous deed
> > That their begrudged money bought
> > to sow the monkey's seed.
>
> the monkey is man. Again, focused on the material.
>
> REDDRED
I wonder if the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, which came out only a few
years before Benefit, had anything to do with all the monkey and ape
references?
Icarus0473
>this recurring Jeffrey (whoever he is)
I always thought that this recurring Jeffrey was Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, a
long time friend of Ian's.
I recall reading somewhere that Ian neither confirmed nor denied this, but it
seems to make sense to me.....anyone out there have any ideas?
Shine ON!
Icarus
reddred
good connection.
reddred
reddred
Lawrence A. (Wes) Westhaver wrote:
>
> Michael Collins/L.E.M. references the song started to make a bit more sense.
>
> I actually lived across the Indian river from Cape Kennedy in 1967 and my
> grandfather worked for NASA. I was pretty thoroughly indoctrinated into all
> things Apollo so I feel pretty stupid not getting the L.E.M. reference.
>
> I still have some parts that I'm unclear on:
>
> >Watery eyes of the last sighing seconds,
> >blue reflections mute and dim
>
sounds like it to me, but your guess is as good as mine here.
>
> >beckon tearful child of wonder
> >to repentance of the sin.
>
> Is the sin our intrusion upon the moon? Technological arrogance?
interesting question. I thought the important word was 'repentance', in
that an astronaut might have been moved to a spiritual awe.
>
> >And the blind and lusty lovers
> >of the great eternal lie
>
> Given Ian's penchant for religious references what does he consider to be
> the great eternal lie?
a play on 'eternal truth.' I think this refers here to a technological
materialism.
>
> >go on believing nothing
> >since something has to die.
>
> What has to die? Is this a reference to the Apollo 1 astronauts who died a
> on the launchpad earlier?
Maybe a reference to the death of spirituality in our culture. This goes
along with similair themes from benefit-era tunes.
>
> >and the yellow soft mountains move under him.
>
> You think these mountains are the mountains of the moon? I never thought of
> them as yellow? I did think that the yellow soft mountains might have been
> the enormous billows of smoke and fire that grew from the rocket engines
> upon take-off.
>
maybe the moon is made of cheese ;)
> >I'm with you L.E.M.
> >though it's a shame that it had to be you.
>
> Why is it a shame? Is it jealousy that the other guys got to land on the
> moon?
I think so. I'd be a little jealous.
>
> >The mother ship is just a blip
> >from your trip made for two.
> >I'm with you boys, so please employ just a little extra care.
this is the line I really wonder about. 'little extra care?'
> >It's on my mind I'm left behind
> >when I should have been there.
> >Walking with you.
>
> Wond'ring aloud about being the odd-man out? Jealousy?
yes
>
> >And the limp face hungry viewers
> >fight to fasten with their eyes
> >like the man hung from the trapeze --
> >whose fall will satisfy.
>
> I love this last line. It seems to be human nature to want to see the man on
> the trapeze fall, and I suspect we also had a morbid desire to see the
> astronauts fall as well.
>
> >And congratulate each other
> >on their rare and wondrous deed
>
> Once it became clear that the astronauts wouldn't 'fall' everyone then
> stepped up and took credit for their part no matter how small.
>
> >That their begrudged money bought
> >to sow the monkey's seed.
>
> Is the Monkey's seed our technology, trash left behind etc?
>
again, I dont think he's painting a specific image- I think this is an
abstraction meant to represent the expansion of man, man into space.
> >And the yellow soft mountains
> >they grow very still
> >witness as intrusion the humanoid thrill.
>
> I think the yellow soft mountains (on the moon) makes sense here since they
> are still witness to the debris we left behind and will be for the next
> several million years.
>
> Wes....
reddred
Lenester Taxidean
On Tue, 5 May 1998 17:22:10, reddred <red...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> Michael Collins was an astronaut on the first Appollo missions to the
> moon.
I didn't know that. Suddenly the song makes infinitely more sense.
> > I'm with you L.E.M.
>
> one of the other astronauts?
I always wondered what L.E.M. was too, but as soon as you gave a reference for
Michael Collins, it becomes obvious. Lunar Entry Module.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lenester Taxidean -- http://www.asis.com/~liefc/
Deep red are the sunsets in mystical places
black are the nights on summerday sands.
We'll find the speck of truth in each riddle
hold the first grain of love in our hands.
Jethro Tull, _The Whistler_
Kevin Thurston
Lawrence A. (Wes) Westhaver <lwest...@home.com> wrote in article
<6il995$p9u$1...@ha2.rdc1.md.home.com>...
> I've been pondering the lyrics from 'For Michael Collins, Jeffrey And
Me'. I
> can't stand it any longer! What's it mean??? What is 'the ape's
curiosity?
> thrill'?
>
> I love this song but man.... what is this stuff???
It's always disheartening to me to see this question, because it implies
that the first moon landing is not taught in the schools.
Lunar Excursion Module
Michael Collins: Command Module pilot
Check the NASA web pages.
--
-Kevin Thurston
Lawrence A. (Wes) Westhaver
Well, you may be right. As near as I can remember I was never specifically
taught about the space program or any of the lunar landings in school.
Like I mentioned in an earlier post I was living in Titusville across the
indian river from the Kennedy Space center in 1967 and attended a public
school named 'Apollo Elementary' which had a principal by the name of 'Mr.
Moon'. Weird huh? Given that I lived in such close proximity to all this
space stuff you'd think that I would have gotten the reference to Michael
Collins but I didn't.
Wes....
Kevin Thurston wrote in message <01bd794a$075e4000$73a89bcf@default>...