It Took 4 Years, But I Now Love The Count Of Tuscany

[volwrath]

I used to think the lyrics are cheesy, now I think they are alot of fun.  I think Ayreon lyrics are much more cheeze

[theseoafs]

The lyrics would be excusable if the song were more interesting from a narrative or musical standpoint, but it unfortunately is not.  The storyline basically amounts to "once I met a guy who scared me except it all turned out ok" and while the intro and outro are suitably pretty, I find the music that plays over the verse and chorus pretty boring.

[GalacticGuitarist87]

I have always loved this song, the lyrics never bothered me, mainly because the band wrote cheesy lyrics at the time anyways and this song fit right in. This is my favorite DT epic.

[bosk1]

The lyrics would be excusable if the song were more interesting from a narrative or musical standpoint, but it unfortunately is not.  The storyline basically amounts to "once I met a guy who scared me except it all turned out ok" and while the intro and outro are suitably pretty, I find the music that plays over the verse and chorus pretty boring.

Yes, and the lyrics of Learning To Live are basically just "AIDS sux," and the lyrics of home are basically just "I want to sex up some chick that is sexin' up my brother," and the lyrics of Octavarium are basically just "the number 8 is cool and so are things that move in cycles," and the lyrics of Ytsejam are basically just "..."  You can condense any song lyrics down to absurdity if you simplify them enough.  That really misses the point.

[KevShmev]

A musically brilliant song that is somewhat dragged down by the lyrics.  They're not terrible lyrics, they're just too...literal.

Agreed.

Yes, and the lyrics of Learning To Live are basically just "AIDS sux," and the lyrics of home are basically just "I want to sex up some chick that is sexin' up my brother," and the lyrics of Octavarium are basically just "the number 8 is cool and so are things that move in cycles," and the lyrics of Ytsejam are basically just "..."  You can condense any song lyrics down to absurdity if you simplify them enough.  That really misses the point.

Except that the lyrics in The Count... beat you over the head with their meaning, while something like Learning to Live does not.  There is no line in Learning to Live as cheesy and poor as, "All the finest wines improve with age!"  That sounds like such a cliched line, and to use it in a song?  Come on.

[theseoafs]

The lyrics would be excusable if the song were more interesting from a narrative or musical standpoint, but it unfortunately is not.  The storyline basically amounts to "once I met a guy who scared me except it all turned out ok" and while the intro and outro are suitably pretty, I find the music that plays over the verse and chorus pretty boring.

Yes, and the lyrics of Learning To Live are basically just "AIDS sux," and the lyrics of home are basically just "I want to sex up some chick that is sexin' up my brother," and the lyrics of Octavarium are basically just "the number 8 is cool and so are things that move in cycles," and the lyrics of Ytsejam are basically just "..."  You can condense any song lyrics down to absurdity if you simplify them enough.  That really misses the point.

You misunderstood my point.  The lyrics of Learning to Live and Octavarium are (IMO) beautiful and thought-provoking.  In both songs, there's some really lovely imagery and poetry, and 8V lyric's are full of references that tie the album's themes together and are fun to explore as you get to know the quirks of the album.  Moreover, they're both written in a way that the actual subject matter doesn't really matter all that much.  I don't know exactly what inspired 8V, but in a way that's a good thing because I can draw my own meanings and conclusions about the symbols and imagery.

I said that the lyrics of the song would be excusable if the subject matter were interesting, and that's what I meant.  TCOT's lyrics are supposed to be written in a personal, casual style rather than a metaphorical one.  The lyrics are supposed to sound like an actual American human is telling you a story.  I get that part of it.  Unfortunately, since the lyrics aren't as mystical as, say, Learning to Live's, TCOT depends entirely on its story, which IMO is just kinda boring.  This is in stark to contrast to, say, Wither, which (being about writer's block) isn't about anything inherently interesting either, but is written in such a way that the lyrics are still interesting and pleasant.

[King Postwhore]

The lyrics never swayed me from a song I like.  Sure there are lyrics I connects to in such a way that it moves me but a good song only slightly lessens for me with bad lyrics.

