Song Discussion: The Ragpicker's Dream

[foma]

I reach the apogee of my love to this song, so I learned how to play it and learn all the chords.
So, to record a good cover of it I just must know what I'm going to sing about.
I speak Russian, but understand English as well, even read books in English.
But this song... I even can't translate the title. Shame on me. Any help?

[Love Expresso]

Yes.

At least at the first level, this song is about two bowery bums, homeless persons, tramps, rover, whatever you call them, named Scarecrow and Railking.
It is fucking cold winter and both are freezing - standing there and trying to keep warm is described by Mark as doing the Florida freight (right?)  They are at christmas in a A)  shelter for the homeless or B) in a little diner store where they enjoy their meal that they get ( ripeye on the grill, coffee refill, toothpicks and luckys)... then they are happy and feel a certain warmth (from the booze also), one of them starts to dream while sleeping that he flies over the town and looks into a family house where there is a warm and nice christmas party.. later on, on of them (the sleeping one? I am doing this without reading the lyrics but only from my mind) gets clubbed and beaten up (by robbers? Or policemen?)  - and sinks like a stone, like a boxer.. so much for the ragpicker's dream. A ragpicker is someone who picks rags so to say, and it is funny that MK often uses this term for his songwriting, that  a songwriter is nothing but a ragpicker in a way and has all these ideas in his scrapyard.

For me, it is also important that this is the title track. All the persons on the album have no home or feel homesick or are travelling, forced or unforced.
Check it, it is true. Even Quality Shoe is about walking! The only song that offers the "perfect world" and a warm and love filled family idyll is the title track (even the "Place where we used to live" is empty and cold now) , where the homelessness as the concept, the idea of the album is manifested in these two guys, two tramps... Very touching. Although the idea of the bottle of "ragpicker" is something complicated (but river of grog could deliver some solution here, drinking= bottle = song).  The title itself is speaking: The dream of the homeless is ... home. So the Ragpicker's Dream is Home. As shown on a nice warm cover picture where a young man is dancing with his beautiful young woman in their little kitchen. Perfect match.

There is something complicated about the perspective in this song. "I think they went thataways" is difficult for me to correlate. Is it the waitress who says this to the policemen which later use the billyclub and gather two castaways in the white flash light beam? Or is it the omniscient narrator that tries to save the two poor chaps and sends them into another direction on purpose?

-Who and what exactly is meant by "song and dance team"?
-Who uses the nightstick and the billyclub?
- Is the line "there's a ten for your trouble, you have beautiful hair" a dream of old days, a remembrance from earlier days and loves because of the alcohol? Is he mixing up the person working at the shelter with some love from his better days? Especially "make the last one two doubles" sounds like a pub order, not like getting something for free because of charity at christmas...
-Have they stolen the bottle of ragpicker and are therefore followed by the policemen?
-Me and my associate like the ambience here - what is the meaning behind that? Is it a hint for that these men have been from higher standards in earlier days of their lives? Or does it just show some warmth and humour and not more?

Thanks foma for bringing this up, I forgot about all the questions I had about this songs for years. It is a great song, one of his greatest! Looking forward to your cover version, with your River of Grog in mind, I expect only masterpieces from you!

LE

[Hophead]

The song is in essence a Christmas song...but it shows that not everyone is able to celebrate Christmas as we do...with friends, family, gifts and a huge feast. The hobos (Scarecrow and Railking) are dreaming of a Christmas filled with people..gifts, food and spirits. They dream of parties and dinners with plates filled with rib-eye steaks and glasses filled with red-eye whiskey. Their reality is far different..a cold night trying to hop onto a freight train bound for the warmth of Florida while sipping their coffee. They end up being chased and consequently beaten by railyard bulls..security paid to keep hobos off of trains as they sit in the yard. Their 'dream' Christmas is a far cry from their 'real' Christmas. Instead of the food and warmth..they suffer through the cold..and the business end of a nightstick.

[foma]

WOW, what a treat from you, LE! Thanks, I'll read it hundred times before I'll can attempt any reply.

Yes, I wrote down all the chords already and astonished deeply with what I see on this two pages of paper (I write down any song what I learn by hand). I even wrote a message to Guy with my deep admiration. I mean MK is genius, there are no two opinions, but this song is just blew my mind. I learned hundreds of songs by ear, but this one is just standing apart from all my expirience and from all other MK's songs.

I want very much my cover to be a very good one, so I'll do all my best. Very hard to pick the right instrument when you are so limited. Maybe borrow some guitars... I'd record all parts by myself if I had my own studio xD

But anyway, I'll try to do it with two guitars and a voice.

[Justme]

But anyway, I'll try to do it with two guitars and a voice.

Don't worry, your playing has always been top-notch. Play the song the way you feel it and make it your own.

