One Take... is it about Rob Cavallo?

[elle]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

I don't think that's a bad thing at all. WB/Reprise really hasn't done FM any favors in well over a decade. They seem intent on repackaging old hits vs promoting anything new (not that there's been much new in a long, long time). I still think WB totally cheaped out on SYW, though. That album could have easily sold 3 times what it did with better marketing. Not to mention that Lindsey himself seems to be getting more print & tv time with SWS than UTS & GOS combined. I almost think it's a psychological thing within the band (Fleetwood Mac) being with WB. It's old faithful. They don't have to bust any new moves or prove themselves. With a new label, maybe the band would put out a better product?

completely with you on this.

re LB's print and airtime now, i'm happy you mentioned that - i was curious about it b/c to me it also seems that he's been doing ok with SWS so far... and deal of the day marketing strategy was brilliant, as well as all different short RS articles and AP interview that's been carried by everybody else under the sun for 2 days now. but i wasn't a fan during the last 2 so i cannot really compare.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by elle

b/c he needs to travel / oversee / work for various parts of the corporation, and these parts are all over the globe in different countries (perhaps not the countries that he'd necessarily want to visit)?

Yes, I know he needs to travel. But it doesn't sound like he's getting legitimate passports. I don't think he's going to the post office and getting photos taken and waiting for that passport in the mail. I think he's getting illegal passports to go places surreptitiously. You don't need a shady person to obtain passports for you, if you're on the up and up.


Michele

[elle]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Yes, I know he needs to travel. But it doesn't sound like he's getting legitimate passports. I don't think he's going to the post office and getting photos taken and waiting for that passport in the mail. I think he's getting illegal passports to go places surreptitiously. You don't need a shady person to obtain passports for you, if you're on the up and up.

don't know. my impression from that line was that it just means lots of international travel. i don't remember anything about obtaining them illegally.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by elle

don't know. my impression from that line was that it just means lots of international travel. i don't remember anything about obtaining them illegally.

I feel the phrase "giving passports" is suspect. People apply for passports. You don't "give" passports to people, not if they're legitimate passports. You don't need a shady guy to secure a passport for you, if you're traveling legally.

And even going beyond that, giving passports to places that people never really want to go could be a euphemism for something much worse than just forging documents. Could be a "I'll buy you a nice pair of cement shoes," kind of thing.

So, when I said why is he obtaining passports for people, it was a rhetorical question. I know why he's doing it and it's not kosher.

Michele

[elle]

Originally Posted by michelej1

I feel the phrase "giving passports" is suspect. People apply for passports. You don't "give" passports to people, not if they're legitimate passports. You don't need a shady guy to secure a passport for you, if you're traveling legally.

And even going beyond that, giving passports to places that people never really want to go could be a euphemism for something much worse than just forging documents. Could be a "I'll buy you a nice pair of cement shoes," kind of thing.

hmm... i think it was meant more big picture / superficially than that but either way - it generated interesting discussion! great to hear all these different interpretations

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by elle

hmm... i think it was meant more big picture / superficially than that but either way -

I don't really think the song is about one type of person, in one industry. I don't think it's more about corporate types than it is political types. I think it likens all of these respected, powerful people who never get punished for their dealmaking crimes against society, to the type of common criminal who does.

Michele

[elle]

Originally Posted by michelej1

I don't really think the song is about one type of person, in one industry. I don't think it's more about corporate types than it is political types. I think it likens all of these respected, powerful people who never get punished for their dealmaking crimes against society, to the type of common criminal who does.

agree

[louielouie2000]

Originally Posted by michelej1

I don't really think the song is about one type of person, in one industry. I don't think it's more about corporate types than it is political types. I think it likens all of these respected, powerful people who never get punished for their dealmaking crimes against society, to the type of common criminal who does.

Michele

I think everyone is probably right that the song is likely much broader in focus than just one person in one industry. I can't help but think that one particular event had to of incensed Lindsey to the point where he started to reflect on how mega corporations & greed are deconstructing society, though. I really have to wonder if that watershed event was WB, his home for the past 35 years, spitting him out. If that doesn't make corporate greed hit home, I don't know what would.

