Gone

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  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    DPrecisionist05 wrote:

    But, the American dream I'm disbelieving...
    If anyone should believe in the American dream it should be him....!

    I'm not sure this is meant to be a purely economical, blue-collar, white-collar line. I think in this instance ed is disillusioned with everything it means to be an American these days. ... the war, unemployment, high gas prices, etc etc ... I don't think you have to be poor to be a disillusioned American these days.
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    burtschips wrote:
    that's an interesting reading but i don't agree with it... i don't think is about what he has or does not have it is about what he feels... i don't think he is giving things up to have nothing he's there already. but i do agree that the leaving is an attempt to get out of where he is so is positive.

    not really sure what you mean.

    "I'm gonna leave it all behind me ..." obviously, there is something TO leave behind, no?
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • DPrecisionist05
    DPrecisionist05 Posts: 61
    slightofjeff wrote:
    the song is very hopeful (see my previous post). You're just misinterpreting it. The song IS about overcoming a sense of disillusionment. You're just misinterpreting it.


    I'm not misinterpreting it.....
    read the song....

    disillusionment?? can you clarify?


    I felt at one time, exactly how this song feels.....
    The song is too good!
    I just don't buy it...i think it's somewhat phony of him to write this song...and feel he's trying to capture the minds of the masses who are fighting for the American dream, whether lawyer, electrician, teacher...whatever..
  • DPrecisionist05
    DPrecisionist05 Posts: 61
    slightofjeff wrote:
    I'm not sure this is meant to be a purely economical, blue-collar, white-collar line. I think in this instance ed is disillusioned with everything it means to be an American these days. ... the war, unemployment, high gas prices, etc etc ... I don't think you have to be poor to be a disillusioned American these days.


    Read before you post please...
  • burtschips
    burtschips Posts: 734
    slightofjeff wrote:
    not really sure what you mean.

    "I'm gonna leave it all behind me ..." obviously, there is something TO leave behind, no?

    yes. but i read it as the situation, i don't think it's his lifestyle that's the problem and i don't think he needs to live in a log cabin to feel better.
    Salut baloo
  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    DPrecisionist05 wrote:
    Read before you post please...

    not sure what you mean
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    burtschips wrote:
    yes. but i read it as the situation, i don't think it's his lifestyle that's the problem and i don't think he needs to live in a log cabin to feel better.

    lol. I didn't say that. but I think comes to the realization that it's OK to leave whatever situation it is, even if means leaving behind a lot more than just the situation (friends, family, home and even possession).

    And discovering that there is actually some freedom and salvation in that realization.
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • burtschips
    burtschips Posts: 734
    slightofjeff wrote:
    lol. I didn't say that. but I think comes to the realization that it's OK to leave whatever situation it is, even if means leaving behind a lot more than just the situation (friends, family, home and even possession).

    And discovering that there is actually some freedom and salvation in that realization.

    yeah its an interesting way of looking at it.. but i still think it's his state of mind, the feeling of nothing that is what is making him leave not an aspiration to it. it's not about things.
    Salut baloo
  • DPrecisionist05
    DPrecisionist05 Posts: 61
    1st paragraph,...
    no more painful mornings
    no more trying evenings,
    this american dream, Im disbelieving...

    Who can relate to this? Anyone who is not a celebrity or wealthy, anyone who has to work for a living, again, white collar, blue collar dosent matter..

    What is an American Dream?, something to be attained, definition can vary,,
    house and 2 kids in subs, etc,...whatever but parallel concept..
    he's disbelieving it...

    If nothing is everything, I'll have it all...
    this wouldnt be hypocritical if he was alluding to leaving all material things behind getting on Harley and living off the land, but thats not the backdrop hes created earlier in the song...... thats my point

    But hes talking about giving up on the American Dream, and leaving where he's at......and gone......jsut dosent jive for me,,,and I like this song.....
  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    burtschips wrote:
    yeah its an interesting way of looking at it.. but i still think it's his state of mind, the feeling of nothing that is what is making him leave not an aspiration to it. it's not about things.

    but doesn't the song SOUND far too triumphant (esp. in the chorus and outro) to be completely despairing?

    The words, coupled with the way they are sung and the music they are sung on top of, leave you with the feeling that getting gone is a GOOD thing ... that having nothing IS having it all ... and that's a good thing, because there is freedome in that.

