I've been inspired by Carol to seek the deeper, garden-related meaning of song lyrics, and I have found the motherlode in one of the songs of the Greatest Rock Band Ever, Queen. And that song is the Greatest Song Ever Written, "Bohemian Rhapsody," by the late, great Freddie Mercury.
Listen to the song while reading along.
Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? A garden is simply the expression of a gardener's fantasy. Caught in a landslide No escape from reality But garden fantasies often come crashing down. Open your eyes, Look up to the skies and see It's important to cast a critical eye over the entire garden, including it's "ceiling." I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy, Because I'm easy come, easy go, Little high, little low Any way the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me Gardeners just have to roll with the weather punches and take whatever comes.
Mama, just killed a man, Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he's dead Mama, life had just begun, But now I've gone and thrown it all away Sometimes, we get a little too carried away with the pruning, and we end up destroying a shrub or tree. Mama, ooh, Didn't mean to make you cry, If I'm not back again this time tomorrow, Carry on, carry on, as if nothing really matters After we make such a devastating mistake, sometimes we need to take a break from the garden. Too late, my time has come, Sends shivers down my spine, Body's aching all the time Sometimes we spend too long in the garden, working too hard on something to pace ourselves, and we end up aching and sore. Goodbye, everybody, I've got go, Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth, Mama, oooh, I don't want to die, I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all When we find plants that are not performing, that are languishing in the garden, we must face the truth and remove them for the good of the garden, even if they don't want to die.
The awesome guitar solo represents how good it feels to be gardening.
I see a little silhouetto of a man, Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango Then there are the squirrels, dancing into the garden... Thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frightening me (Galileo) Galileo, (Galileo) Galileo, Galileo, Figaro, Magnifico And in the night, under the stars, come the deer. I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me, He's just a poor boy, from a poor family, Spare him his life from this monstrosity Even the humblest, most common plant deserves protection from the predations of deer, rabbits and squirrels. Easy come, easy go, will you let me go? Bismillah! No, we will not let you go! (Let him go!) Bismillah! We will not let you go! (Let him go!) Bismillah! We will not let you go! (Let me go!) Will not let you go! (Let me go!) Will not let you go! (Let me go!) No, no, no, no, no, no, no (Oh, mama mia, mama mia) Mama mia, let me go! Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me! Sometimes, no matter what we try to protect a plant, those devious creatures will attack and destroy it, and the wise gardener knows when to give up the fight.
So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye So you think you can love me and leave me to die Oh, baby, can't do this to me baby, Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here Fence those critters out of the garden, and chase those squirrels away.
The head-banging guitar solo represents the gardener banging his or her head against the wall in frustration.
Oooh, yeah, oooh, yeah, Nothing really matters, anyone can see, Nothing really matters, Nothing really matters to me Any way the wind blows Sometimes gardeners have to just trust in Nature, let go of the reins, and let the garden do its own thing.Party on Wayne! Party on Garth! (See Wayne's World, set in nearby Aurora, IL.)
Next time, I'll be analyzing the lyrics of Green Day's "She's a Rebel" as they pertain to Idaho Gardener, MA, and the lyrics of The Kinks' "Lola."
--------------------------------------------------------------------And now, in other news, I'm proud to announce that I am writing my memoirs, to be entitled, "Chronicles of Squirrelhaven: The Trials and Tribulations of a Garden Blogger, by M." I'm shopping it around to a couple of publishers right now, but my agent assures me that it's going to be snapped up very soon.Also I have just revamped the blog, tweaking and making changes. I like to do this every year to keep things fresh & relevant. What do you think? Was it worth all the time and effort?Finally, I just want to say, "April Fools!"