Ears Sometimes Lie

Listen, my children, and I shall tell you about a time long ago, before the Internet! Yes, I remember it well! When, if you didn't know the lyrics to a particular song and they weren't printed on the "album cover," you were out of luck. Now, many years later, it has occurred to me that I can finally discover the lyrics to all those songs that puzzled me way back when.

Today I turned to my favorite Little Feat tune, "Time Loves a Hero." There was one line I could never figure out, but the big surprise was that there were two lines I thought I knew but was wrong about! Exciting. For me.

Well they say time loves a hero
But only time will tell
If he's real, he's a legend from heaven
If he ain't he was sent here from hell. (I thought it was "he's a sinner from hell")

Hear me well
Seeing ain't always believing
Just make sure it's the truth that you're seeing
Eyes sometimes lie, eyes sometimes lie
They can be real deceiving.

I got an Uncle in Puerto Rico
Spends his days in the sun
And his nights in the casinos
He left the States many years ago
Took a fishing boat to Puerto Rico
Now my aunt, she is sad and lonely
She'll never know that she drove him away
As a coward I admire his courageous ways. (So that's what he was saying!)

Well they say time loves a hero
But only time will tell
If he's real, he's a legend from heaven
If he ain't he's a mouthpiece from hell.

Some say my uncle, that he's a zero
His life as a shell, he left it back at Stateside
I'd say he's doing well, without his shell
Bumming 'round the beaches of Puerto Rico.

The beauty of the sunrise and sunset
To his friends he wish he could tell
They're at home still running for bells
Better San Juan than that blue collar hell. (I thought it was "Innocent ones in that blue collar hell")

Well they say time loves a hero
But only time will tell
If he's real, he's a legend from heaven
If he ain't he was sent here from hell.

I shudder to think of the hours I would need to spend to decipher my old Deadhead days ("China Cat Sunflower," anyone?).

Comments

[mquest]

I can supply the lyrics but you will have to supply the meaning. Robert Hunter wrote about this song. “Nobody ever asks me the meaning of this song. People seem to know exactly what I am talking about. It's good that a few things in this world are clear to all of us.” Here are the lyrics:

Look for a while at the china cat sunflower,
Proud walking jingle in the midnight sun.
Copper-dome bodhi drip a silver kimono,
Like a crazy quilt star gown
through a dream night wind.

Crazy cat peeking through a lace bandanna,
Like a one-eyed Cheshire, l
ike a diamond-eye jack.
A leaf of all colors plays
a golden-string fiddle,
To a double-e waterfall over my back.

Comic book colors on a violin river
crying Leonardo words
from out a silk trombone.
I rang a silent bell
beneath a shower of pearls
In the eagle-winged palace
of the queen chinee

[Steve]

The Grateful Dead: the mother lode of mondegreens!

[Susan W.]

A friend of ours thought the Go-Gos sang, "I love Cecile" rather than "Our lips are sealed." Isn't it amazing what our minds will create to fill in the gaps!

[giddy]

In my book, the Go-Go's song was "Honest Cecile"!!!

[Alfonso]

does somebody the meaning of china cat sunflower?