    I don't neccesarily mean ed is leaving seattle to become a monk. It's more a state of mind than anything.

    If ed really was trying to be completely despairing in this song ... well, I think he failed miserably then. because the music doesn't create that feeling. at all.
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • DPrecisionist05
    DPrecisionist05 Posts: 61
    slightofjeff wrote:
    but doesn't the song SOUND far too triumphant (esp. in the chorus and outro) to be completely despairing?

    The words, coupled with the way they are sung and the music they are sung on top of, leave you with the feeling that getting gone is a GOOD thing ... that having nothing IS having it all ... and that's a good thing, because there is freedome in that.

    I don't neccesarily mean ed is leaving seattle to become a monk. It's more a state of mind than anything.

    If ed really was trying to be completely despairing in this song ... well, I think he failed miserably then. because the music doesn't create that feeling. at all.


    Thats exactly my problem with the Song!, he is advocating giving up!
    cashing his chips in and driving away..
    It's like the old adage, you can leave and go wherever you want, but you cant run away from your problems/challenges,.....they follow you.....he, of all people should know that..!!
  • FinsburyParkCarrots
    FinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    DPrecisionist05 wrote:

    This song is precise in it's meaning...and really not open to differing intepretations, maybe in slight nuances, but its clear what he is saying...
    from the first two lines.......read.

    As a postgrad in Literature with a good knowledge of linguistics, I'll tell you no word in any language, no phoneme, no utterance is precise in meaning. I might think Gone is about an elephant escaped from the circus, and I might refute the argument "No it isn't, it's about a bloke who flees Atlantic City to leave the bad life of gambling and materialism behind him". I might be completely mad, but my interpretation isn't necessarily wrong. Just different.


    Just opening up the interpretative possibilities there. ;)
  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    DPrecisionist05 wrote:
    1st paragraph,...
    no more painful mornings
    no more trying evenings,
    this american dream, Im disbelieving...

    Who can relate to this? Anyone who is not a celebrity or wealthy, anyone who has to work for a living, again, white collar, blue collar dosent matter..

    What is an American Dream?, something to be attained, definition can vary,,
    house and 2 kids in subs, etc,...whatever but parallel concept..
    he's disbelieving it...

    If nothing is everything, I'll have it all...
    this wouldnt be hypocritical if he was alluding to leaving all material things behind getting on Harley and living off the land, but thats not the backdrop hes created earlier in the song...... thats my point

    But hes talking about giving up on the American Dream, and leaving where he's at......and gone......jsut dosent jive for me,,,and I like this song.....


    and, again, I'm saying the "American Dream" isn't just the house, the kids, the picket fence, the dogs, the material possessions. It's a sense of well-being. A sense of security. A sense that America is always on the side of right. A sense that there will be a tomorrow.

    THAT'S the American dream he's disbelieving.

    The other stuff you mentioned can play into it too, I suppose.

    But, like I said, disillusionment with the American dream in total isn't just the property of the poor.

    Another thing though ... so what if you're right? Ed's not allowed to write from someone else's perspective?

    Ed wasn't a sexually abused girl. How could he write Daughter? He wasn't Jeremy ... so how could he write Jeremy? His hometown has never been bombed to bits ... how could he write Insignificance? Are those songs phony, too?
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:
    As a postgrad in Literature with a good knowledge of linguistics, I'll tell you no word in any language, no phoneme, no utterance is precise in meaning. I might think Gone is about an elephant escaped from the circus, and I might refute the argument "No it isn't, it's about a bloke who flees Atlantic City to leave the bad life of gambling and materialism behind him". I might be completely mad, but my interpretation isn't necessarily wrong. Just different.


    Just opening up the interpretative possibilities there. ;)

    I think I'm going with your elephant in the circus interpretation ... :)
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • burtschips
    burtschips Posts: 734
    slightofjeff wrote:
    but doesn't the song SOUND far too triumphant (esp. in the chorus and outro) to be completely despairing?

    The words, coupled with the way they are sung and the music they are sung on top of, leave you with the feeling that getting gone is a GOOD thing ... that having nothing IS having it all ... and that's a good thing, because there is freedome in that.

