Post by More Play Time on Feb 15, 2021 14:33:23 GMT -5
The song was written in 1978/1979, during Simon's visit to Israel. In interviews, he often says 1979 or 1978 as the year he went to this location, but for this story it doesnt matter. It was summer in the late 70's.
Summer - Simon spends three months working at Kibbutz Gvulot in the Negev desert in Israel, 1978, where he encountered a completely new way of life. He learnt to drive tractors, lumberjacking, orange picking and looking after children. He loved it he considered it absolute paradise, 4 hours work in the day then swim, sunbathe followed by chatting up Israeli women. Simon recalls:"I have travelled a bit previously. I went to Israel for one or two weeks and actually ended up staying for three months in a kibbutz. It was just great. It was really glamorous hard work. I was a Lumberjack most of the time and I'd go again if I had the time." (Quote from a 1981 unknown interview published in the 1982 Rock Show calendar). Simon would later go on to describe part of his job as Tree Surgeon; making a new tree grow by planting a stick next to it.
He wrote 4 songs that we know of at this time. Sound Of Thunder; of course being in the desert, rain was life or death, with Simon having nothing to do all day but wait for some rain. He also wrote the original Tel Aviv, you know, the one which was replaced on the album by a different instrumental song. Both are beautiful. Next we have, according to the fandom wiki, Careless Memories. Also around this time, we have The Chauffeur.
You can hear Simon tell the next part of the story by going to 3:55 in this video.
Out on the tar plains, the glides are moving
- out in the hot shimmering oil-rich desert, the women seem to glide on the surface,
All looking for a new place to drive
- They are looking for a new place to drive their tractor (perhaps sheep and livestock, fresh grass)
You sit beside me, so newly charming
- A girl sits beside him, wearing camouflage, with only her eyes showing
Sweating dewdrops glisten fresh by your side
-They are both hot and sweating.
And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind
The front of your dress all shadowy lined
- As the red late evening sun sets, it penetrates the womans' cloths, showing the silhouette of her figure underneath.
And the droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart
- They are by an oil driller, it pumps slowly and regularly, like her beating heart.
Way down the lane away, living for another day
The aphids swarm up in the drifting haze
- Way down the line in the dirt which marks out the dusty road, the local locusts swarm like green aphids on a rose bush.
Swim seagull in the sky towards that hollow western isle
My envied lady holds you fast in her gaze
- There is a bird in the sky which is flying West towards the sea, holding her gaze, reminding her of the dream of living in England - where Simon lives. To taste the other side of paradise?
And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind
The front of your dress all shadowy lined
And the droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart
And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind
The front of your dress all shadowy lined
And the droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart
Sing blue silver
- This is perhaps a reference to the silver blue oil pumping machines. Perhaps painted blue but flaking off, showing the silver mental below? This is moving up and down, with a slow steady rhythm - like: Ker-shwoowwn Ker-shhwoowwn.
And watching lovers part I feel you smiling
- She is lovely and makes eyes of warmth towards him, Simon can imagine her smiling beneith her camouflage robes.
What glass splinters lie so deep in your mind?
- Simon imagines the horrors of the constant political and religious wars and strife in this region of the world, - going back perhaps 2000 years.
To tear out from your eyes with a word to stiffen brooding lies
And I'll only watch you leave me further behind
- To bring up those glass splinters in conversation, or by talking about his home life, he would be robbing her of her hardness, her pride.
And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind
The front of your dress all shadowy lined
And the droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart
And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind
The front of your dress all shadowy lined
The droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart
Sing blue silver
Sing, sing blue silver...
At the end of the song, there is a sound sample from a TV show (before there was a term for this sort of sampling), something like a nature show, talking about "color?, form and shape". Perhaps it is meant to represent a woman as a growing tree, as SLB was a tree surgeon at the time he wrote it.
Well, there you go. The song for me will always be associated with my youth, the innocence of my youth, and a couple of dark haired women wearing black corvettes.
Summer - Simon spends three months working at Kibbutz Gvulot in the Negev desert in Israel, 1978, where he encountered a completely new way of life. He learnt to drive tractors, lumberjacking, orange picking and looking after children. He loved it he considered it absolute paradise, 4 hours work in the day then swim, sunbathe followed by chatting up Israeli women. Simon recalls:"I have travelled a bit previously. I went to Israel for one or two weeks and actually ended up staying for three months in a kibbutz. It was just great. It was really glamorous hard work. I was a Lumberjack most of the time and I'd go again if I had the time." (Quote from a 1981 unknown interview published in the 1982 Rock Show calendar). Simon would later go on to describe part of his job as Tree Surgeon; making a new tree grow by planting a stick next to it.
He wrote 4 songs that we know of at this time. Sound Of Thunder; of course being in the desert, rain was life or death, with Simon having nothing to do all day but wait for some rain. He also wrote the original Tel Aviv, you know, the one which was replaced on the album by a different instrumental song. Both are beautiful. Next we have, according to the fandom wiki, Careless Memories. Also around this time, we have The Chauffeur.
You can hear Simon tell the next part of the story by going to 3:55 in this video.
Out on the tar plains, the glides are moving
- out in the hot shimmering oil-rich desert, the women seem to glide on the surface,
All looking for a new place to drive
- They are looking for a new place to drive their tractor (perhaps sheep and livestock, fresh grass)
You sit beside me, so newly charming
- A girl sits beside him, wearing camouflage, with only her eyes showing
Sweating dewdrops glisten fresh by your side
-They are both hot and sweating.
And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind
The front of your dress all shadowy lined
- As the red late evening sun sets, it penetrates the womans' cloths, showing the silhouette of her figure underneath.
And the droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart
- They are by an oil driller, it pumps slowly and regularly, like her beating heart.
Way down the lane away, living for another day
The aphids swarm up in the drifting haze
- Way down the line in the dirt which marks out the dusty road, the local locusts swarm like green aphids on a rose bush.
Swim seagull in the sky towards that hollow western isle
My envied lady holds you fast in her gaze
- There is a bird in the sky which is flying West towards the sea, holding her gaze, reminding her of the dream of living in England - where Simon lives. To taste the other side of paradise?
And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind
The front of your dress all shadowy lined
And the droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart
And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind
The front of your dress all shadowy lined
And the droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart
Sing blue silver
- This is perhaps a reference to the silver blue oil pumping machines. Perhaps painted blue but flaking off, showing the silver mental below? This is moving up and down, with a slow steady rhythm - like: Ker-shwoowwn Ker-shhwoowwn.
And watching lovers part I feel you smiling
- She is lovely and makes eyes of warmth towards him, Simon can imagine her smiling beneith her camouflage robes.
What glass splinters lie so deep in your mind?
- Simon imagines the horrors of the constant political and religious wars and strife in this region of the world, - going back perhaps 2000 years.
To tear out from your eyes with a word to stiffen brooding lies
And I'll only watch you leave me further behind
- To bring up those glass splinters in conversation, or by talking about his home life, he would be robbing her of her hardness, her pride.
And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind
The front of your dress all shadowy lined
And the droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart
And the sun drips down bedding heavy behind
The front of your dress all shadowy lined
The droning engine throbs in time with your beating heart
Sing blue silver
Sing, sing blue silver...
At the end of the song, there is a sound sample from a TV show (before there was a term for this sort of sampling), something like a nature show, talking about "color?, form and shape". Perhaps it is meant to represent a woman as a growing tree, as SLB was a tree surgeon at the time he wrote it.
Well, there you go. The song for me will always be associated with my youth, the innocence of my youth, and a couple of dark haired women wearing black corvettes.