[superval99]

The song is in essence a Christmas song...but it shows that not everyone is able to celebrate Christmas as we do...with friends, family, gifts and a huge feast. The hobos (Scarecrow and Railking) are dreaming of a Christmas filled with people..gifts, food and spirits. They dream of parties and dinners with plates filled with rib-eye steaks and glasses filled with red-eye whiskey. Their reality is far different..a cold night trying to hop onto a freight train bound for the warmth of Florida while sipping their coffee. They end up being chased and consequently beaten by railyard bulls..security paid to keep hobos off of trains as they sit in the yard. Their 'dream' Christmas is a far cry from their 'real' Christmas. Instead of the food and warmth..they suffer through the cold..and the business end of a nightstick.

Yes, this would be my interpretation too!   

[Love Expresso]

Hophead, thank you very much, you cracked the code for me. "Hopping a freight train", or "hop the florida freight" was totally misunderstood by me (which is of course logical as I am not a native English spoken person).. and from there, it all went wrong so to say. I striked the now obviously wrong lines in my post.  That one line alone makes the Hobo idea running. I still have some questions about other vocabulary  in the lyrics but it is all very better to understand for me now. 

LE

[Hophead]

My pleasure LE  . The hobo theme seems to be rather common throughout the album...including of course "Marbletown"..referring to hobos seeking refuge and comfort for the night in cemeterys adjacent to a rail line. I'm guessing that Mark had read a book about hobos while writing for "Ragpicker's Dream".

[dmg]

My pleasure LE  . The hobo theme seems to be rather common throughout the album...including of course "Marbletown"..referring to hobos seeking refuge and comfort for the night in cemeterys adjacent to a rail line. I'm guessing that Mark had read a book about hobos while writing for "Ragpicker's Dream".

A recurring theme in his work, even in songs not written by him;  performing things like the excellent Hobo's Lullaby with the Hillbillies is a prime example.

[Lestroid]

Regarding the hobo theme - it is interesting that in MK's talk at Bridport he talked about the music he listened to as a kid and he mentioned "Big Rock Candy Mountain" and even sang a few lines of it (I can't remember if he played the guitar with it or not).  He said that he would sing it as a kid and had no idea what it meant.  But it is basically a hobo singing about a hobo's paradise ("there's a lake of stew and of whiskey too"...).  I was always reminded of that song when I listened to Ragpicker's Dream, so it was funny to hear MK mention that song as an early influence. 

The song also reminds me of the Coen Brothers movie "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" which was set during the midst of the Great Depression in the 1930's, an era with a lot of hobos.  Interestingly, the song "Big Rock Candy Mountain" is played during the opening credit sequence to set the scene.  For those who aren't familiar with the movie, the music director was T-Bone Burnett and the soundtrack included many of the Nashville musicians that Mark has worked with including Emmy Lou Harris and Gillian Welch. The sound is very much from the Mississippi Delta in the 1930's and is a combination of blues and bluegrass, very much in line with the music that MK is creating these days.  The movie was released in 2000, so I wonder if MK was influenced by the sound and the themes.

[Hophead]

But it is basically a hobo singing about a hobo's paradise ("there's a lake of stew and of whiskey too"...).  I was always reminded of that song when I listened to Ragpicker's Dream, so it was funny to hear MK mention that song as an early influence.

Thanks Lestroid for giving me the perfect seguey! In "Old Pigweed"   Mark refers to someone putting pigweed in the 'mulligan stew'..a stew made by hobos from pieces of meat, potatoes, onions and other vegetables that they could scrounge up. Someone putting 'pigweed' in the stew obviously ruined it. The song appears to be an allegory...someone probably ruined a relationship by throwing in an unwanted element. 

[Lestroid]

Well Hophead, I'm glad to have been of assistance.  Good to know I didn't add pigweed to the stew!

[dmg]

But it is basically a hobo singing about a hobo's paradise ("there's a lake of stew and of whiskey too"...).  I was always reminded of that song when I listened to Ragpicker's Dream, so it was funny to hear MK mention that song as an early influence.

Thanks Lestroid for giving me the perfect seguey! In "Old Pigweed"   Mark refers to someone putting pigweed in the 'mulligan stew'..a stew made by hobos from pieces of meat, potatoes, onions and other vegetables that they could scrounge up. Someone putting 'pigweed' in the stew obviously ruined it. The song appears to be an allegory...someone probably ruined a relationship by throwing in an unwanted element. 

The fly in the ointment, so to speak!  But remember, a spoonful of forgiveness goes a long, long way!

I wonder if that's a tablespoon or a teaspoon...

[Hophead]

But it is basically a hobo singing about a hobo's paradise ("there's a lake of stew and of whiskey too"...).  I was always reminded of that song when I listened to Ragpicker's Dream, so it was funny to hear MK mention that song as an early influence.

Thanks Lestroid for giving me the perfect seguey! In "Old Pigweed"   Mark refers to someone putting pigweed in the 'mulligan stew'..a stew made by hobos from pieces of meat, potatoes, onions and other vegetables that they could scrounge up. Someone putting 'pigweed' in the stew obviously ruined it. The song appears to be an allegory...someone probably ruined a relationship by throwing in an unwanted element. 

The fly in the ointment, so to speak!  But remember, a spoonful of forgiveness goes a long, long way!

I wonder if that's a tablespoon or a teaspoon...

Hmmm...it may have been bad enough to require a spoon of this size...


 

[dmg]