Flowers of Guatemala
victoria muradi
vicki
Jared Hughes
I understand that "The Flowers of Guatemala" is supposed to be a sort
of political song about U.S. military intervention in that country. Supposedly
Michael was so frustrated that no one got the message behind the song
that he leaked to the press that "Welcome to the Occupation" was about
the same thing. What I want to know is, what in the lyrics to
"Flowers" is supposed to clue an attentive listener as to what it's
about? I think that this song is one of their best, but I can't for
the life of me figure out why it's supposed to be about what it's
supposed to be about. Help...?
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Jared Hughes 96...@williams.edu
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Sanjeev Bery
: I understand that "The Flowers of Guatemala" is supposed to be a sort
: of political song about U.S. military intervention in that country.
You have to know the history of U.S. intervention in Guatemala to truly
understand, and even then, its a bit obscure.
In a nutshell, the CIA overthrew a democratically-elected government
because it was restricting U.S. corporate interests (The United Fruit
Company) there. That happened in the 1950s under Eisenhower. Since
then, the CIA has supported and planted a succession of military
dictators in power.
Those dictators and the military machines they upheld have slaughtered a
total of 110,000 Guatemalan peasants over the years. All documented by
human rights groups, though not (surprise, surprise) by the U.S. press.
Now to the song...
FLowers cover graves. "The flowers cover everything..." Graves
everywhere. "There's something here I've never seen before" Large scale
slaughter, no outcry. "Amanita is the name..." In the jacket it says
something about Amanita being a flower INDIGENOUS to Guatemala. The
indigenous people are the ones being slaughtered.
Hope this helps.
Sanjeev
PAntonucci
undertones of this song, but instead the music. He said that the general
tone of the song is a happy one (ex: walking through the streets of
Guatemala, you wouldn't see the hundreds of people who would disappear
because they opposed the government)--instead on the outside all you see
are "flowers covering everything"---meaning the graves of the people.
p.s.. I got this from "it crawled from the south"
Bryan Chenault Duncan
: FLowers cover graves. "The flowers cover everything..." Graves
: everywhere. "There's something here I've never seen before" Large scale
: slaughter, no outcry. "Amanita is the name..." In the jacket it says
: something about Amanita being a flower INDIGENOUS to Guatemala. The
: indigenous people are the ones being slaughtered.
To add, I think the juxtaposition of the song is that the country and
specifically the flowers are beautiful yet those flowers are covering the
mass graves. ICFTS relates this to a dual theme of the political
slaughter and (lack of) outrage vs. that such horrible abuses are
obscured by beauty; ie. the flowers become both the cover and the symbol of
the travesties taking place. What I've always loved about that and many
other R.E.M. songs is that the message is distinct, but the lyrics aren't.
I be pissed too if I wrote something that biting and symbolic and no one
got it.
--
BCD
Jerry H. Lin
songs...never even occured to me it was political. Wow.
Jerry
Ron Henry
Exactly. No coincidence that the song is the "prettiest," musically, on the
album.
Ron
---
rg...@cornell.edu
Send me email to receive rec.music.rem FAQ
"Wait for dawn and dawn shall come."
Hooverdam4
flower. Amanita isn't even a plant. It's the genus name of very deadly
poisonous mushrooms. Knowing that, I always took the mention to be a
reference to the American soldiers taking over the place. Doesn't matter,
tho...it's still an awesome song.
PIUMA CHRIS
See, this is what always confused me. I've never been able to find a reference
to a flower named "amanita" (has anyone else? is it a spanish word?), but I
did know about the mushroom. If it is the (spanish?) name of a flower than this
is a much more impressive lyric than I had thought--it would seem that it all
hinges on the two amanitas: the (pretty?) flower (which gets placed on the
graves) and the (deadly) mushrooms (mushroom which grow on dead things..).
This nicely mirrors the pretty music (flowers) and the words about the
slaughtered people (the mushrooms). You see what I mean?
--Chris (aka Steve)
"Triss is sure to shirr the deers out" --Cant get there from here
Pontneuf
in Spanish. Can anyone confirm?
Also, recall that Stipe would introduce the song in '86 simply by saying
"genocide," and Buck would begin the song immediately, almost before
Michael got the word out of his mouth.
I've always thought Peter's solo on this song is one of the most elegant,
uplifting things I've ever heard. The simplicity and feeling in it are
nearly unparalled. One of my favorite REM songs, no contest.
- jonathan
Bill Boelema
the world. It is not Spanish, but essentially modern Latin, like all
scientific names. Common names of species in the genus include death cup
and the destroying angel (from Bold et al., Morphology of Plants and Fungi).
Bill, MS student in Biological Sciences
--
Bill Boelema
wjbo...@mtu.edu
Ron Henry
>This is my favorite song ever, so I gotta comment here: Amanita is not a
>flower. Amanita isn't even a plant. It's the genus name of very deadly
>poisonous mushrooms. Knowing that, I always took the mention to be a
>reference to the American soldiers taking over the place. Doesn't matter,
>tho...it's still an awesome song.
That could be the image intended: soldiers (= mushrooms) among the people
(=flowers). Note that flowers cover the graves and mushrooms thrive/feed
on dead and decaying material.
What I have wondered is if amanita flowers are used as a psychedelic by
native peoples (the Mayans used hallucinogenic mushrooms in ritual, as I
recall, though I don't know what specific species). The line in the before
the instrumental break, "Don't look into the sun..." certainly suggests
hallucogenic experiences.
Whiplash
On 20 Aug 1995, Pontneuf wrote:
> I recall a friend of mine telling me that amanita means "our little angel"
> in Spanish. Can anyone confirm?
>
> - jonathan
>
>
i think your friend probably said "angelita", which does mean little
angel in spanish
Hooverdam4
species of Amanita (A. muscaria) is used to induce hallucinations, tho
these visions stem from the delirum induced by the severe illness
ingesting these things cause. ( Ah, the things we learned in Core
Curriculum...) Whether or not these are the species used by the Maya, I'm
not sure.
Always there with random trivia....