what is the meaning of the song "Franklin's Tower"?

John Applewhite

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Aug 15, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/15/95

to

The singer in my band was curious, and I had nothing to offer her.
If Franklin's Tower (or is it Tow'r?) has no meaning, then that's
o.k. too.

thanks

and thank you, jerry

Bob Costa

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Aug 15, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/15/95

to at...@freenet.hsc.colorado.edu

at...@freenet.HSC.Colorado.EDU (John Applewhite) wrote:
>
>The singer in my band was curious, and I had nothing to offer her.
>If Franklin's Tower (or is it Tow'r?) has no meaning, then that's
>o.k. too.
>

I could tell you, but first we have to rollaway the dew.

:)

Ryan Shriver

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Aug 15, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/15/95

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at...@freenet.HSC.Colorado.EDU (John Applewhite) wrote:

>The singer in my band was curious, and I had nothing to offer her.
>If Franklin's Tower (or is it Tow'r?) has no meaning, then that's
>o.k. too.

>thanks

>and thank you, jerry

I found this at David Dodd's Annotated Lyrics. He has a lot of cool
things about the dead lyrics.
http://www.uccs.edu/~ddodd

Anyway, here you go:
Franklin's Tower
As you probably know, Robert Hunter has a great of love of American
History. The song is about
events during the American revolution. 'Franklin' refers to Benjamin
Franklin. The 'Bell' in the tower is
the Liberty Bell.

Casting large metal objects is a complicated process. Casting bells is
additonally complicated by the fact
that bells must be able to withstand the stress of ringing, and they
must produce a good tone. The
Liberty Bell was not only very large, but it needed to ring loudly and
clearly enough to be heard around
the world. This was pushing the limits of 18th century technology.

As you probably know, Benjamin Franklin was not only a philosopher and
statesman, he was an
inventor. He was involved in the design of the Liberty Bell in the
following way:

Franklin postulated that a process which he called "dewing" could be
used to improve the production
process of large bells. Dewing basically involves exposing the freshly
cast bell to large quantities of
steam while the bell is still hot. The steam causes a rapid cooling,
producing droplet of 'dew' on the bell.
After the dew is formed, the bell is rolled between large cotton
sheets. He described this process as
"rolling away the dew".

Unfortunately, Franklin's contempories had a very hard time
understanding his technology. He showed
them sample bells, asking him to simply look at the results without
trying to understand the process. This
was when he uttered the now famous quote, "if you get confused, listen
to the music play."

In the end, Franklin couldn't convince the foundry to use his dewing
process. Instead they used an
alternate process developed by a Frenchman named Simon Legree (who
eventually turned out to be a
British agent). Simon's process involved planting small ice crystals
(seeds) into the metal while the bell
was being cast.

As we all know, the Liberty Bell didn't last very long. "I believe it
had one good ring, but you can't really
tell" because it was so long ago.

Apparently the one time it was rung was during a storm. After ringing,
the famous crack developed in
the side of the bell and the wind blew through the crack. They tried
ringing the bell again, but the only
sound was of the wind blowing through the crack.

Benjamin Franklin was understandably disgusted. When asked later about
the incident, his only
comment was "They planted ice, so they harvested wind." The ice refers
to an alternate dewing process
they used at the suggestion of a rival inventor (I'll spare you the
details, but he turned out to be quite a
Tory). The wind, of course, is the lack of sound from subseqent
ringings.

A second meaning (Hunter's always the punster) relates to Franklin
Delano Roosevelt. The musical
structure of Franklin's Tower is similar to that of "Deal." Hunter was
suprised that Jerry would write two
such similar songs, and so he considered "Franklin's Tower" a "New
Deal".

It's really remarkable, the breadth of our culture that Hunter manages
to work into his lyrics.

