The Stories We Say

[roofboy179]

It's just the radio, darling,
Just the radio, just the radio
In your run away imagination
Just the radio, darling,
Just the radio, just the radio
We could turn away to another station

It came from nowhere, on the 38 Geary*
Girl with a backpack of shrapnel and wire
The spiderweb windows
Of blood stained glass
A pagoda's shadow in a cruel sunny sky (?)
Oh, the flash, then the silence
Shouldn't there be screaming, praying, crying?
Oh, anything at all
Tell me, where are the sirens?
Fire's getting closer, but I've got to stay calm

It's just the radio, darling,
Just the radio, just the radio
In your run away imagination
Just the radio, darling,
Just the radio, just the radio
We could turn away to another station

Outside they're handing out
Fate to the wounded (?)
Little ties (?) in black, red, yellow, and green
It's now my 25th hour, with a scalpel in the hand
If I stop moving I will sleep on my feet (?)
And the rumours of sealing (?)
Gunfire on freeway exits, bridges mid-barricade
I can feel the fog creeping, gone was the morphine
The sweet light it came

It's just the radio, darling,
Just the radio, just the radio
In your run away imagination
Just the radio, darling,
Just the radio, just the radio
We could turn away to another station

[I think Vienna is making siren noises O:]

Sing me a love song, dear
What good is the news, now tell me (?)
Come on, it'll never happen here,
Oh no, we are not some third-world country
This is not some third-world country

I'm sorry, Mama,
I held on for as long as I could
I'm sorry, Papa,
There was nothing more I could do

It's just the radio, darling,
Just the radio, just the radio
In your run away imagination
Just the radio, darling,
Just the radio, just the radio
We could turn away to another station

It's just the radio, darling,
Just the radio, just the radio
In your run away imagination
Just the radio, darling,
Just the radio, just the radio
Ah, ah, ah, ah



.. As always, please correct my errors.

Wow. This song is really.. creepy. Like Shasta, a really sad song disguised as a happy poppy one.

[Alya]

From the album's liner notes:

Radio

it came from nowhere
on the 38 Geary
a girl with a backpack of shrapnel and wire
through spiderweb windows
of blood stained glass
a pagoda's shadow and a cruel sunny sky
oh the flash then the silence
shouldn't there be screaming praying crying
oh anything at all
tell me where are the sirens
fire's getting closer but I've got to stay calm

it's just the radio darling,
just the radio and your runaway imagination
just the radio darling
we can turn away to another station

outside they're handing out
fate to the wounded
little tags in black red yellow, and green
it's now my twenty-fith hour
with a scalpel in hand
if I stop moving I will sleep on my feet
and the rumors are seething
gunfire at freeway exits, bridges mid-barricades
I can feel the fog creeping
god where is the morphine, the sweet lidocaine

it's just the radio

sing me a love song dear
what good has the news ever done me
come on it'll never happen here, oh no
we are not some third world country
this is not some third world country

I'm sorry Mama
I held on for as long as I could
I'm sorry Papa
there was nothing more I could do

it's just the radio
_________________

[Samantha]

Wow, I've really come to love this song... It's more than just a Shasta-esque song, where it's a sad song disguised as a happy one--I think the main theme here is ignorance. There are so many terrible things that happen within our own developed countries, but we distance ourselves from them and think of terrorism and acts of violence as something that's far away, beyond our concern. It's just the radio, it's just the news, and if we hear something unpleasant then we can just change the channel and go on with our merry, selfish little lives.

[murlough23]

Does anyone else, upon hearing the line "Outside they're handing out...", immediately expect Vienna to sing "donuts and pizza pie?" Just me? Okay, then.

If this is intentional, then it's interesting how "Radio" and "City Hall" contrast such drastically different events (one celebratory, one shockingly violent and sad) happening in the same city.

(And what would you get if you combined those two songs? "Radio City Music Hall"?)

[roofboy179]

You guys have any idea what shes whispering in between verses? Or am I just hearing things?

like after "This is not some third world country..."

[Reileen]

[Ferrard Carson]

Yeah, she whispers in two places: Before verse 2 (Outside they're handing out / fate to the wounded) and before "I'm sorry Mama." The first time, I haven't a clue what she's whispering - it might just be representative of static, but after hearing the second set of whispers, I'm wondering about the first set too.

And yeah Reileen; you're right about what she's whispering:

"Black Yellow Red Red Green Yellow Black Blue Green Green Red Green Black..." (after this, she starts reciting numbers on top of the stream and I lose it. Among the numbers are 14, 7, 13, and 6) Obviously, the colors refer back to the start of Verse 2 and are the breathless words of a first-responder performing triage on scores of victims. The different colors mean different things:

Green - victim has minor wounds, sometimes referred to as "walking wounded"
Yellow - victim has severe injuries (e.g. fractures, lacerations, minor amputations) and needs medical treatment within a few hours
Red - victim needs immediate treatment for life-threatening injuries such as a severed artery.
Black - victim is deceased.
Blue - the most chilling whisper of them all which I didn't think I heard the first time I listened for them, but Blue is a fifth level of triage almost never used because of its ethical complexity: Victim will die regardless, so should not receive treatment.

I've no idea what the numbers mean - maybe scoring the patients to figure out what level they are? Is someone on the forums a real first-responder who can enlighten us more?

Anyways. Perfect chilling touch - like taking Shasta to an extra dimension of meaning.

~ Teddy

[tanthalas]

Or maybe they're about the right color wire you're supposed to cut to defuse the bomb!

[Scot]

I was going to guess resistor values!

s
_________________
My little attempt at a Vienna Teng WWW page (Set lists, song info., and more...)

[roofboy179]

And I love the key changes in this song

[tanthalas]

So I may be a bit slow in realizing this now (as in, coming to this realization on Tuesday night - when she started looping in the whispered numbers as well), but I think the numbers actually refer to the death count in different cities/places. She's often told the story about how the NPR news person is seemingly nonchalantly listing off the number of people killed in each city/place, so that's probably how they're connected to the song.

[Michele]