Flower Kings Appreciation Thread

You have to admit the lyrics are kinda goofy.. Especially when associated with such great music. Next time I'm gonna write a song about me being stuck into the elevator and my thoughts about alien forces trying to kill me o.o

Edited by Ytse_Jam - November 16 2012 at 17:29

M27Barney wrote: Ytse_Jam wrote: M27Barney wrote: maybe I was too hasty with the first four? - I have made the mistake of experiencing negative vibes when my expectations were set for something different than I was actually hearing.... I found the other BBT albums pretty boring too, but this one is very good!.. Hmmm - Right then English Electric tis on the wish list then - I should have monies after winter solstice to purchase one or two CD's - I hope i'm not risking another post xmas turkey.... Anyway - talking about opinions - why does everybody think that DT's "Count of Tuscany has lousy lyrics" - I am quite intrigued about a bunch of mid Italian fruit cakes - and the lyrics are a lot less annoying than constant quotes from the fecking bible - which is by far & away the most full-of-sh*t book ever written - aye even more so than anything written by J.k Rowling

Edited by Roland113 - November 16 2012 at 21:19

I'm with you Nov, I do hear the similarities.  It's actually put me in a Selling England kind of mood.

Roland113 wrote: M27Barney wrote: Ytse_Jam wrote: M27Barney wrote: maybe I was too hasty with the first four? - I have made the mistake of experiencing negative vibes when my expectations were set for something different than I was actually hearing.... I found the other BBT albums pretty boring too, but this one is very good!.. Hmmm - Right then English Electric tis on the wish list then - I should have monies after winter solstice to purchase one or two CD's - I hope i'm not risking another post xmas turkey.... Anyway - talking about opinions - why does everybody think that DT's "Count of Tuscany has lousy lyrics" - I am quite intrigued about a bunch of mid Italian fruit cakes - and the lyrics are a lot less annoying than constant quotes from the fecking bible - which is by far & away the most full-of-sh*t book ever written - aye even more so than anything written by J.k Rowling Sucking on his pipe Distinguished accent Giving me a fright No accident Seriously, you have to ask about that, I think I wrote something to that effect in high school . . .   It's just that they have the maturity and complexity of high school songs.  The Count is a fantastic song musically and frankly the concept of the song is really good as well, the implementation is lacking. My understanding is that it's a true story, Petrucci was visiting Italy, met a Count that was a fan of DT and went on a tour of the Count's house.  The count started telling him a story of cannibals in his lineage, then effectively made a joke about his brother being one of them.  At that point, Petrucci gets freaked out and hence the whole 'I don't want to die' bit.

The quatrain displayed above fits with the music - I don't find anything absured in the 11 word quote - but I have have a problem with...

thanks !! your topics so good and infomative. i like you talk .

infandous wrote: M27Barney wrote: The quatrain displayed above fits with the music - I don't find anything absured in the 11 word quote - but I have have a problem with... Between the bible and the eternal question........now to me thats a very vacuous and lazy lyric....for a start off there are a helluva lot more thought provoking works of ancient literature written centuries before the rambling of a few power crazy mysoginistic old farts cobbled together the christian bible to pave the way to the station where the gravy train was parked ready to go...And wish Mr Stolte would stop blaming scientists and progress for all of mankinds ills and realised that organised religion is a lot more dangerous to mankind than the free market economy...I might start wishing that Bert had smashed Ernie over the head so that he could shag big-bird - and maybe Stolte could use that as a metaphor for man killing man.....it would make me laugh anyway.... Two things:  that's not one of Roine's best lyrics anyway, and English is not his native tongue (unlike Petrucci) Also, what Tom posted is not really the worst of those lyrics.  My favorite is this, done with cheesy "death growl" voice : Down the cellar stairs I disappear Like the angel's share the end is near  Come and have a taste, a rare vintage  All the finest wines improve with age I'm sure you appreciate the "angel's" reference as well I actually didn't hear the first two lines and I haven't looked at the lyric sheet either.... Thats why i don't think the lyrics are cheesy - I don't hear them right!!!! Anyway when I think of Angels - I always think of the Lynx advert.....never happens to me when I spray my pits with Lynx

Roland113 wrote: M27Barney wrote: The quatrain displayed above fits with the music - I don't find anything absured in the 11 word quote - but I have have a problem with... Between the bible and the eternal question........now to me thats a very vacuous and lazy lyric....for a start off there are a helluva lot more thought provoking works of ancient literature written centuries before the rambling of a few power crazy mysoginistic old farts cobbled together the christian bible to pave the way to the station where the gravy train was parked ready to go...And wish Mr Stolte would stop blaming scientists and progress for all of mankinds ills and realised that organised religion is a lot more dangerous to mankind than the free market economy...I might start wishing that Bert had smashed Ernie over the head so that he could shag big-bird - and maybe Stolte could use that as a metaphor for man killing man.....it would make me laugh anyway.... I think your anger towards religion is clouding your judgement Rob, and I mean this as a friend (albeit one that you've never met and lives on the other side of an ocean).   I think the Flower Kings lyric "between the bible and eternal question" is a far more elegant and intellectual phrase than 'Sucking on his pipe, distinguished accent", or the one that Gus mentioned.  Both are horrible.   What I'm trying to get at is that The Flower King lyrics may or may not be more offensive to you, but regardless of your opinion on religion, they are more mature and better written than "The Count of Tuscany".

I completely agree.  As I mentioned in my post, Roine's lyrics sometimes seem a bit odd, probably because English is not his primary language, but all things considered I'd say he does much better than anything on that Dream Theater album.  It's very true that Roine does seem to use a fair amount of Christian references, but I still say that is down to what he is familiar with, rather than a strong belief (he has claimed many times he is not a Christian.......just that he feels there is good advice to be found in that religions beliefs, but that he also finds good ideas in other religions as well).

Of course, I'm not a total atheist myself, unlike Rob.  I do NOT follow any religious creed and find them all to be little better than fairly tales told to children to keep them from being afraid of the dark.  Having said that I hold no ill will towards anyone who follows one (or more) of them and don't consider myself superior for my views about them.  I could well be wrong (though I highly doubt it   ).

Ok then folks..next....

Edited by M27Barney - November 20 2012 at 06:42

Ytse_Jam wrote: You have to admit the lyrics are kinda goofy.. Especially when associated with such great music. Next time I'm gonna write a song about me being stuck into the elevator and my thoughts about alien forces trying to kill me o.o