idiotboy
11-21-2002, 11:14 PM
hi all. as my first post on this board, i'd like to say hello and offer my thoughts on "the grudge". if you disagree that's fine.
(background info) i looked up saturn according to greek mythology, and Saturn's greek name is Cronos. he is Zeus' father, but for the purposes of this song i'll continue to call him Saturn.
Saturn was told in prophecy that one of his children would rise against him and kill him. Saturn wanted to keep his power, so he devoured all of his children...all except Zeus. instead, Zeus' mother fashioned a stone into the shape of the child, dressed it in his clothing, and Saturn ate it instead. Zeus was given to two fairies (i believe) and raised unbeknownst to his father. he eventually grew into a man and rose against Saturn. Zeus poisoned his father, who vomited up his five other children (and the stone! heh heh), now full grown, and all six of them killed Saturn promptly.
so what does this have to do with the song? this may seem loosely associated, but this is what i think...
1. Zeus held a grudge against his father and rose up to defeat him. grudges, then, or a lack of forgiveness, will devour (no pun intended) us.
2. "scarlet lettermen" definitely are a reference to nathaniel hawthorne's "the scarlet letter", i agree, but i feel this is just a symbol projecting judgment on a long-past crime.
3. "the one the ten", to me, appears to be one character against ten...
one. Saturn.
against...
one. Zeus.
two. Zeus' mother.
three. Zeus' sibling.
four. "
five. "
six. "
seven. "
eight. the prophet who warned Saturn of his demise.
nine. a fairie who raised Zeus.
ten. "
4. Saturn "spit (the stone) out like a child" after he "dragged (them) down like a stone", the stone that he swallowed instead of Zeus. this is one of those cool maynard lines, like he's saying "spit the stone out like he spit out a child, after dragging the child down like he dragged a stone".
5. Saturn unknowingly swallowed a large boulder instead of Zeus, making him "ignorant to the damage done".
6. instead of deciding to "let go, let go" of what the prophet told him, Saturn chose to "justify denials and grip 'em to the lonesome end".
7. "saturn ascends" seems to be a sarcastic or ironic statement to me, in that he actually fell in the battle to his children.
i hope everyone understands what i mean. thanks for reading!
(background info) i looked up saturn according to greek mythology, and Saturn's greek name is Cronos. he is Zeus' father, but for the purposes of this song i'll continue to call him Saturn.
Saturn was told in prophecy that one of his children would rise against him and kill him. Saturn wanted to keep his power, so he devoured all of his children...all except Zeus. instead, Zeus' mother fashioned a stone into the shape of the child, dressed it in his clothing, and Saturn ate it instead. Zeus was given to two fairies (i believe) and raised unbeknownst to his father. he eventually grew into a man and rose against Saturn. Zeus poisoned his father, who vomited up his five other children (and the stone! heh heh), now full grown, and all six of them killed Saturn promptly.
so what does this have to do with the song? this may seem loosely associated, but this is what i think...
1. Zeus held a grudge against his father and rose up to defeat him. grudges, then, or a lack of forgiveness, will devour (no pun intended) us.
2. "scarlet lettermen" definitely are a reference to nathaniel hawthorne's "the scarlet letter", i agree, but i feel this is just a symbol projecting judgment on a long-past crime.
3. "the one the ten", to me, appears to be one character against ten...
one. Saturn.
against...
one. Zeus.
two. Zeus' mother.
three. Zeus' sibling.
four. "
five. "
six. "
seven. "
eight. the prophet who warned Saturn of his demise.
nine. a fairie who raised Zeus.
ten. "
4. Saturn "spit (the stone) out like a child" after he "dragged (them) down like a stone", the stone that he swallowed instead of Zeus. this is one of those cool maynard lines, like he's saying "spit the stone out like he spit out a child, after dragging the child down like he dragged a stone".
5. Saturn unknowingly swallowed a large boulder instead of Zeus, making him "ignorant to the damage done".
6. instead of deciding to "let go, let go" of what the prophet told him, Saturn chose to "justify denials and grip 'em to the lonesome end".
7. "saturn ascends" seems to be a sarcastic or ironic statement to me, in that he actually fell in the battle to his children.
i hope everyone understands what i mean. thanks for reading!