[bosk1]

There is no line in Learning to Live as cheesy and poor as, "All the finest wines improve with age!"  That sounds like such a cliched line, and to use it in a song?  Come on.

It's not "cheesey" or "poor."  But of course it is a cliche.  It is a well-known '80s pop culture reference that was used as one of many poetic devices in the song to indirectly hint at the absurdity of the situation with the count and the fact that the count was a bit off and out of touch himself.  That's the whole point.  It's supposed to be cliched.  JP purposely used a cliche that most people in his general age group should know because it fit the song perfectly.

[bosk1]

The lyrics would be excusable if the song were more interesting from a narrative or musical standpoint, but it unfortunately is not.  The storyline basically amounts to "once I met a guy who scared me except it all turned out ok" and while the intro and outro are suitably pretty, I find the music that plays over the verse and chorus pretty boring.

Yes, and the lyrics of Learning To Live are basically just "AIDS sux," and the lyrics of home are basically just "I want to sex up some chick that is sexin' up my brother," and the lyrics of Octavarium are basically just "the number 8 is cool and so are things that move in cycles," and the lyrics of Ytsejam are basically just "..."  You can condense any song lyrics down to absurdity if you simplify them enough.  That really misses the point.

You misunderstood my point.  The lyrics of Learning to Live and Octavarium are (IMO) beautiful and thought-provoking.  In both songs, there's some really lovely imagery and poetry, and 8V lyric's are full of references that tie the album's themes together and are fun to explore as you get to know the quirks of the album.  Moreover, they're both written in a way that the actual subject matter doesn't really matter all that much.  I don't know exactly what inspired 8V, but in a way that's a good thing because I can draw my own meanings and conclusions about the symbols and imagery.

I said that the lyrics of the song would be excusable if the subject matter were interesting, and that's what I meant.  TCOT's lyrics are supposed to be written in a personal, casual style rather than a metaphorical one.  The lyrics are supposed to sound like an actual American human is telling you a story.  I get that part of it.  Unfortunately, since the lyrics aren't as mystical as, say, Learning to Live's, TCOT depends entirely on its story, which IMO is just kinda boring.  This is in stark to contrast to, say, Wither, which (being about writer's block) isn't about anything inherently interesting either, but is written in such a way that the lyrics are still interesting and pleasant.

Yeah, well you didn't even address my point about the lyrics of Ytsejam, so I win.

[theseoafs]

[antigoon]

I think the lyrics make the song even better. The music is over the top, and so are the silly lyrics. I've always interpreted them as tounge-in-cheek. Petrucci has penned FAR worse lyrics.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

bosk, what happened to your post count?

[425]

Except that the lyrics in The Count... beat you over the head with their meaning, while something like Learning to Live does not.  There is no line in Learning to Live as cheesy and poor as, "All the finest wines improve with age!"  That sounds like such a cliched line, and to use it in a song?  Come on.

To add to what bosk said about this line, I think it's very clear that it's not meant to be taken literally. John isn't like "Hmm, there's some old wine. Old wine is good." At this point the Count has basically said "Legend says that there are dead people in that wine," and John's response is this almost dry witticism, "all the finest wines improve with age." It's amusing and simultaneously ominous, because it's like "people say wine improves with age, but this wine has an aging corpse inside it, so this commonly held belief makes no sense in this context!"

The Count's lyrics aren't too serious. They're kind of a silly story that seems to satirize the scary story type lyrics that dominate a lot of metal songs, like half of Iron Maiden's discography (Dance of Death, anyone?). It seems to be this terrifying story but actually all the scary things turn out to be quite silly and the perceived threat is not at all dangerous. It's over the top on purpose, and was probably intended to satirize lyrics that are over the top but take themselves completely seriously.

And as bosk pointed out, the finest wines line actually does count (of tuscanaaaaaay) as a poetic device, and there are a lot more in the song. I could probably write a whole essay about just the "Down the cellar stairs… improve with age" section, let alone the whole song. Just to point out one more thing, how about the implicit meaning behind the description of the count of a young man "bred from royal blood" who lives in a castle but simultaneously lives in the modern day, drives his own car, and gives tours to guitarists. And how does the Count's modern behavior, like driving around in his own car, work in contrast with the fact that he lives in "an ancient world of times gone by"?

