Is it me or the lyrics are quite dark?

[sarraqum]

This is one of those songs I've listened to quite a lot but haven't paid much attention to the lyrics, until now. And it sounds pretty dark.
Murder, death maybe even suicide thrown in?

Red ribbons and roses in her hair....well, to me that sounds like someone having their brains blown out, for the lack of a better phrase.

If I tell another what your own lips told to me,
Let me lay 'neath the roses, till my eyes no longer see....if roses and red ribbons DO mean blood, then these lyrics clearly talk about murder and suicide.

I love this band, I can listen to them for so long and yet they can still surprise you.

[strumminsix]

Never like the song. Dark lyrics is an understatement but like you I didn't realize it until years after first hearing it. Just too slow and live cuts drag.

[LazyLightnin]

i love this song, but i agree it should have been left souly to acoustic sets.

[BlobWeird]

hey strummin listen to i think its 6/16/74 at des moines maybe 6/26. its a faster version and I think its great.

[G'Dad]

To me ‘Roses’ seems to be a song of loss, loneliness and secrets. However it is one of my favourites, particularly the acoustic version.

It is one of the songs I often play with a friend of mine and strangely enough while his wife often accuses us of playing depressing songs she does count this as one of her favourites.

But that’s what I like about good lyrics they can mean different things to different people.

[bodiddley]

Personally, I'll take this slow ass tune anyday over "Ship of Fools". I always thought Jer's placement of that as the 3rd or 4th song in the second set just sucked the life out of it.

[BlobWeird]

Id definitely have to disagree bodiddly. Ship of fools is a classic and a half! But of course to each his own.

"I wont leave you driftin down, but whooaaa it makes me wild. With thirty years upon my head, to have you call me child"

I love that line right there...Such good stuff

[bodiddley]

Well..I can dig and appreciatte a good "Ship of Fools" now and then when I'm in the right mood. I guess I just don't like where it often got placement in a show.

[Crazy 9.5 Fingers]

Ship of Fools - HOT!!!!!
Roses - NOT!!!

[BlobWeird]

I am alright with roses. Not the greatest but I dont mind it once in a while. Bodiddley: seeing as Ive never seen dead live and I usually skip around on cd's placement meant nothin to me ya know?

[bodiddley]

Elvis Costello actually does a great medley of the two and you can really see just how similar the two tunes are.

[BigJilm]

im not a huge fan of either, i like both of them in the right mood, but those songs always seem like a real buzzkill cuz they always seem to throw them in during the wrong part of the show. Same with songs like El Paso or Mexicali Blues. I like El Paso, but after hearing a thirty-minute long acidsoaked dark star, im just not in the mood to hear a cowboy tune, id much rather hear the other one or eyes or sumthing that keeps the mood goin, its like a rapidly moving train coming to a complete stop within a few seconds

[LaughingBones]

1/10/78 gets to me still till this day

[Jimkkc]

On the other hand, what could possibly be more out there - more acid-drenched than El Paso at the end of the dark star? I mean, if Dark Star is about breaking down musical, emotional, pyshological, lyrical barriers and creating a space and language that is both unique and original to both the band and the actual "real time" that the music is happening in, then El Paso certainly fits. Sure, Dark Star>Morning Dew or Dark Star>Eye of The World looks "better" on paper - but to be true to the spirit of the music as it is being played, sometimes Dark Star has to go into El Paso. Just my 1.5 cents worth . . .

[BigJilm]

i can dig it i guess