The WELL: deadsongs.vue.197: Terrapin Station (entire suite)

#106: Robin Russell (rrussell8) Mon 24 Oct 11 00:08

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 00:08:00 PDT

I have gazed at many a stoned navel without experiencing that revelation. [Read entire topic]

#105: Christian Crumlish (xian) Sun 23 Oct 11 09:12

Sun, 23 Oct 2011 09:12:00 PDT

i always think about terraplane blues, and syd barrett's terrapin (great minds?)

and when I take all the vowels out of trippin situation i get TRPPN STTN, but that's not quite the same as TRRPN STTN and involves droppin' the g, so put that down to stoned navel-gazing. [Read entire topic]

#104: Robin Russell (rrussell8) Tue 18 Oct 11 19:18

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 19:18:00 PDT

Never left? It is everywhere, just need eyes to see? [Read entire topic]

#103: Anton Prenneis (anton) Sat 15 Oct 11 15:47

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:47:00 PDT

Oops... careless screen scrape! [Read entire topic]

#102: David Gans (tnf) Wed 12 Oct 11 22:51

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:51:00 PDT

These SPACES filled with darkness... [Read entire topic]

#101: Anton Prenneis (anton) Wed 12 Oct 11 19:25

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:25:00 PDT

"While you were gone, these faces filled with darkness. The obvious was hidden. With nothing to believe in, The compass always points to Terrapin.

Sullen wings of fortune beat like rain. You're back in Terrapin for good or ill again, for good or ill again."

AGAIN? [Read entire topic]

#100: Anton Prenneis (anton) Wed 12 Oct 11 19:24

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:24:00 PDT

It is somewhat interesting that a terrapin is an animal, and could be an anthropomorphized one. Like the sheep in Pink Floyd's animals.

"Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air."

"I can't figure out if it's the end or beginning."

"I looked over Jordan, and I've seen things are not what they seem."

"While the firelight's aglow, strange shadows from the flames will grow, till things we've never seen seem familiar."

Of course, the Floyd tale is darker, and the narrator seems emotionally removed from the world he describes. The storyteller in Terrapin, on the other hand, seems to be pondering the existential meaning of it all, just like the rest of us; ALTHOUGH, he is also concealing something that he will not reveal, even though we try to pay him off in gold. [Read entire topic]

#99: David Gans (tnf) Wed 12 Oct 11 13:41

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:41:00 PDT

I have often posited that "terrapin" is a play on words. Terra = planet earth, pin - upright citizen.

Integer vitae? [Read entire topic]

#98: David Gans (tnf) Wed 12 Oct 11 13:40

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:40:00 PDT

> Perhaps, then, the lady and the terminal station are one in the same?

Hm. [Read entire topic]

#97: Anton Prenneis (anton) Wed 12 Oct 11 13:02

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:02:00 PDT

The song isn't just about the destination, Terrapin, in my opinion. The "lady" in a romantic piece is often symbolic for the soul. Going into the lion's den to retrieve the fan symbolizes, to me, a quest (e.g., for the Holy Grail), or the struggles we experience along the wheel of life (Dharmacakra) as we approach Nirvana/enlightenment/etc. You do indeed risk pains of hell as you make that journey - but if you never take the chance, the train will never leave the station, and you will never approach the destination. Perhaps, then, the lady and the terminal station are one in the same?

I say all this under the influence of caffeine, mind you. Under other influences, I've also mused that the fan thrown into the lion's den could be a Dead fan. And of course, the ultimate mystery: What's with the turtles?? [Read entire topic]