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Post by quaco on Sept 9, 2021 18:35:50 GMT
"Virgil, quick come see. There goes Robert E. Lee" [the person]
or
"Virgil, quick come see. There goes the Robert E. Lee" [the steamboat]
?
Some versions, you hear the "the"; others you don't. Which do you like? Which makes more sense? Which is more "correct"?
I saw some people arguing about this on Facebook, and I wanted to get the views of some people I could understand!
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Post by bungo the mungo on Sept 9, 2021 18:42:45 GMT
"Virgil, quick come see. There goes Robert E. Lee" [the person] or "Virgil, quick come see. There goes the Robert E. Lee" [the steamboat] ? Some versions, you hear the "the"; others you don't. Which do you like? Which makes more sense? Which is more "correct"? I saw some people arguing about this on Facebook, and I wanted to get the views of some people I could understand! ditch facebook and relax among 'friends' on preludin. not a fan of 'dixie' so can't help you.
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Post by fearlessfreap on Sept 9, 2021 18:51:03 GMT
What did Joan Baez say?
I always thought it was the steamboat.
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Post by quaco on Sept 9, 2021 19:13:53 GMT
What did Joan Baez say? I always thought it was the steamboat. The original Band version doesn't have the "the". Joan's studio version does. On The Last Waltz, you can hear Levon slur it.
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Post by Half Machine Lipschitz on Sept 9, 2021 19:16:08 GMT
I've always heard it as "there goes, uh, Robert E Lee" or "there goes a Robert E Lee". Maybe he sings "goes-ah" like Mark E Smith!
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Post by Reactionary Rage on Sept 9, 2021 19:24:55 GMT
I always thought it was the man
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toomanyhatz
god
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Post by toomanyhatz on Sept 9, 2021 21:39:41 GMT
I've always heard it as the steamboat.
For what it's worth I just listened to the Band version and it sounds to me like it could be "there GO the Robert E. Lee." There is a second word (though it's a bit faint), but what I'm not hearing clearly is an "S."
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Post by Charlie O. on Sept 9, 2021 23:15:28 GMT
This came up as a reader query on Greil Maris’ website a while back. After some back and forth, Greil just asked Robbie Robertson, who confirmed that there is no boat in the song.
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Post by Charlie O. on Sept 9, 2021 23:17:04 GMT
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rayge
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Post by rayge on Sept 9, 2021 23:24:01 GMT
the first version I heard was Joan's, and I think she inserted the definite article. Even without Robbie R confirming it, I thought this was a bit daft. Why would Virgil have to come quickly, assuming he was within shouting distance, to see a boat go by? It's big and slow, while a bloke on horseback could be out of sight in a minute or so.
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Post by quaco on Sept 10, 2021 1:58:37 GMT
This came up as a reader query on Greil Maris’ website a while back. After some back and forth, Greil just asked Robbie Robertson, who confirmed that there is no boat in the song. That's a bit disappointing to me. To me - the opposite of rayge's thinking - the appearance of the most famous general in the South is ridiculous, like saying "Oh look, what a coincidence, it's Abraham Lincoln walking past our house" whereas a boat that's passing (it could easily have almost been out of range when first noticed hence the urgency) that is symbolic of the great south is just a better, less obvious image. Oh well, good to know the answer.
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Post by Charlie O. on Sept 10, 2021 2:04:49 GMT
This came up as a reader query on Greil Maris’ website a while back. After some back and forth, Greil just asked Robbie Robertson, who confirmed that there is no boat in the song. That's a bit disappointing to me. To me - the opposite of rayge's thinking - the appearance of the most famous general in the South is ridiculous, like saying "Oh look, what a coincidence, it's Abraham Lincoln walking past our house" whereas a boat that's passing (it could easily have almost been out of range when first noticed hence the urgency) that is symbolic of the great south is just a better, less obvious image. Oh well, good to know the answer. Well, the second verse takes place chronologically before the first. The bit about you take what you need and you leave the rest refers, I think, to Lee's troops passing through and availing themselves of farmers' crops. [edit: Unless it was the retreating troops, in which case it doesn't come chronologically before the first (I really hadn't considered that 'til just now).]
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Post by Half Machine Lipschitz on Sept 10, 2021 10:44:16 GMT
This is from the wikipedia page on the boat, in the "popular culture" section:
That said, it could still be either, really. The song takes place after the war, and the steamship was built after the war, so maybe it was a novel thing to see, but the lyric acquires much more pathos if it's the actual guy, sloping past after losing the war.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2021 11:30:48 GMT
This came up as a reader query on Greil Maris’ website a while back. After some back and forth, Greil just asked Robbie Robertson, who confirmed that there is no boat in the song. That's a bit disappointing to me. To me - the opposite of rayge's thinking - the appearance of the most famous general in the South is ridiculous, like saying "Oh look, what a coincidence, it's Abraham Lincoln walking past our house" whereas a boat that's passing (it could easily have almost been out of range when first noticed hence the urgency) that is symbolic of the great south is just a better, less obvious image. Oh well, good to know the answer. Perfectly put and I totally agree.
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Post by clive gash on Sept 10, 2021 12:24:01 GMT
Yeah but how about “take a load off fanny”?
Just say sit down mate.
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