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Schweiz (Deutsch)Colorshow - meaning/stories etc.?
Colorshow - meaning/stories etc.?
Posted: Tuesday, July 7, 2009 - 23:36
Hi everyone, I was screaming my head off in my car the other day to Colorshow and was wondering about the song. Anybody have any info on exactly what it's about... or any cool little stories you've heard about how the the song was created (Avett old-schoolers??). Even stories about where the song fits in your life...
Sorry if this question seems weird...I looked through the board for info too. It's just that this song never fails to get me absolutley jacked up every time I hear it and it is always the first song I play to those I convert.
The story fits in my life lots but especially when I go snowboarding. Sitting on top of a mountain with that tune cranked to 10 lets you know you're alive!
Replies for this Board Topic
I don't have any insider information to provide, but I also love this song. Definitely on all of my "Avett starter mixes" that I've given out, and has hooked a lot of non fans. Also a fun one to play in bars.
No inside info either. But Colorshow is the first song by TAB that really touched me. It is still my favorite song by them. I almost got kicked out New York New York in Vegas for screaming along to it at around 4am after a long night / morning of gambling and drinking.
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This is our decision to live fast and die young, We've got the vision. Now let's have some fun!-MGMT
The song makes me feel powerful and gives me the push I sometimes need to forget what others think and just live my life.
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I won't look back anymore, I left the people that do
It's not the chase that I love, It's me following you.
I was singing it the other day and a family member asked me about it. She said "they come with torches on" is definitely a reference to the KKK. It makes sense in the context and title of the song and they are from the south where the Klan still has a significant presence.
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"I wanna have pride like my mother has, and not like the kind in the Bible that turns you bad."
You might be from West Virginia if you go fishing in your own swimming pool.
ZING!
I wouldn't say the clan has a significant presence in Concord,NC.
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"Time is Art, You are Love, Peace is Now."
i've always picture a grainy, black & white video of civil war troops marching side by side in line together when i hear this song. a dark, powerful (i agree Dusty) song........that is until my son and I shot a little vid for it. now it's a little lighter.
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Team Avett #74
www.youtube.com/michinspirado
www.facebook.com/chrisvant
Colorshow is outstanding..Matrimony also...both those songs give me chills..
"If I'm walkin' in the rain and I hear you call my name I will break into a run without a pause"
I don't think the torches line necessarily has to be about the KKK--I think of it as a reference to that kind of mob mentality when a bunch of people get riled up together and march toward whatever's bugging them while they hold torches and sing angry songs.
Haha, now that I've written that, I'm thinking of that scene in Beauty and the Beast when the villagers march to get the Beast.
But anyway, yes, Colorshow is an awesome song!
i don't think its a KKK reference either.. i just thought it could mean anyone that felt particularly strong about something... kinda goes with the theme of the rest of the song - BE LOUD! i love this song, it is indeed a song that i play for people to get them to listen to TAB.. because its intense and fun and whimsical at the same time.
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this & who i used to be don't matter much at all to me
Chrisvant....I think your lighter version rocks! I do declare....
I've always wondered about the KKK in the song as well. it's funny see somebody else thought down the same thing. Like in the song i've always imagined the avett brothers standing up the KKK and the Klan having torches and what not. it seems far fetched but whatever.
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A gentleman is some one who knows how to play the banjo, and doesn't- Mark Twain.
"Haha, now that I've written that, I'm thinking of that scene in Beauty and the Beast when the villagers march to get the Beast."
me, too. totally what i was thinking while reading this.
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Burn the questions. Burn the shame.
I am reminded of a far side comic where an angry mob is storming something with torches and this one guy in the crowd realized he should open a stand that sells torches. I wish I could find it.
Ha, the KKK. I haven't seen any burning crosses in Kannapolis either. I think all of the Klan converted to Republicans and watch Fox News all day...no time for torches or rallies.
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“I too dabbled in pacifism once. Not in Nam, of course.” -Walter Sobchak
http://www.facebook.com/nastynate704
I think its a little silly to assume that this is a klan reference, as far as torches it might as well be a frankenstein's monster reference
Yeah not a KKK reference.
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"....That men are just liars and thieves of sorts
Men are just liars and thieves....."
"a frankenstein's monster reference"
That was the first image that popped into my head.
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"Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid”
Frank Zappa
Interesting discussion about the torches. I too went to Frankenstein and the mob mentality.
My favorite thing about Colorshow, though, is riding in the car with the wife after she's had a bad day at work. We'll crank this song and when the line comes, "I tell 'em no - NO - with my hands," she'll throw both middle fingers up in the air and give a big f-you salute to the world. God, I love that woman.
While nothing about the band indicates they have indulged in drugs, the first two lines of this song conjure the image for me.
I still say it's a gay pride anthem. I'm not gonna break it down line for line, but just listen to it. It's about the pressures society puts on people who live an alternative lifestyle to confirm or keep quiet and the glorious realization that you're better off thinking in terms of "who" you are and not "what" you are.
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http://www.tablive.net
When I first saw this sculpture by Johnston Foster:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45638810@N00/2833877343
Colorshow and the "come with torches on" line came to mind immediately.
I tried to find a better image, but was unsuccessful. Anyways, the sculpture is a ton of little characters that form an angry mob and a lot of them are carrying torches. His other work is really interesting too. All of his sculptures are made from found objects (children's swimming pools, trash cans, traffic cones, etc). This piece is currently in the gallery on my campus.
"a Frankenstein monster reference"
"That was the first image that popped into my head."
And that has always been the image in my mind.
I don't know about a gay pride anthem, but it definitely speaks to standing for what you believe in even if you stand alone. Notice too there is a time to put your head down (not in shame but in pressing toward your goal) and not make a sound. Keep your plans all to yourself. Don't throw your pearls before swine.
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"Technology to wipe out truth is now available, not everyone can afford it but it's available." B. Dylan
Rejoice always, Mark
It always invokes the image of troops marching off to war when I hear it. On a side note, when taking my 2 boys & my brothers 3 kids anywhere, its the only song they all agree on hearing ( and Pigs by Pink Floyd) in the car. They love the yelling parts!
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Be Kind, For everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.