In the song 'papa' from the 'come' cd there lyrics that i don't understand. when he says 'he crucified every dandilion (sp) in the yard' does he mean he mowed the lawn???

kiasheri said:

BarbieJones said:

I always saw it as he like tied all the dandelions into little cross shapes giving an image of crucifying them, always saw it as a dark thing to spend time by doing that to each individual dandelion adding to the songs brooding and tense atmosphere

TheEnglishGent said:

LifeCanBeSoNice21 said:

I always saw it as he like tied all the dandelions into little cross shapes giving an image of crucifying them, always saw it as a dark thing to spend time by doing that to each individual dandelion adding to the songs brooding and tense atmosphere

Are you high on bath salts?

It's not meant to be taken so literal. He's describing the mindframe his father was in - he was so pissed, he even cursed the flowers outside. Then he took his anger out on the kid.

Who the fuck would write a song about someone being so angry, they laid down in the grass and tied dandelions into crosses? Are you serious with this shit?

It's right in the first line. He was pissed off about doing yard work (probably after a long day at his job) and then yelled at the kid for throwing rocks at cars.

What's so hard to understand?

Spinlight said:

LifeCanBeSoNice21 said:

I always saw it as he like tied all the dandelions into little cross shapes giving an image of crucifying them, always saw it as a dark thing to spend time by doing that to each individual dandelion adding to the songs brooding and tense atmosphere

Are you high on bath salts?

It's not meant to be taken so literal. He's describing the mindframe his father was in - he was so pissed, he even cursed the flowers outside. Then he took his anger out on the kid.

Who the fuck would write a song about someone being so angry, they laid down in the grass and tied dandelions into crosses? Are you serious with this shit?

I can safely say that no I am not high on bath salts, just giving my opinion on what the lyric meant

His father took each dandelion and individually nailed them to their own little mini crosses. However, in the 2002 version of the song, the dandelions were impaled on a mini stauros.

[Edited 8/5/12 4:19am]

The whole album is actually an allegory on horticulture.

Spinlight said:

LifeCanBeSoNice21 said:

I always saw it as he like tied all the dandelions into little cross shapes giving an image of crucifying them, always saw it as a dark thing to spend time by doing that to each individual dandelion adding to the songs brooding and tense atmosphere

Are you high on bath salts?

It's not meant to be taken so literal. He's describing the mindframe his father was in - he was so pissed, he even cursed the flowers outside. Then he took his anger out on the kid.

Who the fuck would write a song about someone being so angry, they laid down in the grass and tied dandelions into crosses? Are you serious with this shit?

This song's good, but very disturbing. When he says, "Dont abuse children, cause they turn out like me".....it kinda gave me a creepy crawly feeling. Maybe it was a reference to himself, but it sure reminded me of someone else.

Mowed the yawn? "Crucify" can mean something as simple as "crush" or "ruin". I think he just trampled the dandelions down because he was so irritated. But I gotta say this is my favorite interpretation of the line I've ever seen

SchlomoThaHomo said:

His father took each dandelion and individually nailed them to their own little mini crosses. However, in the 2002 version of the song, the dandelions were impaled on a mini stauros.

[Edited 8/5/12 4:19am]

Funkyalien said:

This song's good, but very disturbing. When he says, "Dont abuse children, cause they turn out like me".....it kinda gave me a creepy crawly feeling. Maybe it was a reference to himself, but it sure reminded me of someone else.

If the song ended there it would've been pretty creepy. But the next line that follows right up changes the entire mood of the song. Especially when he says "Deep down we're all the same, every single one of us, knows some kind of pain.". At the end, I don't think the song is about a poor child being abused, his dad killing himself and how tragic the whole situation is, but more about everyone experiencing some sort of sorrow throughout their life and everyone carrying different kinds of painful memory in their life. This little tale is a mere example.

Spinlight said:

LifeCanBeSoNice21 said:

I always saw it as he like tied all the dandelions into little cross shapes giving an image of crucifying them, always saw it as a dark thing to spend time by doing that to each individual dandelion adding to the songs brooding and tense atmosphere

Are you high on bath salts?

It's not meant to be taken so literal. He's describing the mindframe his father was in - he was so pissed, he even cursed the flowers outside. Then he took his anger out on the kid.

Who the fuck would write a song about someone being so angry, they laid down in the grass and tied dandelions into crosses? Are you serious with this shit?

haha! funny. i love ur response. but that had to be a joke........right??

Funkyalien said:

"Papa", is such a great song.

I love the dark tone in this song, and the whole album is just fantastic...

Ok Orgasm you and I know that's weird, make one cringe...

but if only "Lovesign" had been on the Come album, perfect then..

Yeah, it just means he was doing yard work. Either he was out popping dandelions with one of these (this is what folks used back when Prince was a kid)...

[img:$uid]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21jU3%2BeqvUL._SL500_AA300_.jpg[/img:$uid]

or he was using Scott's Weed and Feed lawn fertilizer.

Either way, dandelions were dyin'.

it means he picked weeds. to a little kid a dandelion is a pretty flower and then a fun toy... so picking them is seen as mean.

I think very deeply.

Spinlight said:

LifeCanBeSoNice21 said:

I always saw it as he like tied all the dandelions into little cross shapes giving an image of crucifying them, always saw it as a dark thing to spend time by doing that to each individual dandelion adding to the songs brooding and tense atmosphere

Are you high on bath salts?

It's not meant to be taken so literal. He's describing the mindframe his father was in - he was so pissed, he even cursed the flowers outside. Then he took his anger out on the kid.

Who the fuck would write a song about someone being so angry, they laid down in the grass and tied dandelionto crons isses? Are you serious with this shit?

OnlyNDaUsa said:

to a little kid a dandelion is a pretty flower and then a fun toy... so picking them is seen as mean.

^

yes,

I guess this is the answer..

BarbieJones said:

Maybe he used one of these. I hear it's hard work and it looks like a cross. [img:$uid]http://turf-tec.com/Weed-away-combobig.jpg[/img:$uid]

What on Earth is that... thing?

BarbieJones said:

Not as fancy as this one but here...

Yuuuk! This is so gross...

He said in a interview that his stepfather used to make him pick all the dandelions in the yard, I guess as "punishment" or just because he hated them and made someone else (Prince) get rid of them.

Sounds like a mean guy.

artist76 said:

He said in a interview that his stepfather used to make him pick all the dandelions in the yard, I guess as "punishment" or just because he hated them and made someone else (Prince) get rid of them.

Sounds like a mean guy.

yard work as punishment? that doesn't really sound too out of order.

errant said:

artist76 said:

He said in a interview that his stepfather used to make him pick all the dandelions in the yard, I guess as "punishment" or just because he hated them and made someone else (Prince) get rid of them.

Sounds like a mean guy.

yard work as punishment? that doesn't really sound too out of order.

I see your point. Yard work for us wasn't even punishment, it was just one of the chores us kids had as part of the family.

I don't remember the interview clearly, but my impression was that it wasn't just that. He's never elaborated about his childhood much, but maybe the stepdad got unreasonably mad if one was missed, or expected him to go out every day and remove any new ones - something like that. A child can be made to do something from a position of love & proper discipline or from a position of anger & abuse of authority. Makes a difference; the child will know the differnce.

[Edited 8/7/12 17:16pm]