[Hawkeye]

I just realized that both Stevie and Lindsey sing that they are soldiers during track 8 of their albums. Except Lindsey felt that one time got the point across and Stevie... welll... didn't.

[Spikey]

And I do good business
With the wastelands below
Giving passports to places
that you never really thought that you would
ever want to go

Just on passports, I felt like this stanza could have a bunch of interpretations. Remember, Lindsey himself said after listening to the album for the first time he got a different slant on it, and said his lyrics were less specific, more open.

For example:

1. No tangible passport involved, but more the analogy of sending somebody on a mission.

2. Whether the passport is legally obtained or not is secondary to the sinister implication of what's transpiring at a place you "wouldn't ever want to go".

3. The simple inference of the business being done with the wastelands, them being the places you wouldn't want to go to, in question.

4. The wastelands "below" being the middle class the character is trying to get rid of/suck dry.

5. The places passports are given for are a place you THOUGHT you wouldn't want to go to, but given the business opportunities, and lower ladder-rung opportunities, you can get your share of the pie by screwing people further down than you (even if the 'character' is above you).

That's just all I can think of in 5 minutes. I'm sure there's loads more.

BTW, I love Lindsey's lyrics on this album. People are saying it's not as good as OOTC, and I probably agree, but I think the best lyrics are stronger overall than that album's best (say, Street of Dreams). Seriously, excellent lyrics.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by Spikey

Just on passports, I felt like this stanza could have a bunch of interpretations. Remember, Lindsey himself said after listening to the album for the first time he got a different slant on it, and said his lyrics were less specific, more open.

For example:


4. The wastelands "below" being the middle class the character is trying to get rid of/suck dry.

For me, the wastelands aren't the middle class, but the people you make deals with in order to wipe the middle class out, like a contract to use sweat shop labor overseas to manufacture your products.

Send someone to the dark alleys of Hong Kong to make some kind of exploitative business deal.

Michele

[Spikey]

Oh, i totally agree with the explanations put forth in this thread. I'm a Michele follower without using Twitter

I just wanted to make the point that even in one small stanza of a lyrically big song, there are so many different ways that you can interpret the song. This is different from a lot of Lindsey's other good work, like OOTC, IMO- I think I understand a lot of the lyrics on that album without dissecting too much.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by Spikey

I just wanted to make the point that even in one small stanza of a lyrically big song, there are so many different ways that you can interpret the song. This is different from a lot of Lindsey's other good work, like OOTC, IMO- I think I understand a lot of the lyrics on that album without dissecting too much.

I agree with you. I think the lyrics throughout GOS are dense with meaning too. I think the lyrics are the best thing about UTS, but, as you said of OOTC, I don't think UTS requires as much dissecting. The UTS words are very evocative without being quite as enigmatic.

Michele

[Spikey]

To come full circle, this is why I like Lindsey. He can be enigmatic, like his Mirage songs, he can be to the point, like OOTC.

I think he's really evolved as a lyricist. I definitely feel his quirky stuff was less inviting, lyrically, and more to the point, his lyric writing at one point in his FM career was almost an afterthought to the music.

Now, with the post-Tango stuff, especially after the SYW/GOS merge, and the solo stuff since, I think he's redefined his career as a singer/songwriter, not just a guitar player who could write a neat song here and there. Let's be honest, you and I and some others might like "Law and Order", but it's not accessible to 99.9% of the populace.




Back to "One Take"- that song probably has the best lyrics on the album, although I like IOOT's as well. Although I'm somewhat of a die-hard liberal, so it's nice to see Lindsey showing his hand to the audience occasionally (I know he doesn't like to outright preach, and this is as close as you'll see to it, I think.).

I wish he'd play it live, but I know the shows will pretty much all be the Saban setlist.. sigh.

[BlueGrass]

Too bad Cavallo sold his soul to be another corporate bean counter. I liked what he did with Lindsey in the mid 90s.