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Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:24 pm
by ik911
Nipple... Wow, that's just such a cool sounding word! :cool: <--- like that.

I gotta say it more often IRL.

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:28 pm
by Sytze
Tepel doesn't sound :cool: at all Ik...

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:48 pm
by Ideal Maxima
happy birthday

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:28 pm
by Galuf the Dwarf
Hmmm... did anybody at all recognize the title of my reply (ie: The first 3/4 of it)? :confused:

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:43 pm
by Vicsun
Craving attention?

This is what wikipedia has to say on the subject:

"All Along the Watchtower" is a song written by folk-rock musician Bob Dylan. The song was recorded by the artist as a quiet, menacing three-chord folk song, featuring only an acoustic guitar, bass guitar, harmonica and drums for release on his equally quiet and menacing album John Wesley Harding, which was released on December 27, 1967.

Dylan, recovering from a motorcycle accident that marks a shift in his career as an amphetamine-driven rock-poet, was reading the Bible on a daily basis. As with many of the lyrics to the songs on this album, the words to "Watchtower" contain possible Biblical and apocalyptic references, and are difficult to decipher with any degree of certainty. Taken literally, the song concerns a conversation between two people, a "joker" and a "thief", on the difficulties of getting by in life ("There's too much confusion;" "There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke"). At the end of the song, the pair either approach a watchtower (manned by princes and servants), or the watchtower (which the joker and thief are presumably in) is approached by two other riders. This point is difficult to ascertain as the viewpoint of the song switches abruptly. One commonly hypothesized inspiration for the song is the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 21:8-9, and it is easy to believe that Dylan's couplet:

Outside in the distance a wild cat did growl,
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl

may have sprung from Isaiah's similarly apocalyptic:

And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights. And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.

An alternate explanation is that this song is about changing established society. The song begins during a conversation between two people, the Joker and the Thief. The Thief is sympathizing with the Joker, who wants to escape his position in life and hates the values of society. The third verse suddenly shifts the scene, changing from a conversation to an almost unrelated verse filled with imagery of princes, women, and barefoot servants guarding a castle, who are said to represent established society. "All along the watchtower, the princes kept the view" suggests that the wealthy are maintaining the status-quo. Suddenly "Somewhere in the distance, a wildcat does growl" suggests danger is approaching - embodied by the Joker and the Theif ("Two riders are approaching") They are coming to change the social order, but the guarded castle suggests there will be confrontation.

The song has been covered by many artists, including Richie Havens, XTC, the Indigo Girls, U2, Neil Young, TSOL, and the Dave Matthews Band, but innovative guitarist Jimi Hendrix recorded what is considered by many to be the most notable cover, one which has overshadowed Dylan's own performance. Hendrix heard the track after being taken to a party by Traffic's Dave Mason. Jimi, a longtime fan of Dylan's work, commented he would love to cover the track. The same night Dave Mason and Hendrix were recording their version in the studio with Brian Jones for an audience. While Dylan's version had been minimalistic and menacing, Hendrix's spared nothing - his wailing electric guitar and sing-song vocal delivery were mesmerizing and wholly different from Dylan's quiet folk song.

Hendrix rearranged the song to include several evocative and intricate electric guitar solos, and recorded the song with stunning energy as a single on his album Electric Ladyland in 1968. The song was an immediate hit—ironically, the only Top 40 single Hendrix would release in his lifetime. Many assumed that Hendrix had written the song himself, so different was his delivery from Dylan's. Dylan's subsequent live performances of his own song have also used an electric guitar and been closer to Hendrix's arrangement than his studio version; that said, however, it should be noted that most of Dylan's contemporary live performances use electric guitars, and he typically re-arranges all his songs in concert.

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:50 pm
by Fiberfar
Happy Birthday TM...
have a great one :)

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 8:38 pm
by Galuf the Dwarf
Vicsun: I was just looking to make somebody chuckle, that's all.

Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 8:52 pm
by werebeargoddess
happy birthday, TM! :D

*hugs*

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 4:03 am
by Tamerlane
A belated happy b'day TM.

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 6:40 am
by Luis Antonio
[QUOTE=Galuf the Dwarf]Vicsun: I was just looking to make somebody chuckle, that's all.[/QUOTE]

Never count with Vicsun for that. He always makes a mess, and he seems to love wikipedia :D

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 11:25 pm
by Tower_Master
Aww! Thanks guys! :D I feel all "warm and fuzzy" inside...Sorry I didn't post 'till a day later!

Yeltu: 62? Wow! I knew I looked old, but not THAT bad...and what's this about me being a twin??? :eek: Just what the world needs! ANOTHER ME!

Brynn: LOL...that'd be sweet...if I had a twin...which I don't...where's everbody getting this information from??? :confused: Still, though, thanks for the...um..."beautiful" song! ;)

Ik: Thanks, mate! 'preciate it!

Rob: LOL! I might have to shrink that down and set good ol' BA Barracus as my avatar... :D

Sytze: Thanks a ton, master!

Locke:..........nipple.

Lu: CM? SING? ... Oh my. Had quite the party yesterday, though. Good times all around!

DW: Thank you! I actually had a great bithday yesterday; I got to spend time with all of my immediate family (and friends, later on) but one of my sisters, who was off on the other side of the country! It was nice to sit down and eat with everyone again for the first time in too long!

Galuf: AAH! I love that song! Dylan did it best, but I'd argue that Dave Matthews did a respectable cover of it on the "Live at Red Rocks" recording. :cool:

MC: !etam ,tol a sknahT

Arno: AAAGH! I thougth you died or something! I haven't seen you post in a couple of weeks! :rolleyes: Thanks a ton!

Maxi: Thank you! (And for not trying to murder me for once! What a novelty!)

Fiberfar: Thanks, Clementine man! 'Twas a great one, indeed!

WBG: *hugs back* Thanks, heathen!

Tamerlane: Hey! Thank you! (and, even if you were "belated", you still managed to beat me to posting in the thread...d'oh)!

So, in short: Thanks to everyone, my birthday went incredibally well, I had a really good time and managed to NOT get wasted (what a novelty), I DON'T have a twin, Fable's older then I am (I'm not 62), and "nipple".

Thanks so much for the well-wishes!

Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 11:46 pm
by Maharlika
Better late than never!

Belated Happy Birthday, ToMa! :D :cool:

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 8:44 am
by Yeltsu
What!? You are not a twin? What was thisthen?

I don't know why it said you were 62 years old, but it might have been an error since there were also like 4 other who also became 62 years old.

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 8:55 am
by CM
Damn 62. You are as old as fable. Your grandkids happy to see you spamming on SYM?

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 10:28 am
by Sytze
Maybe they're spamming happily along. :p

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 10:37 am
by CM
Damn....you think The little Weaselite could be next?

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 10:40 am
by Sytze
That's a future I'm unwilling to face for now

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 10:45 am
by CM
Hmm a new High CoMM but a female. I must ponder this.

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 10:47 am
by Sytze
It's of no use for the next 18 years anyway CM. :p

Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 10:48 am
by CM
true. But as my brain works slowly with cream soda i would be needing 20 years :D