| Author | Message | ||
     Mark Ilsley |
I always wondered if Robert wrote this one about a specific person and who that might be. It appears to be written about an x-employer, but is it meant to be taken literally. That is; did Robert actually work as a pool attendant and who is the subject of his ire? I always thought that "Draining the pool for you" was more of a euphemism for servile compliance. No doubt we can assume it is that, but perhaps it was also meant to be taken literally. I've often thought that Roberts lyrics most often worked both as a literal first person revelation and at the higher ethereal, reflective level. For me, this is also most often the key to his humour. Making me smile with his erudite reactions to some very clumsy and everyday situations. | ||
| Padraig Collins |
"Draining The Pool For You" is about the kind of rich types in Sydney and LA (for instance) who look down on people that might be cleaning their pool without ever wondering if the pool cleaner was perhaps only doing that as a means of supporting another career... I think this explanation comes from the sleeve notes to 1978-1990, or maybe it emerged on a radion program I did on The Go-Betweens in Dublin... Not that anyone should look down on a pool cleaner even if that is their only career choice either. | ||
| Mark Ilsley |
I should ask Padraig; is your station going to be doing anything special for the Dublin show? A live-to-air or web-cast would be simply magnificent. Even a small station could organise this. ..to much to ask, I suppose. | ||
| Padraig Collins |
I know longer live in Dublin Mark, I'm in Sydney. I doubt very much that Anna Livia FM would be able to arrange an OB of the gig. | ||
| michael |
I must say that DTPFY is one of the most important songs. Having drained the pool for some months for some fascists in Brisbane while I was a student, then getting the sack for some trivial reason I sent a letter explaining the apparent problems and reached out for some degree of reprise. I was doing Wedding receptions and missed a shift which I had never said I was going to attend. Received a letter from the management saying they had noted my comments and that was it. You are powerless, you do have better prospects and you don't care if you have to go. As William Burroughs said, if someone makes you feel as though they've sucked out a quarter of yr plasma...get the fuck out there. Robert has said this without using the word fuck, as he does so well. | ||
| Pete Azzopardi |
I sympathise Michael. I washed cars for five years, while I was finishing VCE and my BA. An idealist like you, I also wrote a letter (when I quit - I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of firing me) explaining my problems with the decline in working conditions and the apparent apathy of my superiors AND co-workers. It was filed under 'F' for 'forget it'. I haven't been able to find work since, which says something about car washing and BAs (or maybe it's just me). DTPFY has never been one of my favourite Go-Bs songs. Bit like when the Stones sing 'The Salt of the Earth' - I just don't buy it for some reason. Not that I think the profession of the character in the song is to be taken literally; rather, I take the song to be an artistic statement of repression in the pop climate of the time. Musically it's a throw back to the Brisbane era of the band which I find a bit jarring in the context of SHF's mostly minor key songs. It works better on its own, IMHO and would have made a good single. Love the guitar solo section with the piano. Very drunken sounding song, as if the pool cleaner licked up the champagne in the dirt where the bottles smashed. | ||
| Matthew Berlyant Member Username: Incarag Post Number: 8 Registered: 06-2005 |
Does anyone else think that Robert sounds like Robert Smith on this song? Count me in as a fan of it BTW. Matt |