Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] "kiss that girl" for everyone

Bruce Robertson the_oil_fish@yahoo.ca
Fri, 6 Dec 2002 15:40:09 -0500 (EST)


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Hey Clan Powder,
Great post Brigitte. I think you're totally right on the interpretation, and humble in stating it. But I also think it's characteristic of the Oils to speak to issues that do great harm to humans. Adultery (if that's what it's about) would qualify. IMO it has probably done more to destroy people than most other transgressions. And the hurt is deeply spiritual, psychic and emotional, and it hangs around those inner-most places that hurt the worst. It's not as massively devastating as, say, the systematic debauchery of the planet, or as dramatic as war, but it kills something just as precious...so I'm not surprised at all to find the Oils tackling it, especially, as Brigitte pointed out, at this point in their lives.
Maybe this little story illustrates in a small way how committed these men are to doing the right thing by their wives and families. When my daughter met Rob after their last gig here, she was wearing a Breathe shirt and asked him to sign it. (she's 21 and gorgeous -  takes after mom!) and she told me later that Rob looked all uncomfortable and didn't know what to say, until she turned around so he could sign the back! I thought it was cool that my daughter picked up on this, and she recognized Rob's refusal to compromise himself. This guy already towered in my pantheon of humble heros, but when she shared that story with me, his respect rating went off the meter. And you've gotta know this story could probably be repeated any number of times in cities around the world. 
As for the meaning of 'Kiss That Girl' well, unlike Brigitte, I've never shied away from over-interpreting a lyric - blessing or bane - and it leads me to some interesting places, but occasionally lays bare a lot of humiliating cheese!  :)  Anyway, after a few listens, I see this song as a potential metaphor for acting irresponsibly and selfishly in any sphere of life - even metaphyiscally (sorry Bjorn ;). It's like the old apple in the garden story, eat all you want, but your belly will ache down the road. In this construction, adultery becomes a euphemism for any number of temptations. The bottom line is we're all tempted every day to 'risk it all' for the glory of the moment. An old story that speaks to the core of being human. I totally respect the Oils for writing and recording it, even though the title risks condemnation as a pea-witted-ditty (as noted previously)....oh we of little faith!...once again, the Oils rise above our superficial critiques.
God knows I miss these guys already.
Stand Your Ground all,
bruce in calgary
 bmounier@sympatico.ca wrote:Every man (and woman) is tempted. The strong one is the one who doesn't succomb. 
These guys are in their forties, they are extremely attractive in the brain, creativity, sense of humor department (irresistible in my standards), they meet an incredible amount of people and must meet a good share of gorgeous women. They are tempted but they are SMART, looking at what they could loose and wondering if it's not worth it. Must be hard to be good sometimes though... That's my take on the song: ackowlegement of the temptation. It's true that it's way far from anything else they ever wrote about though. So I could be so totally wrong. Lol, I normally never venture to try and interpret anything they write!

Brigitte
> 
> Date: 2002/12/06 ven. AM 10:46:43 GMT-05:00
> Cc: 

> 
> looking at the lyrics it looks like a song about adultery...the oils write 
> only political songs and then the one song that isn't is about cheating on 
> your wife or something...hmmm...worried...
> 
> Julian
> >===== Original Message From 
=====
> >>Maybe that's why Garrett left, to not be
> >>associated with a song named "Kiss that girl"! ;-)
> >
> >Or maybe he actually kissed that girl they sing about (whoever she is)? As 
> the lyrics tells us "if you kiss that girl, you could loose a lot". Now he 
> kissed her, and lost the Oils as a result...
> >
> >Well, whoever kissed that girl, we all lost a lot...
> >
> >/Pär


