Matt Good And Animals

[Prometheon]

I noticed the other day while listening to some Matt Good that he uses a LOT of animal imagery.

 

While We Were Hunting Rabbits (Rabbits and Monkeys)

Blue Bird

The Future is X-Rated (monkys)

Failing the Rorscach Test (Rabbits again)

Sort of a Protest Song (Lion)

Let's Get it On (bird again)

 

and the list goes on and on and on.

 

Why do you think this is?

Edited May 31, 2006 by Prometheon

[Stu]

Well, those are only a few songs out of his many so I don't think it's that much.

[JJEC]

cause if he said other things the song might sound stupid and might not make sense???i dunno.... Fetish???

 

 

 

Listen too the songs mannnnnnnn and you shouldn't have these questions

[Ravenous megin-sane]

well, why do most poets do it?

 

'cause everyone understands the metaphor

[Guest jsunC]

Well, those are only a few songs out of his many so I don't think it's that much.

i agree

but still: fated - fish.. or 'fishes'

[Prometheon]

He does it in a LOT of songs. The ones I mentioned are the tip of the iceberg.

[Guest apsham]

Big City Life: Fish

Alert Status Red: In the wilderness, and beasts of burden.

Carmelina: Pigs

 

That's all I can come up with for now, I r lazy.

[heyrabbit]

you forgot pigs, goats and squirrels

 

EDIT: rats

 

it's just his style

Edited May 31, 2006 by heyrabbit

[Selina]

Animals can metaphorically represent a lot of characteristics. For example, rats are usually thought of as dirty, or greedy and coniving. Pigs are usually used to describe laziness, obesity, and lack of motivation. Society has paired most animals with certain characteristics, although they are often not actually true (ie. How do we really know if rats are greedy? How do we really know if pigs are lazy -they're locked up in a pen afterall and fed too much food to get fat for human consumption -if they had room, they'd probably be very active animals). I think Matt has his own reasons for using certain animals over and over (Rabbits come to mind),which may not represent necessarily what the average person would think when they hear the word "rabbitt". I think animal metaphors add to the imagery of the lyrics; making the lyrics much more visual and creative.

[Shiri]

It's his writing style, there're a lot of writers that use a certain type of metaphores or mention the same thing in many of their songs. Like the Counting Crows like to mention names of cities and places or they keep mentioning this girl Maria, she might represent something and not be an actual person.

[sawgr]

who's this "matt good" guy you guys speak of?

[Selina]

If you don't know who Matt Good is, then why are you here?

[Ravenous megin-sane]

i believe it was a joke, dear.

[Prometheon]

I think some of it is also him manipulating coloquial terms.

 

For example, the term 'sleep with the fishes' is a term that means to be dead. Like if I said 'Bob's gonna be sleeping with the fishes by next week' it means that I'm gonna have Bob killed within 7 days.

 

So in Fated, when he says 'I long to be dead, to sleep with the fishes...' it's kind of a repetitive device without actually being repetitive.

[sawgr]

If you don't know who Matt Good is, then why are you here?

your mom dropped me off here and i don't know my way home.

[rchess]

he loves animals ;)

[mikeymackinon]

he does love animals - i think he had the nick name nature boy

 

 

http://mattgood.imgarbage.com/tb-other.php

 

Bird references on the albums

Last Of The Ghetto Astronauts

- She's Got A New Disguise - "..little bird..."

Underdogs

- Everything Is Automatic - "...you decompose and wake up and those birds are singing..."

- Rico - "He's going to buy a parrot, that speaks her language..."

Beautiful Midnight

- Let's Get It On - "...down came your blackbird to suffer in my arms"

Audio Of Being

- Under The Influence - "I dreamed I was a pigeon..."

[buffalo77]

Everything is Automatic = birds

Apparitions = rat

 

And we all know about the monkeys and rabbits... I remember in an interview once he was asked about the bird references and he responded that it was one of his artistic themes or something like that.

[madeforburning]

I think most of the time the context in which matt uses animal referances makes sense and is a common use like "asleep with the fishes" But I read an interview once where someone asked him why he used the color pink (pink bunny suite, pink in the eighties, pink pill) so often and his reply was "I also use the word 'and' a lot" so maybe we are looking into it too much

[15hours7_4afternoon]

because it works

[silentshadow]

I think Matt has his own reasons for using certain animals over and over (Rabbits come to mind),which may not represent necessarily what the average person would think when they hear the word "rabbitt".

I think when he uses rabbits it is a metaphor for the big guy always picking on the little guy. When ever I hear rabbits in a Matt Good song I think of some 7 ft. tall giant blowing a bunny to bits with a shot gun from two feet away. It's used to describe the fact that there is always someone out there hunting to hurt someone else just because they can and because they belive that, that is what makes them powerful when in reality the thing that makes one powerful is knowing you can destroy something but choosing not to. That's just my opinion.

 

 

By the way, this has nothing to do with the thread,but I just downloaded Black Helicopter and it is the f^ckin' shit. I love that song!

[cringleman]

I would say that it's largely what's been commented on, most frequently, so far: it's a recurring theme not to draw a special, mysterious coded thread through his music, but just because it's a type of imagery that he happens to naturally gravitate toward in his writing.

 

I can think of some of my favourite writers that use the weather as a similar device, though not as any sort of recurring, larger allegory.

 

Like it's been said: it's probably just repeated use of a form of analogical imagery to convey his ideas, and he just happens to use animals a lot. It's sort of like asking why you usually use your right hand for most things (or your left, for you southpaws). You just do -- it feels right. (No pun intended.)

 

Recurring use of certain symbols for apparently the same thing (like the comment about rabbits) is likely just indicative of some of the symbolism he personally attaches to those icons.

 

Maybe rabbits just make Matt think of the little guy, you know?