By the way, Franklin's Tower (the real one, not the song) has since
been converted to a bridge. If
anyone's interested in buying it, let me know.
Ryan Shriver ryan.s...@digicool.com
My home page: http://www.digicool.com/~rshriver

"And if you go, no one may follow,
that path is for, your steps alone" -- Hunter

Jeff Greenwald

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Aug 16, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/16/95

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In <40qofl$j...@tali.hsc.colorado.edu> at...@freenet.HSC.Colorado.EDU

(John Applewhite) writes:
>
>
>The singer in my band was curious, and I had nothing to offer her.
>If Franklin's Tower (or is it Tow'r?) has no meaning, then that's
>o.k. too.
>
>thanks
>
>
>and thank you, jerry

I think Franklin's tower is an ode to freedom. The bell hanging in
Franklin's tower is the liberty bell. It has a crack in it, but that's
why "it may have one good ring, you can't tell." "Wildflower seed on
sand and stone,may the four winds blow you safely home." The four winds
and wildflower seed represents unpredictability, which leads to the
concept of free will, which in turn leads to the possibility of
freedom.
"God bless the child who rings that bell." We are the children who try
to ring the bell.

J. Greenwald

Dick Allgire

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Aug 16, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/16/95

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There is a fabulous in depth explaination of this song in DAVID DODDS
ANNOTATED DEAD SONGS Web page.

http://www.uccs.edu/~ddodd/gdhome.html

Its shut down for a bit, mourning the loss of the Man. But it has great
insights into lyrics.

Larry T Finkelstein

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Aug 16, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/16/95

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>at...@freenet.HSC.Colorado.EDU (John Applewhite) wrote:
>>
>>The singer in my band was curious, and I had nothing to offer her.
>>If Franklin's Tower (or is it Tow'r?) has no meaning, then that's
>>o.k. too.
>>

This is what I've gotten from Franklin's Tower (so far).

In another time's forgotten space
Your eye's look from your mother's face.

A small child, who' only view of the world is the one given by
it's parents.

Wildflower seed in the Sand and Stone
May the four winds blow you safely home.

A wildflower is a thing of beauty which grows where it wants, not where
it is planted. It is in sand and stone, an place where it cannot grow. The four
winds are the currents of the universe, may they take you where you to a place
"home" where you can grow.

Tell you where the four winds blow
In Franklin's tower there hangs a bell.

Franklin's tower is a place within, perhaps the line of chakras. The
bell is our inner self. The currents which direct our lives come from
within. We make the choice of how to live and we are responsible
for our blossoming or our failure to do so.

It can ring, turn night to day
It can ring like fire when you lose your way.

Turn darkness to light, danger to safety fear to security etc.
The light within will guide you when you are lost and alone.

Some come to laugh their past away
Some come to make it just one more day

Some people seek the inner self for the realisation
that what we once thought was important was but a passing
notion. And the universe and the self are infinitely grander
than the world we thought we lived in.
Others are driven to seek it because the have not other place
to seek refuge.

Whichever way your pleasure tends
If you plant ice you're gonna harvest wind.

Whatever energy you place into the universe will come
back to you in the long run. If you send out coldness you
will be paid back in something with out substance.
in a nutshell "As you sow so shall you reap".

I'll tell you where the four winds sleep
Like four lean hounds the lighthouse keep.

The tower is a lighthouse. The four winds gaurd it
it keep it working.

if you stay still, stagnant, dew will collect on you. If you are moving
ahead, it will roll away.

Poetry is open to limitless opinions. I have often reread a poem I
wrote years ago and found meanings I don't remember putting in.
Franklin's Tower has always been a powerful song for me.
The basic meaning it has had for me is if you look into yourself
you will find direction, and light. Being responsible for the enegry
you send out gives you the power to sway your own destiny.

May the four winds blow you safely home.

--Peace,
---Larry

James Timlin

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Aug 19, 1995, 3:00:00 AM8/19/95

to dire...@pixi.com

Dick Allgire <dire...@pixi.com> wrote:
>gree...@ix.netcom.com (Jeff Greenwald) wrote:
>>In <40qofl$j...@tali.hsc.colorado.edu> at...@freenet.HSC.Colorado.EDU
>>(John Applewhite) writes:
>>>
>>>

>>>The singer in my band was curious, and I had nothing to offer her.
>>>If Franklin's Tower (or is it Tow'r?) has no meaning, then that's
>>>o.k. too.
>>>

It means what you want it to mean.. :-)

--

James_...@fmso.navy.mil
"Some of it's magic, some of it's tragic."