I really should write detailed literary/poetic analyses of DT lyrics sometime. Because that's only the beginning of what I can dig out from The Count of Tuscany, so imagine what I could get from something like Scarred.

[Zook]

Except that the lyrics in The Count... beat you over the head with their meaning, while something like Learning to Live does not.  There is no line in Learning to Live as cheesy and poor as, "All the finest wines improve with age!"  That sounds like such a cliched line, and to use it in a song?  Come on.

It's a tongue in cheek camp fire story. The lyrics are goofy, but it's not supposed to be taken seriously, which most of you are doing.

[FlyingBIZKIT]

BEARDED GENTLEMAN

[adamack]

To add to what bosk said about this line, I think it's very clear that it's not meant to be taken literally. John isn't like "Hmm, there's some old wine. Old wine is good." At this point the Count has basically said "Legend says that there are dead people in that wine," and John's response is this almost dry witticism, "all the finest wines improve with age." It's amusing and simultaneously ominous, because it's like "people say wine improves with age, but this wine has an aging corpse inside it, so this commonly held belief makes no sense in this context!"

The Count's lyrics aren't too serious. They're kind of a silly story that seems to satirize the scary story type lyrics that dominate a lot of metal songs, like half of Iron Maiden's discography (Dance of Death, anyone?). It seems to be this terrifying story but actually all the scary things turn out to be quite silly and the perceived threat is not at all dangerous. It's over the top on purpose, and was probably intended to satirize lyrics that are over the top but take themselves completely seriously.

And as bosk pointed out, the finest wines line actually does count (of tuscanaaaaaay) as a poetic device, and there are a lot more in the song. I could probably write a whole essay about just the "Down the cellar stairs... improve with age" section, let alone the whole song. Just to point out one more thing, how about the implicit meaning behind the description of the count of a young man "bred from royal blood" who lives in a castle but simultaneously lives in the modern day, drives his own car, and gives tours to guitarists. And how does the Count's modern behavior, like driving around in his own car, work in contrast with the fact that he lives in "an ancient world of times gone by"?

I really should write detailed literary/poetic analyses of DT lyrics sometime. Because that's only the beginning of what I can dig out from The Count of Tuscany, so imagine what I could get from something like Scarred.

Hahah, this is awesome man. Definitely helped to clear some things up as I've never thought into this even one-one thousandth as you.

I guess I should cut the lyrics some slack, seeing as how the lighter, near comical words in this song appear to be intended as such.

I think what has always thrown me off is that, coming from JLB, it is a bit hard to interpret him as anything but serious. IMO, at least.

Except of course, for a few of his obvious "role-playing" lyrics in songs such as TTTSTA ("Why don't we try SHOCK treatment?!"), and I'm sure there are some others.

[1neeto]

COT is the ONLY BC&SL song that keeps that album from being complete shit.

[Moonchild]

holy shit!! That's scary! 

[425]

I think what has always thrown me off is that, coming from JLB, it is a bit hard to interpret him as anything but serious. IMO, at least.

Except of course, for a few of his obvious "role-playing" lyrics in songs such as TTTSTA ("Why don't we try SHOCK treatment?!"), and I'm sure there are some others.

I definitely understand this (I actually love it about JLB), you really have to read the lyrics to see the satire.

And that bit in TTTSTA is fantastic, between James' intonation and Mike's falsetto and also the riff behind them. I can't think of any other songs where JLB uses that style, though.

[Podaar]

It's a tongue in cheek camp fire story. The lyrics are goofy, but it's not supposed to be taken seriously, which most of you are doing.

This is always the way I took the lyrics which has always made it mostly enjoyable to me. What I don't like occasionally is the way the lyrics are delivered. The first time I heard this song I thought to myself, "Could someone please tell Mike to butt-out!" His 'tough' vocal delivery always felt contrived to me. While it was jarring at first I barely notice it anymore. Like zoning out my mother when she's droning on about going to temple.

