What is Thompson Girl about?
Thks.
Thompson Girl Song Meaning
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Stephen Dame
- Lighthouse Keeper
- Posts: 3220
- Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2004 5:44 pm
Hey, welcome aboard
I couldn't find anything, or anyone, specific while researching the song for my website in March. It seems to be about, like so many rock songs, a guy and a girl who aren't seeing eye to eye. And like so many Hip songs, it could take a number of interpretations from there.
I hear a guy who wants very badly to make things work. He's seperated from her (maybe physically, maybe just emotionally) during the work season at the mines, but knows things have got to change, and ASAP, if this thing is gonna last. A relationship, just like necessary manual labour, requires some grunt work.
He might be saying, we've tried so much, we've gone through and hashed out and set aside all the old issues... and yet here comes spring again, and we're not happy.
And then of course there's the image of two people cooped up in a wintery home (like so many were during the '98 ice storm) and waiting for the end to come. End of the storm? End of winter? End of the relationship?
But the beauty of The Hip is that I'll probably hear something entirely different next time I hear it... and it's probably about hockey anyway.
Here's what I've got for references in the lyrics:
http://www.geocities.com/stephendame/ppr.html
"...Thompson Girl walking from Churchill
Across the icy world with polar bears, it's mostly uphill."
But when she saw that nickel stack
She whistled hard and I whistled back."
Thompson, Manitoba is central Canada's gateway to the Arctic. It is the last major community before the trees end and the frozen tundra begins. It is located in the centre of Northern Manitoba and was named for a long time employee of the giant Canadian Nickle outfit: INCO. The town is relatively young, having been first developed in 1956 when Dr. John Thompson and his INCO buddies discovered a large Nickle deposit in the area.
Further North and East of Thompson, on the Western shore of Hudson's Bay, sits the town of Churchill. Churchill bills itself as the "Polar Bear Capital of the World." The many bears and spectacular view of the Northern Lights attract many a tourist to Churchill's numerous unique motels. The small city shows evidence of 4,000 years of habitation, and can claim to be among the oldest towns in Canada. It was first explored by Europeans in 1608, and was incorporated as a British Fortress in 1717.
Chruchill is also being considered as the next major port city in Canada. Warming trends have made it possible to ship through the NorthWest Passage, which allows Churchill to become the logical destination of African and European ships. The city expects to grow be leaps and bounds over the next 25 years.
I couldn't find anything, or anyone, specific while researching the song for my website in March. It seems to be about, like so many rock songs, a guy and a girl who aren't seeing eye to eye. And like so many Hip songs, it could take a number of interpretations from there.
I hear a guy who wants very badly to make things work. He's seperated from her (maybe physically, maybe just emotionally) during the work season at the mines, but knows things have got to change, and ASAP, if this thing is gonna last. A relationship, just like necessary manual labour, requires some grunt work.
He might be saying, we've tried so much, we've gone through and hashed out and set aside all the old issues... and yet here comes spring again, and we're not happy.
And then of course there's the image of two people cooped up in a wintery home (like so many were during the '98 ice storm) and waiting for the end to come. End of the storm? End of winter? End of the relationship?
But the beauty of The Hip is that I'll probably hear something entirely different next time I hear it... and it's probably about hockey anyway.
Here's what I've got for references in the lyrics:
http://www.geocities.com/stephendame/ppr.html
"...Thompson Girl walking from Churchill
Across the icy world with polar bears, it's mostly uphill."
But when she saw that nickel stack
She whistled hard and I whistled back."
Thompson, Manitoba is central Canada's gateway to the Arctic. It is the last major community before the trees end and the frozen tundra begins. It is located in the centre of Northern Manitoba and was named for a long time employee of the giant Canadian Nickle outfit: INCO. The town is relatively young, having been first developed in 1956 when Dr. John Thompson and his INCO buddies discovered a large Nickle deposit in the area.
Further North and East of Thompson, on the Western shore of Hudson's Bay, sits the town of Churchill. Churchill bills itself as the "Polar Bear Capital of the World." The many bears and spectacular view of the Northern Lights attract many a tourist to Churchill's numerous unique motels. The small city shows evidence of 4,000 years of habitation, and can claim to be among the oldest towns in Canada. It was first explored by Europeans in 1608, and was incorporated as a British Fortress in 1717.
Chruchill is also being considered as the next major port city in Canada. Warming trends have made it possible to ship through the NorthWest Passage, which allows Churchill to become the logical destination of African and European ships. The city expects to grow be leaps and bounds over the next 25 years.
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skippy the wonder dog
- Wheat King
- Posts: 2211
- Joined: Sun Apr 11, 2004 2:37 pm
It's about what the lyrics say, nothing more, nothing less. Anything else just leads you on pointless trivia hunts or futile attempts to extract Gord Downie's biography from the lyrics.
Why would you think the guy is a soldier? Because of the words, "grunt work," alluding possibly to the common slang "grunt" for an infanteer, and the reference to duty?
Okay, then. I'd disagree, because "grunt work" is in common use without military connotations. But that's me.
Why would you think the guy is a soldier? Because of the words, "grunt work," alluding possibly to the common slang "grunt" for an infanteer, and the reference to duty?
Okay, then. I'd disagree, because "grunt work" is in common use without military connotations. But that's me.
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Stephen Dame
- Lighthouse Keeper
- Posts: 3220
- Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2004 5:44 pm
Speak of the (largely unrelated) Devil. There's a bit about Churchill, Manitoba and its possible future prosperity in the new Walrus cover package. http://www.walrusmagazine.com