Powderfinger Lyrics
With a big red beacon, and a flag, and a man on the rail
I think you'd better call John,
'Cause it don't look like they're here to deliver the mail
And it's less than a mile away
I hope they didn't come to stay
It's got numbers on the side and a gun
And it's makin' big waves.
Daddy's gone, my brother's out hunting in the mountains
Big John's been drinking since the river took Emmy-Lou
So the Powers That Be left me here to do the thinkin'
And I just turned twenty-two
I was wonderin' what to do
And the closer they got,
The more those feelings grew.
Daddy's rifle in my hand felt reassurin'
He told me, Red means run, son, numbers add up to nothin'
But when the first shot hit the docks I saw it comin'
Raised my rifle to my eye
Never stopped to wonder why.
Then I saw black,
And my face splashed in the sky.
Shelter me from the powder and the finger
Cover me with the thought that pulled the trigger
Think of me as one you'd never figured
Would fade away so young
With so much left undone
Remember me to my love,
I know I'll miss her.
I have always thought that this song was about the Metis Rebellion which took place in westen Canada in the last quarter of the 19th Century. Neil Young is Canadian, of course, and has always had strong ties to the native peoples. The wars between the soldiers of the United States and the Native American tribes are well known by most Americans. However, the situation in Canada was even more complicated. When the French colonized eastern Canada in the 1600s, they sent many soldiers and trappers, and very few women. For this reason, many of the early settlers took native wives. A separate culture emerged known as the Metis. These people knew the ways of both the French and the native people. When the English conquered the French in the French and Indian War, they placed oppressive controls over the French, even deporting thousands of Acadian French to Louisiana to make room for English settlerrs. Young French settlers escaped the cities and found themselves in the wilderness known as Madawaska, where they were accepted and assimillated by their Metis half-brothers. Many of the Metis lived a nomadic life, traveling hundreds of miles to the area north and west of Lake Superior, where they could live in peace away from the influence of the English. However, conflict eventually followed, as the railroads opened the west and immigrants flooded into the rich grasslands occupied by the Metis. The Canadian government sent troops to seize control of the region. Canadian soldiers and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and Metis "troops" were killed in the battles. Eventually the "rebellion" was ended, and at least on Metis leader, Louis Riel was executed for his part in the rebellion. It was a sad time in Canadian history.
In what is known as the Battle of Batoche, the Canadian soldiers converted a steamboat into a gunboat and sailed up the South Saskatchawan River, where a gun battle ensued between the settlere and the troops.
I believe this song is a fictional account of the death of one of the Metis settlers during the Battle of Batoche
I believe this is correct. Good call.
I believe this is correct. Good call.
This fits better than any historical examination of this song I've seen. Of course, there's still the fact Neil Young claims he doesn't really know what this song's about and that some of the key verses just came to him in a haze, but Neil Young is perhaps not the most reliable source on the origin of Neil Young's lyrics.
This fits better than any historical examination of this song I've seen. Of course, there's still the fact Neil Young claims he doesn't really know what this song's about and that some of the key verses just came to him in a haze, but Neil Young is perhaps not the most reliable source on the origin of Neil Young's lyrics.
That is one well written description and i am going with it too.
That is one well written description and i am going with it too.
I also have to comment on akagoldfish's statement, i am sure neil had lots of hazey moments in his life when this song was written and it could easily be tied to some canadian history which he flash backed to when he wrote it.
I also have to comment on akagoldfish's statement, i am sure neil had lots of hazey moments in his life when this song was written and it could easily be tied to some canadian history which he flash backed to when he wrote it.
I honestly don't think who was on the boat is that important. I always felt the song was basically a youth angst anthem...here's a kid whose entire life is in front of him, with his own dreams and ideas, yet he's killed having to defend something he might not even want to protect --- or more accurately, something that others should be protecting instead of him. The closing lines about "Just think of me as one you never figured / would fade away so young" are really powerful stuff.
Then again, one of my old bosses was convinced that the song was about gun control. So it's hard to say.
Incidentally, I think the people on the boat are actually Treasury officers, coming to forcibly shut down an illegal still. They've got both might and "right" on their side (the white boat, the numbers and the gun), yet this song is from the perspective of the other side.
I think you nailed it with your last comment, thermo4
I think you nailed it with your last comment, thermo4
I think Neil young was very careful NOT to make this song about any particular war. The geography is vague; the enemy boat is white.
hhhhmmmm, would it be wrong to say that RUST NEVER SLEEPS is the BEST neil albumn???
No, it wouldn't be wrong, but it would not be any less wrong to say "Everybody knows this is Nowhere" is he best Neil album.
No, it wouldn't be wrong, but it would not be any less wrong to say "Everybody knows this is Nowhere" is he best Neil album.
I've always felt there is what songwriters call a "composite" element in this song. Like a character in a novel that's based on several real people. I tend to feel that the Civil War, hillbilly thing is most likely but, like several others have said, the boat sounds too modern. There's almost a Vietnam war feel to that boat. Like many posts have said - who cares? On the radio today I heard someone talk about the essence of a "good song", referring to something by Radiohead; he said that good lyrics are those that "resonate within you, even though you may not know what they mean". Resonate? Powderfinger has me wobbling like a jelly!
