I have a couple of classic rock questions, that are begging for answers, the correct answers.
What is the deal with Manfred Mann’s version of Blinded By The Light? “Revved up like a douche”? WTF? The original Springsteen lyric is “Cut loose like a deuce”, as in a Deuce Coupe, you know, the car.
So why is the lead singer singing about a feminine hygiene product? Or is he saying something else?
2) What is the deal with ELO’sDon’t Bring Me Down? I’m looking at the lyrics to the song right now, and I don’t see the words “BRRRRRUUUUCE!!” anywhere. In fact, I don’t see any words at all after “Don’t bring me down” in the chorus.
3) Mott The Hoople/David Bowie’sAll The Young Dudes is a gay anthem, right?
4) Did I hear correctly that Paul Rogers is touring with the former members of Queen? Ah, that just doesn’t seem right.
Rolled up like a deuce. A reference to rolling two ones in dice. A very bad thing. This very question was addressed in a Vacant Lot sketch, which was one of the funniest comedy sketches ever televised.
See, I thought the Manfred Mann version was “revved up like a deuce.” Same general thing as the Bruce version, meaning deuce coupe. In this case, ready to go on all eight cylinders. Four on the floor. Pedal to the metal. Cliche paradise.
Wish I could offer anything on ELO, other than always thinking it was “Bruce” myself, but it could just be their own whomp-bama-loom-ma.
I’m sure others will be in on “All the Young Dudes.” Kickass song is all I can say. And if I had to guess, yeah, gay anthem (IANAGayMan). Kinda a sexy song no matter what, but that’s what you get with David Bowie.
Think I heard something similar along the Queen lines. But too lazy to search for a cite.
And welcome to the boards, OC. Local? It’s been my family’s vacation spot for years, and I have some local area relatives.
I’m not sure anyone knows quite what the trilled out word after “don’t bring me down” actually is supposed to be. I’ve heard some people claim “vamoose” and that makes sense in the context of the song: Don’t bring me down, go away! I think its just one of those messed up lil noises that sound good.
Mott The Hoople/David Bowie’sAll The Young Dudes is a gay anthem, right?
[/QUOTE]
I think I can safely say I have never heard of All The Young Dudes being an anthem for anyone, let alone the gay community. However I’m also a rather young queer man so maybe it’s just something the older generation doesn’t like to talk about
When a singer repeats the same line forty times in one recording, and it’s still not clear what the hell the words are, he’s deliberately confusing the listener. I don’t need that kind of grief.
As for Bruce, I googled “elo bring me down” and found a message posted at a lyrics site. The poster claims a VH1 show covered the question, and that it was originally “gruce,” and nonsense sound he came up with. Then a German engineer mentioned that “Gruess” was a German greeting, and they wound up leaving the sound/word in the song. Don’t know if it’s true at all, but it’s a good story, as they say.
I think I can safely say I have never heard of All The Young Dudes being an anthem for anyone, let alone the gay community. However I’m also a rather young queer man so maybe it’s just something the older generation doesn’t like to talk about
[/QUOTE]
I make no mention of whether or not it has a gay context. That’s no really relevant to the question of whether or not it is a gay anthem. There are plenty of songs with the same context that I wouldn’t consider anthems, as well as plenty of anthems without the context. Take, for example, Dancing Queen! You wanna get a certain generation of gay men up and dancing? Play this ABBA hit. It’s not, however, a gay song. It was just popular in the gay community.
All The Young Dudes may or may not be queerer than a three dollar bill but I ain’t ever heard it played at a Gay Pride Parade.
Years ago, I was listening to some sort of countdown on the radio and Manfred Mann’s version of “Blinded by the Light” came on. The DJ explained that when MM originally heard the song, they loved it and decided to do a version. They misunderstood the word “deuce” - they’d never heard that and didn’t get the reference - and substituted a word they had heard before. So, I have no idea if that explanation is true or not.
I’m a MD native, too! (Montgomery County, millions of vacations in OC) Woohoo!!
That would have been VH1’s Storytellers. I have it on DVDR. Jeff Lynne tells exactly that story with a little extra.
When ELO did the song in concert, people would shout out “Bruuuuuuuce”. It took Jeff a while to figure this out. He figured that since that was what everybody thought he said, he would say it, too. In that concert and the Zoom Live Tour (if you’re a big fan or even a casual fand of ELO, I highly recommend this DVD), he sings “Bruce”.
I cannot at all back up the story I heard but until I read this thread I thought it was true.
The story I heard was that the band was teasing a sound engineer named Bruce who would request additional takes in the studio.
The would tell Bruce that he was “bringing them down” and somehow as a joke they worked it into a song. It sounded good so they went ahead and recorded the song with “Bruce” references.
Again, I got no proof. That’s just what I heard years ago
It’s not a gay anthem, unless you want it to be. There are some clues:
“Lucy’s stealing clothes from unlocked cars”
“Brother’s back at home
With his beatles and his stones
We never got if off on that revolution stuff”
“Oh the television man is crazy
Saying we’re juvenile delinquent wrecks”
“Now jimmy looks sweet ’cause he dresses like a queen
But he can kick like a mule”
It’s just about being a messed up kid in the late teens around 1972, much like Springsteen’s Spirits in the Night. On of the characters is gay, maybe. But this was the glitter/glam era.
