What is an Alsatian Cousin?

Alsatian Cousin is from some play, what it has to do with the song, well, nothing really.

The chainsaw at the beginning of Speedway is supposed to be a motorcycle starting up, possibly at a speedway, so the title and the chainsaw seem to be connected but the actual lyrics of the song don't seem to be related to that at all.

Two really fantastic songs I might add, among my absolute favorites from his solo career.

BTW, anyone know what Glamorous Glue is supposed to mean? :confused:
 
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the first thing that comes to my mind when i think of glamorous glue is hair gel. haha
 
Someone posted on here a while back that Glamorous Glue is alcohol. It fits when you listen to the lyrics.
 
Can we have a run-down of baffling song titles? Hopefully somewhere in this thread we may be able to clear them all up!

Ones I can think of:

Alsatian Cousin
Speedway
Glamorous Glue
Death At One's Elbow
Shakespeare's Sister
Pretty Girls Make Graves
All The Lazy Dykes
Jack The Ripper
 
I'll help where I can :D .

I think Speedway was a bar in California frequented by James Dean.

Death at One's Elbow was a quote from Sixties playwright Joe Orton (thanks to Simon Goddard on that one).

Shakespeare's Sister was a quote from Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own.

Pretty Girls Make Graves is from Kerouac's The Dharma Bums.

Dunno about Cousin or Jack the Ripper, thought that song eludes to possibly luring young people to someplace and killing them as Jack did long ago.

If you haven't read Goddard's Songs to Save Your Life, i suggest that you do. It's fantastic.

The Cat's Mother said:
I'd heard it meant something else entirely, but here's not the place to tell you:eek: .
Click to expand...

:eek: Such a dirty mind. Of course, I have thought the same thing since the first time I saw the title :D .
 
Young And Alive said:
Can we have a run-down of baffling song titles? Hopefully somewhere in this thread we may be able to clear them all up!

Ones I can think of:

Alsatian Cousin
Speedway
Glamorous Glue
Death At One's Elbow
Shakespeare's Sister
Pretty Girls Make Graves
All The Lazy Dykes
Jack The Ripper
Click to expand...

Alsatian Cousin - quote from a play, unrelated to the song
Speedway - a speedway, unrelated to the song
Glamorous Glue - undetermined meaning, possible relating to the song
Death at One's Elbow - quote from someone's diary or something, related to the song
Shakespeare's Sister - quote from Virginia Wolfe, possible unusual or intelligent relation to the song
Pretty Girls Make Graves - quote from somewhere I can't remember, the exact meaning of the song
All the Lazy Dykes - no original source apparrently, the exact meaning of the song
Jack the Ripper - obvious origins, likely the person singing is Jack the Ripper or someone like him

And of course there is Suedehead and its admitted lack of meaning. And perhaps Southpaw.

EDIT: Didn't see your post, thewarroom. Thanks for the info.
 
What about Little Man, What Now? Is that a quote from something or does it refer exclusively to the child actor of the song?

Black-Eyed Susan also. Read somewhere that this might be about Siouxie?
Kitt also. Unreleased, but does that have any meaning? I've never heard the song.
 
crack-pipe6557.jpg
 
Kuiper said:
Pretty Girls Make Graves - quote from somewhere I can't remember, the exact meaning of the song
.
Click to expand...

inspired by Jack Kerouac's book "Dharma Bums"
a great book indeed.
 
the title pretty girls make graves actually makes sense with the lyrics if you think about it...
 
vAndreav said:
I just got it in the mail today! :D once finals are over this week i will have time to indulge
Click to expand...

I just got it recently too. A fantastic book that offers all the information every type of fan wants. I've heard people say it isn't for the detail-oriented, but if you want to know every little fact about a song's origins, this book is for you, if you want to know just the timeframe in which it was recorded, this book if for you, if you just want to know what influenced the creation of a song, this book is for you. Sorry to gush about it but it fulfills everything I wanted of it.

Is there a solo career version of this? It would be hard to write I'm sure because his career is constantly being updated with new songs and information, but someone must have attempted something similar since 1988.
 
Kuiper said:
And of course there is Suedehead and its admitted lack of meaning. And perhaps Southpaw.
Click to expand...

this might shed a light on southpaw (copy/paste from wikipedia):
In boxing, someone who boxes left-handed is frequently referred to as southpaw. The term is also used to refer to a stance in which the boxer places his right foot in front of his left, so it is possible for a right-handed boxer to box with a southpaw stance. Most boxers, southpaw or otherwise, tend to train with sparring partners who adopt a right-handed stance, which gives southpaws an advantage.
Click to expand...

southpaw as a reference to the boxer on the album sleeve ...

Meanwhile, the English word "sinister" comes from Latin and it originally meant "left" but took on meanings of "evil" or "unlucky" by time of the Classical Latin era.
Click to expand...

so in a way, it does make sense; both mozz being the odd one out.. and him dealing the (verbal) punches.

oh i don't know :)
 
Glamorous Glue is an hilarious working class young persons term from the eighties for an alcoholic beverage.

Glamorus because it's more expensive than glue and it costs a fortune in comparison to sniffin glue.

Its what you Graduated to once you got past 16 and were able to drink in pubs.
 
xo skeleton said:
this might shed a light on southpaw (copy/paste from wikipedia):


southpaw as a reference to the boxer on the album sleeve ...



so in a way, it does make sense; both mozz being the odd one out.. and him dealing the (verbal) punches.

oh i don't know :)
Click to expand...

'Sinister' is also an heraldic term; a 'bend sinister' on your family coat of arms indicates that you or your branch of the family is illegitimate.
 
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