Civil War? American Revolution? Jesus H. Christ....how many white boats with numbers on the side and big red lights were cruising around "making big waves" (and yes that is exactly the lyrics!) with their wake back then? The Viet Nam war idea is not bad, except that the boats would not likely be white and you would probably not find many natives named "Big John" or "Emmy Lou" around that area. It's hard to imagine the setting being anything other than rural America, most likely in the South sometime during the past century (i.e. after the invention of motorboats, at least.) Moonshining, whatever - the exact nature of the family's alleged transgressions are irrelevant. The boy's father had clearly had some run-ins with the law and had passed down his distrust and lack of respect for the authorities to his son, who then paid with his life.
And I agree - the guitar solos on the electric version are chilling and incredible.
This was all live, too. Freaking amazing guitar work.
This was all live, too. Freaking amazing guitar work.
Exactly!
Exactly!
@zoso726 Replying to my own overly snippy post from ten years ago (I'm sorry, I was having a tough time back then.) Now that I am older and a bit mellower, and have continued to listen to Neil's songs, I'm inclined to agree with other posters that the time and place are irrelevant. Neil tends to write songs that evoke and explore feelings, and I suspect that was his focus here. To me, the fast boat with a red beacon and "numbers on the side" indicates some type of law enforcement boat in perhaps the mid to late 20th century....
@zoso726 Replying to my own overly snippy post from ten years ago (I'm sorry, I was having a tough time back then.) Now that I am older and a bit mellower, and have continued to listen to Neil's songs, I'm inclined to agree with other posters that the time and place are irrelevant. Neil tends to write songs that evoke and explore feelings, and I suspect that was his focus here. To me, the fast boat with a red beacon and "numbers on the side" indicates some type of law enforcement boat in perhaps the mid to late 20th century. "Red means run, son" reinforces the moonshiner angle because before the early 1960's most police vehicles in the USA had a red flashing beacon.
But it simply doesn't matter to the song; change the technology a bit and the same tragic scenario could have played out at many different times and places. Note that Neil has sometimes even sung the lyrics as "Red men run, son" which puts yet a different spin on the story. So that seems to support the idea that he wants us to focus on the scenario and feelings instead of a strict storyline.
There is an excellent version of this song by a band called the Beat Farmers (I think their lead singer died on stage). I have no idea what it is about. But I always imagined it to be about one of those survivalist/red-neck type shoot-outs in the woods. There must be a documented story behind the song surely?
My thought has always been that it is a revenue (Treasury Dept.) boat coming after moonshiners. I place it in time during prohibition, when going after stills was a big deal.
Neil Young is blending here.
He is blending strong images of war across several wars, and bringing it right down to the personal level, the individual experience. War happens on battlefields, yes, but it also happens in small skirmishes that damage just as much, that destroy lives and everything ends in sorrow, regret, confusion.
It's an anti war song but it is also a song of individual freedom, independence in its purest form.
To split hairs over this song is fine but I think it leads to no definitive answer. So be it. Neil Young was painting for you here. Enjoy the painting and revisit it often, and never form a final, final opinion... otherwise you might enjoy it less than how the artist intended.
I realize this is a reply to a pretty old comment you had made, but I wanted to tell you that I thought your comment said it so very well. Particularly the last paragraph, "enjoy the painting and revisit it often........"
I realize this is a reply to a pretty old comment you had made, but I wanted to tell you that I thought your comment said it so very well. Particularly the last paragraph, "enjoy the painting and revisit it often........"
A very dear friend once said to me, "The only obstacle to learning the truth is believing we already know it". These were the words I immediately thought of, after having read your thoughts about this song. They somehow felt fitting to me........ We should never close our minds to other possibilities.
A very dear friend once said to me, "The only obstacle to learning the truth is believing we already know it". These were the words I immediately thought of, after having read your thoughts about this song. They somehow felt fitting to me........ We should never close our minds to other possibilities.
I've always ...
I've always believed that songwriters leave lyrics rather vague for a reason. They want their music left to personal interpretation. So unless it's a song which is CLEARLY telling a story, nothing is out of the realm of possibilities and we should always leave our minds open to such.
I hope that makes sense to you.....or anybody else who may happen to read this.
This song is about the utter arbitrary nature of war and other events that call people to arms. It reminds you of the terrible consequences that normal people have to pay for other people's mistakes. The song reduces these things to an individual vs. an unknowable "other," and as the audience it's hard to tell who's on the right side. I think that's purposeful. It's not about which side is which or who's who, it's illustrating that we often fight unknown enemies because crushing, inevitable events have converged to force us to fight against all instincts.
That includes personal conflict and government drafting, and even mass voluntary enlistment in wartime. Everyone thinks they are doing the right thing, but in the end it's just you and a gun, and many times people end up as one of the numbers that "add up to nothing."
This song reminds me of The Red Badge of Courage, where no sides were named, it was more about the tragic experience of war on the individual.