Pedro Problem...

Hi.

Ok, so I've been having this... situation.

Whenever I get a new Pedro the Lion album, I sit down and read the lyrics... then I listen to the album. Then I keep listening and reading until I understand what the songs mean. Half the fun of PTL is the incredibly complex content of his songs. You never get some sappy love song, or bitter rant against bad parents, or a "deep" song that states pop culture beliefs in every other stanza.

You get really weird, complex songs. Developed around weird, complex music. Sung by an incredibly simple, untrained voice. It ends up being a VERY enjoyable experience for me. Until the latest album, and for one reason... There is a song on the record that I do not "get."

For most people, they'd let it go, or not listen to the song, but not me. I am sitting at home on my 1/2 hour break from work ranting about this because I cannot let it go.

So I need your help. I'm going to put the song up in my next post, along with the two interpretations that I've been able to come up with. Neither is complete, and if they were, I probably wouldn't be completely satisfied with the outcome anyway... It's just a really enigmatic song. Full of what seem to be references to Christian ideals, but masked so completely that they seem like the song could be about horse racing as much as a story of the life of Christ... bizarre.

So that's what's coming next. Keep your eyes peeled, and please respond with your own ideas and interpretations.

Jim