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Don Quixote · 05-17-2010, 02:18 PM

Gord has often said that it's up to each of us to do the interpreting.

My take on the first song is that you're partially correct. "My pony won't go" is a euphemism. My take is that it means he's been "shut down" sexually by his partner, who is leaving him for someone else ("Lookin' for the man who stole my love from me,/I gotta know the reason why my baby's leavin'/My pony won't go where I want him to go no more").

In the second song, although I doubt that he's referring literally to a "cranky old man" (since you won't find many people "tucked in the compost pile"--not that that wouldn't make someone cranky). What is going on, I think, is some personification--a toad that looks like a cranky old guy. Frogs and toads have often been part of folklore (think of several of Aesop's fables that involve them), and it makes sense if you think of it--noisy, funny-sounding, ugly-looking, and absolutely harmless to humans. Don't we all have an uncle that fits that description? At our ages, haven't many of us slipped into that role?
"Those gosh-darned kids, when I was their age, croak, croak, ree-deep..."
Best,
DQ

05-17-2010, 02:18 PM	#2
Don Quixote Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Springfield, MA 01109 Posts: 309	Re: What does the song mean? Gord has often said that it's up to each of us to do the interpreting. My take on the first song is that you're partially correct. "My pony won't go" is a euphemism. My take is that it means he's been "shut down" sexually by his partner, who is leaving him for someone else ("Lookin' for the man who stole my love from me,/I gotta know the reason why my baby's leavin'/My pony won't go where I want him to go no more"). In the second song, although I doubt that he's referring literally to a "cranky old man" (since you won't find many people "tucked in the compost pile"--not that that wouldn't make someone cranky). What is going on, I think, is some personification--a toad that looks like a cranky old guy. Frogs and toads have often been part of folklore (think of several of Aesop's fables that involve them), and it makes sense if you think of it--noisy, funny-sounding, ugly-looking, and absolutely harmless to humans. Don't we all have an uncle that fits that description? At our ages, haven't many of us slipped into that role? "Those gosh-darned kids, when I was their age, croak, croak, ree-deep..." Best, DQ