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<P>Hey Clan Powder,
<P>Great post Brigitte. I think you're totally right on the interpretation, and humble in stating it. But I also think it's characteristic of the Oils to speak to issues that do great harm to humans. Adultery (if that's what it's about) would qualify. IMO it has probably done more&nbsp;to destroy&nbsp;people than most other transgressions. And the hurt is deeply spiritual, psychic and emotional, and it hangs around&nbsp;those inner-most places that hurt the worst. It's not as massively devastating as, say, the systematic debauchery of the planet, or as dramatic as war, but it kills something just as precious...so I'm not surprised at all to find the Oils tackling it, especially, as&nbsp;Brigitte pointed out, at this point in their lives.
<P>Maybe this little story illustrates in a small way how committed these men are to doing the right thing by their wives and families. When my daughter met Rob after their last gig here, she was wearing a Breathe shirt and asked him to sign it. (she's 21 and gorgeous -&nbsp; takes after mom!) and she told me later that Rob looked all uncomfortable and didn't know what to say, until she turned around so he could sign the back! I thought it was cool&nbsp;that my&nbsp;daughter&nbsp;picked up on this, and she recognized&nbsp;Rob's&nbsp;refusal to compromise himself. This guy already towered in my pantheon of humble heros, but when she shared that story with me, his respect rating went off the meter. And you've gotta know this story could probably be repeated any number of times in cities around the world. 
<P>As for the meaning of 'Kiss That Girl' well, unlike Brigitte, I've never shied away from over-interpreting a lyric - blessing or bane&nbsp;- and it leads me to some interesting places, but occasionally lays bare a lot of humiliating cheese!&nbsp; :)&nbsp; Anyway, after a few listens, I see this song as a potential metaphor for acting irresponsibly and selfishly in any sphere of life - even metaphyiscally (sorry Bjorn ;). It's like the old apple in the garden story, eat all you want, but your belly will ache down the road. In this construction, adultery becomes a euphemism for any number of temptations. The bottom line is we're all tempted every day to 'risk it all' for the glory of the moment. An old story that speaks to the core of being human. I totally respect the Oils for writing and recording it, even though the title risks condemnation as a pea-witted-ditty (as noted previously)....oh we of little faith!...once again, the Oils rise above our superficial critiques.
<P>God knows I miss these guys already.
<P>Stand Your Ground all,
<P>bruce in calgary
<P>&nbsp;<B><I>bmounier@sympatico.ca</I></B> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Every man (and woman) is tempted. The strong one is the one who doesn't succomb. <BR>These guys are in their forties, they are extremely attractive in the brain, creativity, sense of humor department (irresistible in my standards), they meet an incredible amount of people and must meet a good share of gorgeous women. They are tempted but they are SMART, looking at what they could loose and wondering if it's not worth it. Must be hard to be good sometimes though... That's my take on the song: ackowlegement of the temptation. It's true that it's way far from anything else they ever wrote about though. So I could be so totally wrong. Lol, I normally never venture to try and interpret anything they write!<BR><BR>Brigitte<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; Date: 2002/12/06 ven. AM 10:46:43 GMT-05:00<BR>&gt; Cc: <POWDERWORKS@CS.COLORADO.EDU><BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; looking at the lyrics it looks like a song about adultery...the oils write <BR>&gt; only political songs and then the one song that isn't is about cheating on <BR>&gt; your wife or something...hmmm...worried...<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; Julian<BR>&gt; &gt;===== Original Message From <PAR.LYDMARK@KUSTOBSAR.ST>=====<BR>&gt; &gt;&gt;Maybe that's why Garrett left, to not be<BR>&gt; &gt;&gt;associated with a song named "Kiss that girl"! ;-)<BR>&gt; &gt;<BR>&gt; &gt;Or maybe he actually kissed that girl they sing about (whoever she is)? As <BR>&gt; the lyrics tells us "if you kiss that girl, you could loose a lot". Now he <BR>&gt; kissed her, and lost the Oils as a result...<BR>&gt; &gt;<BR>&gt; &gt;Well, whoever kissed that girl, we all lost a lot...<BR>&gt; &gt;<BR>&gt; &gt;/Pär</BLOCKQUOTE><p><br><hr size=1>Post your free ad now! <a href="http://ca.personals.yahoo.com/"><b>Yahoo! Canada Personals</b></a><br>
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