Other Side of Summer

[taz]

So okay, we know in that song that he takes shots at Lennon, Pink Floyd, Bowie, etc... But he also says at one point he includes himself in there as well. I'm not as well-versed as some of you and might be quite dense (there's doubt?), but where is his reference to himself in that song?

[wehitandrun]

Very good question, I read and reread but couldn't put my finger on it...

[noiseradio]

"I feel glad in my own suspicious way"? Perhaps an admission of not being able to take pure joy in things?

"The dancing was desperate, the music was worse"? Maybe a reference to The Only Flame in Town (especially the video).

I have no clue really.

[verbal gymnastics]

Well to save everyone looking up the lyric, here it is:

The sun struggles up another beautiful day
And I felt glad in my own suspicious way
Despite the contradiction and confusion
Felt tragic without reason
There's malice and there's magic in every season

CHORUS
From the foaming breakers of the poisonous surf
The other side of Summer
To the burning forests in the hills of Astroturf
The other side of Summer

The automatic gates close up between the shanties and the palace
The blowtorch amusements, the voodoo chalice
The pale pathetic promises that everybody swallows
A teenage girl is crying 'cos she don't look like a million dollars
So help her if you can
'Cos she don't seem to have the attention span

CHORUS

Was it a millionaire who said "imagine no possessions"?
A poor little schoolboy who said "we don't need no lessons"?
The rabid rebel dogs ransack the shampoo shop
The pop princess is downtown shooting up
And if that goddess if fit for burning
The sun will struggle up the world will still keep turning

Madman standing by the side of the road saying
"Look at my eyes, look at my eyes, look at my eyes, look at my eyes"
Now you can't afford to fake all the drugs your parents used to take
Because of their mistakes you'd better be wide awake

CHORUS

The mightiest rose
The absence of perfume
The casual killers
The military curfew
The cardboard city
An unwanted birthday
The other side of summer

The dancing was desperate, the music was worse
They bury your dreams and dig up the worthless
Goodnight
God bless
And kiss "goodbye" to the earth
The other side of summer

Hmm.

Taz - is there a reference interview for Elvis saying he's included himself in the song?

[spooky girlfriend]

I saw this thread last night and decided to listen to the song again a few more times before posting. Not that I haven't listened to it a million times already, but I wanted to invest a bit more thought into my post.

I've had to disperse my kids to various day camps around town today, so I took the opportunity to play this song ove and over. In the past, the only real realization I've ever had regarding this song was the comparison of the chorus to the song America the Beautiful. Instead of the line "from sea to shining sea", EC sings:

. . .From the foaming breakers of the poisonous surf
. . .to the burning forests in the hills of Astroturf

which I think are sarcastic shots about America, much like when he sings
"He thought he was the king of America where they pour coca-cola just like vintage wine."

But as far as a reference to EC himself in this song, I don't know whether it's something obvious, or perhaps a vague hint of something, buried deep within the lyrics, that only people who listen to his music way too much could possibly figure out.

People like us.

[wehitandrun]

verbal gymnastics- he says it in the liner notes for MLAR.

[lapinsjolis]

Uneducated guess:

Felt tragic without reason
There's malice and there's magic in every season

A shot at his 'angry young man' phase and moniker. In retrospect every season of life has great good. That it prefaces the other insults shows at least an attempt or an appearance of fair play.

I trust Mr. Misery's or Paul B.'s take more than my own though.