The music to this song is steller and when I have time to listen to it completely it always puts me in a great mood.

[TAC]

Except that the lyrics in The Count... beat you over the head with their meaning, while something like Learning to Live does not.  There is no line in Learning to Live as cheesy and poor as, "All the finest wines improve with age!"  That sounds like such a cliched line, and to use it in a song?  Come on.

It's a tongue in cheek camp fire story. The lyrics are goofy, but it's not supposed to be taken seriously, which most of you are doing.

Zook, I completely agree.

[Zook]

Except that the lyrics in The Count... beat you over the head with their meaning, while something like Learning to Live does not.  There is no line in Learning to Live as cheesy and poor as, "All the finest wines improve with age!"  That sounds like such a cliched line, and to use it in a song?  Come on.

It's a tongue in cheek camp fire story. The lyrics are goofy, but it's not supposed to be taken seriously, which most of you are doing.

Zook, I completely agree.

o/

[TAC]

Ok, now you lost me again..

..but that's OK. It was fun while it lasted!

[Zook]

You're seriously going to leave me hangin'?


Jerk.

[TAC]

I don't know what that means.

[Podaar]

TAC

o/ means "high five". He's waiting for you to respond with \o in order to complete the emoticon o/\o

Thus,

You're seriously going to leave me hangin'?

[Zook]

I don't know what that means.

High five, man.

I do this: o/

and you do this: *\o



...

[adamack]

I think what has always thrown me off is that, coming from JLB, it is a bit hard to interpret him as anything but serious. IMO, at least.

Except of course, for a few of his obvious "role-playing" lyrics in songs such as TTTSTA ("Why don't we try SHOCK treatment?!"), and I'm sure there are some others.

I definitely understand this (I actually love it about JLB), you really have to read the lyrics to see the satire.

And that bit in TTTSTA is fantastic, between James' intonation and Mike's falsetto and also the riff behind them. I can't think of any other songs where JLB uses that style, though.

Yes, it's awesome! The first time I heard Mike's falsetto part I was like "WTF is this?!" but it fits the theme of the piece well.

As for James, I can't think of any of that particular style either. But adding to my previous post, a couple come to mind of when he kinda "plays" other characters:

- In Voices, when he takes on the roll of a schizophrenic losing his mind, and his vocal intonation (adding this word to my repertoire, thanks ) really reflects that, especially in the "thought disorder" section.

- Because SFaM was a concept album, JLB also had to assume the role of Nicholas, Victoria, Edward (The Miracle) and Julian (The Sleeper). Though nowhere as evident as in TTTSTA, it does seem like James adjusts his voice slightly to account for each character. (Ex: Victoria's parts are either sang in the higher register of James' voice, or sang with a more feminine characteristic such as the "Feeling good this Friday afternoon" verse section of FF)

I'm sure there are more if I thought into it some more. But in any case, nothing is anywhere near as evident as his role on TTTSTA.

[bosk1]

o/

I know it wasn't aimed at me, but I got you, bro.

*\o

[Zook]

Oh, uh gee, thanks. High five, heh heh.

[TAC]

Except that the lyrics in The Count... beat you over the head with their meaning, while something like Learning to Live does not.  There is no line in Learning to Live as cheesy and poor as, "All the finest wines improve with age!"  That sounds like such a cliched line, and to use it in a song?  Come on.

It's a tongue in cheek camp fire story. The lyrics are goofy, but it's not supposed to be taken seriously, which most of you are doing.

Zook, I completely agree.

o/

*\o




Ok, now can someone explain what FTFM and FTFY MEAN?

[Kotowboy]

Fixed That For Me & Fixed That For You

as in : I've changed it to represent how I feel about it.

[TAC]

Fixed That For Me & Fixed That For You

as in : I've changed it to represent how I feel about it.

Thank you. I've seen it a lot and never knew what it meant.


Wow, I'm really learning a lot today!

[bosk1]

Well then, congratulations, and here's a duck:

[King Postwhore]

Tim man, even this old fart knows that.

BTW 4 years since BC&SL.  Time sure does fly by.