    I don't neccesarily mean ed is leaving seattle to become a monk. It's more a state of mind than anything.

    If ed really was trying to be completely despairing in this song ... well, I think he failed miserably then. because the music doesn't create that feeling. at all.

    i agree i think it is positive. and idon't think that feeling nothing is everything is too negative, leatherman is set up as a bit of a hero and someone he identifies with. he just walks about. but i don't know enough about why he did that.
    Salut baloo
  • DPrecisionist05
    DPrecisionist05 Posts: 61
    slightofjeff wrote:
    and, again, I'm saying the "American Dream" isn't just the house, the kids, the picket fence, the dogs, the material possessions. It's a sense of well-being. A sense of security. A sense that America is always on the side of right. A sense that there will be a tomorrow.

    THAT'S the American dream he's disbelieving.

    The other stuff you mentioned can play into it too, I suppose.

    But, like I said, disillusionment with the American dream in total isn't just the property of the poor.

    Another thing though ... so what if you're right? Ed's not allowed to write from someone else's perspective?

    Ed wasn't a sexually abused girl. How could he write Daughter? He wasn't Jeremy ... so how could he write Jeremy? His hometown has never been bombed to bits ... how could he write Insignificance? Are those songs phony, too?

    The American dream is pursued by americans, poor, middle class, wealthy....
    the term The American Dream is a cliche-because the meaning is so cemented.
  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    DPrecisionist05 wrote:
    Thats exactly my problem with the Song!, he is advocating giving up!
    cashing his chips in and driving away..
    It's like the old adage, you can leave and go wherever you want, but you cant run away from your problems/challenges,.....they follow you.....he, of all people should know that..!!

    and I'm saying he's not giving up. He's finding a way to move on, to rise above ... and just the realization that he CAN move on and rise above makes him feel better.

    another thing ... what I've discovered about ed is that his songs, taken by themselves, aren't meant to be an all encompassing philosophy of life. He generally writes what he feels in that moment ... even if that moment turns out to be fleeting, even if he doesn't neccesarily feel that way a month later.

    So even if he is talking about giving up, as you say -- haven't we all felt that way? Isn't he just capturing a snapshot of the human condition? Isn't that what artists and writers do?
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    burtschips wrote:
    i agree i think it is positive. and idon't think that feeling nothing is everything is too negative, leatherman is set up as a bit of a hero and someone he identifies with. he just walks about. but i don't know enough about why he did that.

    yes, I think there is a little bit of Leatherman, thematically, in this song. just a smidge.
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • DPrecisionist05
    DPrecisionist05 Posts: 61
    FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:
    As a postgrad in Literature with a good knowledge of linguistics, I'll tell you no word in any language, no phoneme, no utterance is precise in meaning. I might think Gone is about an elephant escaped from the circus, and I might refute the argument "No it isn't, it's about a bloke who flees Atlantic City to leave the bad life of gambling and materialism behind him". I might be completely mad, but my interpretation isn't necessarily wrong. Just different.


    Just opening up the interpretative possibilities there. ;)

    It's the accurate interpretation were looking for...
    and the lyrics are quite succint, I think you referring more to ambiguous wiriting where in post grad poetry class you try to interpret what often vague
    scribblings mean, like Poe, and shakespere, and those guys.....

    Eddie himself said the song is about getting away from it all..

    I think it pretty clear in this song life has been tough, hes lost some hope(disbelieving) and hes leaving...again,.....if you put all the words together in their related context its preety simple to get the meaning when they are as pointed as he has written them in tis song.,\
  • DPrecisionist05
    DPrecisionist05 Posts: 61
    slightofjeff wrote:
    and I'm saying he's not giving up. He's finding a way to move on, to rise above ... and just the realization that he CAN move on and rise above makes him feel better.

    another thing ... what I've discovered about ed is that his songs, taken by themselves, aren't meant to be an all encompassing philosophy of life. He generally writes what he feels in that moment ... even if that moment turns out to be fleeting, even if he doesn't neccesarily feel that way a month later.

    So even if he is talking about giving up, as you say -- haven't we all felt that way? Isn't he just capturing a snapshot of the human condition? Isn't that what artists and writers do?


    Sure, I'll agree with that...a temporary feeling.....
    Ok fine, Im ok with the song, thanks

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