Yep, it's true. I am in league with those people who believe that Dark Side of the Moon lines up with The Wizard of Oz if you start the record at the third MGM lion roar or whatever. (I've never tried it, but I'm sure it would be fascinating if I could stand to listen to Pink Floyd for longer than 20 seconds.)
Which I'm pretty sure is not news to you guys, but it has come to my attention recently because I was listening to the song "Tragic Kingdom" by No Doubt the other morning and had a ZOMGEPIPHANY about it. The CD it comes from, also called Tragic Kingdom, was one of the first CDs I ever owned. When I was 12, it rotated through my CD player in between SpiceWorld and the soundtrack to Hercules. And I always used to think that the song "Tragic Kingdom" was just a fancy theatrical venture on an album that is otherwise Gwen Stefani's various post-breakup hate letters to her ex. And I suppose, if you were coming into it from a heavily metaphorical perspective, "Tragic Kingdom" could be read as a metaphor for the end of their relationship. I didn't ever think this, though; I just thought it was a big fanciful story about a ruined medieval kingdom.
Before I delve into my epiphany, allow me to post the song and the lyrics for your consideration:
Once was a magical place
Over time it was lost
Price increased the cost
Now the fortune of the kingdom
Is locked up in its dungeon vaults
The castle floor lies in traps
With coiled wires set back
Decoyed by old cheese
Now the drawbridge has been lifted
As the millions
They drop to their knees
They pay homage to a king
Whose dreams are buried
In their minds
His tears are frozen stiff
Icicles drip from his eyes
The cold wind blows as it snows
On those who fight to get in
On heads that are small
Disillusioned as they enter
They're unaware what's
Behind castle walls
But now it's written in stone
The king has been overthrown
By jesterly fools
And the power of the people
Shall come to believe they do rule
They pay homage to a king
Whose dreams are buried
In their minds
His tears are frozen stiff
Icicles drip from his eyes
Welcome to the tragic kingdom
Cornfields of popcorn
Have yet to spring open
Have they lost their heads
Or are they just all blind mice
We've heard all their stories
One too many times
Hypnotized by fireflies
They glow in the dark
Midgets that disguise themselves
As tiny little dwarfs
The parade that's electrical
It serves no real purpose
Just takes up a lot of juice
Just to impress us
They pay homage to a king
Whose dreams are buried
In their minds
His tears are frozen stiff
Icicles drip from his eyes
Oh, they drip from his eyes
Into the night
They drip from his eyes
Welcome to the tragic kingdom
Cornfields of popcorn
Have yet to spring open
So that's the song. (Bugs me that Gwen doesn't know how to pronounce "homage.") And I have to confess - I had my little epiphany about it, then went online and realized that the epiphany wasn't entirely mine and wasn't entirely secret, although Professor Wikipedia does not dig as deeply into it as I did because, as I may have mentioned, I am the fringe.
Yep, finally realized after, oh, 13 years of listening to the song, that "Tragic Kingdom" rhymes with "Magic Kingdom." As in Disney. And Disneyland is in Anaheim, where No Doubt was born and bred. As the Wikipedia link I provided shows, that observation is not my crazy imagination reaching - that was an intentional pun by the band. The rest of my observations, however....
Y'all, I want you to realize that I feel appropriately ashamed that I initiated several mental synapses listening to the lyrics and realizing all the different ways that they could be taken as Disney references. But of course, my shame over being a lunatic will not prevent me from re-copying the lyrics and pointing out all those places to you! Because it's my blog and I do what I want! So you'll see the lyrics in italics, and my super profound and not-at-all-awkwardly-crazy thoughts will appear in bold.
Once was a magical place
Over time it was lost
Price increased the cost
Commentary on the growing commercialism/merchandising hype that took hold not only of Disney, but of all the big movie machines? I think so!
Now the fortune of the kingdom
Is locked up in its dungeon vaults
Disney vault. Where they hide the really popular and well-made Disney films until they need to make more money or until a new format gets released. *coughLIONKINGIN3Dcough*
The castle floor lies in traps
With coiled wires set back
Decoyed by old cheese
I always thought this line was weird, and still do, unless cheese = mouse. Hmm.
Now the drawbridge has been lifted
As the millions
They drop to their knees
They pay homage to a king
Whose dreams are buried
In their minds
The great and powerful aspirations of WALT hang heavy over us all.
His tears are frozen stiff
Icicles drip from his eyes.
Possible reference to the urban legend that Walt was cryogenically frozen when he died. (In reality, quite the opposite - he was cremated.)
The cold wind blows as it snows
On those who fight to get in
On heads that are small
Disillusioned as they enter
They're unaware what's
Behind castle walls
Hm. Don Bluth saw what was behind castle walls and got disillusioned. Just saying.
But now it's written in stone
The king has been overthrown
By jesterly fools
Comment on the failure of post-Walt head honchos to ignite the same magic and innovation he did? Possibly.
And the power of the people
Shall come to believe they do rule
[snipped because of repeated lyrics]
Welcome to the tragic kingdom
Cornfields of popcorn
Popcorn = theme parks and movies. HMMMM.
Have yet to spring open
Have they lost their heads
Or are they just all blind mice
MICE
We've heard all the stories
One too many times
Disney's standard formula, especially in the beginning: take existing stories, like novels and fairy tales (especially those in the public domain) and adapt for film.
Hypnotized by fireflies
They glow in the darkHow much Disney magic is made to look like little fireflies? Think of Tinkerbell's magic, the Fantasia fairies, the Fairy Godmother's magic in Cinderella...
Midgets that disguise themselves
As tiny little dwarfs
Dwarfs. Yeah. First feature-length animated film the House of Mouse ever made.
The parade that's electrical
It serves no real purpose
Just takes up a lot of juice
Just to impress us
Main Street Electrical Parade. Obvy.
[remainder snipped because of repeated lyrics]
So these were the very important and relevant thoughts my brain was producing when I was doing my dance-workout and trying not to be freaked out about my upcoming concert. Left with a dose of nervousness-adrenaline and nothing to focus it on, my mind goes to some pretty interesting places. Of course, as regular readers will note, my mind goes to interesting places whether I am guiding it or not. But it's entertaining, right?
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