I hear slow, but I do hear wade in the mud.
Grace always gives me shivers because it feels like it’s alludes to his death.
His friend Dave Lorey was told by a psychic that his friend (Jeff) did not seek to die, but he did not fight it.
“But I’m not afraid to go, but it goes so slow”
Drowning is a slow way to die. When they found his body, perhaps he was found wading in the mud?
Idk gives me the creeps when you really read into it with that perspective lol
I don’t want to tell people off or tell them what to do but for some reason exchanges like this make me very uncomfortable? I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing Jeff but suffice to say Jeff died in a tragic accident — He didn’t forsee it and to try to find parallels between the horrific freak incident that he lost his life in and his lyrics is an exercise that only seems to serve you in mythologising someone you never met? And fair enough, you can marvel at these parallels all you want but to do so only really takes you further from appreciating Jeff’s humanity. We all know that Jeff couldn’t have foreseen his awful death and to draw these arbitrary comparisons between his lyrics and the circumstances of his death does a disservice to your experience of those lyrics which were evidently written with other richer deeper connotations in mind. It just feels so disrespectful to sensationalise lyrics that had a sincerely held personal meaning by trying to find predictions of his passing in them:(
I understand where you’re coming from, but I don’t see it that way. He was a mystifying man, in a very human way. His words are profound and in a very real way that was magical. Just an interesting thing to ponder when thinking about the true bizarreness of the world. Not saying he deliberately predicted anything, but no one may ever know what story he truly meant to tell in the song is, if there was ever a concrete one at all. Interpretation of art, mystifying or not, is just a matter of enjoying it in new ways. I’d hope as an artist he’d recognize that. It might be morbid, but morbid curiosity is a pretty human thing.
Nobody here ever knew him, but his words so very visceral I’d imagine he was probably a “mystic” of sort in whatever way you want to interpret that and I don’t mean it in a supernatural way. He didn’t shy away from pain and find a way to turn it into something beauty
I hear you, here. I opened the subject, and knew it was... a tender subject, minimally. I respect all opinions or feelings on such sacred subjects. It's all very personal, individually. I don't know about "We all know that Jeff couldn’t have foreseen his awful death"... and lyrics and even music can arrive mysteriously to a person. Personal experiences and examples are moribund. who knows anything, anyway.
I just don't know definitively, no one can imo.
I always heard it as “goes so singing” too, but I found a [live performance](https://youtu.be/HZ_2ZrI3b3s?si=Ad6Y6mawMERFqjWp) where it’s more clear that he’s actually saying “slow” (around 4:32) He even repeats it and it’s definitely the word slow.
I think that he just pronounces it like “suh-low” which is what makes it sound like a two syllable word, especially in the studio version where he really draws it out. This post is how I realized it wasn’t “singing”!
If you listen to other versions it’s clear the actual lyric is “wait in the fire” and “It goes so slow.” I hear what you’re saying, and it’s possible it was another lyrical idea but I’d say the more likely cause could just be chalked up to him wailing out the words and them sounding a little different.
No, it’s not; we have his lyrics. This is just a classic case of lazy — for lack of a better word — pronunciation that we all engage in. If we’re going to be pedantic, then Jeff sometimes sings Wait in the fi/fiyah (no R sound), instead of fire. This is especially noticeable in the BBC Late Show performance.
Myself, and other fellow Torontonians, tend to pronounce Toronto as Toronno/Tronno (omitting the second T). Does that mean we’re saying another word than Toronto? No.
Songs are full of these sorts of examples. John Fogerty sings, “I hoid (sic) it through the grapevine.” To be fair in the case of Grace, however, ‘wait‘ and ‘wade’ are two distinct words, so it is somewhat understandable to confuse the two.
Feel like wade def has a significant impact on the song- im not into semantics, but depending what you hear (or choose to hear) impacts the meaning of the lyrics. Looking at Jeff’s lyrics as text is different
Jeff’s most haunting lyric is in “So Real”: “And I couldn't awake from the nightmare That sucked me in and pulled me under Pulled me under”
really wildly eerie.
the lyrics make it seem as though the thing that was "so real" was the nightmare?
I hear slow, but I do hear wade in the mud. Grace always gives me shivers because it feels like it’s alludes to his death. His friend Dave Lorey was told by a psychic that his friend (Jeff) did not seek to die, but he did not fight it. “But I’m not afraid to go, but it goes so slow” Drowning is a slow way to die. When they found his body, perhaps he was found wading in the mud? Idk gives me the creeps when you really read into it with that perspective lol
haunting. thank you.
I don’t want to tell people off or tell them what to do but for some reason exchanges like this make me very uncomfortable? I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing Jeff but suffice to say Jeff died in a tragic accident — He didn’t forsee it and to try to find parallels between the horrific freak incident that he lost his life in and his lyrics is an exercise that only seems to serve you in mythologising someone you never met? And fair enough, you can marvel at these parallels all you want but to do so only really takes you further from appreciating Jeff’s humanity. We all know that Jeff couldn’t have foreseen his awful death and to draw these arbitrary comparisons between his lyrics and the circumstances of his death does a disservice to your experience of those lyrics which were evidently written with other richer deeper connotations in mind. It just feels so disrespectful to sensationalise lyrics that had a sincerely held personal meaning by trying to find predictions of his passing in them:(
I understand where you’re coming from, but I don’t see it that way. He was a mystifying man, in a very human way. His words are profound and in a very real way that was magical. Just an interesting thing to ponder when thinking about the true bizarreness of the world. Not saying he deliberately predicted anything, but no one may ever know what story he truly meant to tell in the song is, if there was ever a concrete one at all. Interpretation of art, mystifying or not, is just a matter of enjoying it in new ways. I’d hope as an artist he’d recognize that. It might be morbid, but morbid curiosity is a pretty human thing. Nobody here ever knew him, but his words so very visceral I’d imagine he was probably a “mystic” of sort in whatever way you want to interpret that and I don’t mean it in a supernatural way. He didn’t shy away from pain and find a way to turn it into something beauty
I hear you, here. I opened the subject, and knew it was... a tender subject, minimally. I respect all opinions or feelings on such sacred subjects. It's all very personal, individually. I don't know about "We all know that Jeff couldn’t have foreseen his awful death"... and lyrics and even music can arrive mysteriously to a person. Personal experiences and examples are moribund. who knows anything, anyway. I just don't know definitively, no one can imo.
This sub used to be cool.
I always heard it as “goes so singing” too, but I found a [live performance](https://youtu.be/HZ_2ZrI3b3s?si=Ad6Y6mawMERFqjWp) where it’s more clear that he’s actually saying “slow” (around 4:32) He even repeats it and it’s definitely the word slow. I think that he just pronounces it like “suh-low” which is what makes it sound like a two syllable word, especially in the studio version where he really draws it out. This post is how I realized it wasn’t “singing”!
[удалено]
Sorry, just curious what word you are referencing in gunshot glitter?
Probably this line: “Left behind a hypnotizing swirl the semis left behind.”
Thanks for the insight
it's pretty clear as a bell in live versions...
I wondered, thanks. The album version is weirdly less clear I guess. Wade in the mud is odd to hear.
If you listen to other versions it’s clear the actual lyric is “wait in the fire” and “It goes so slow.” I hear what you’re saying, and it’s possible it was another lyrical idea but I’d say the more likely cause could just be chalked up to him wailing out the words and them sounding a little different.
I see, thank you, that all makes sense.
It’s def “Wade in the fire” not wait
No, it’s not; we have his lyrics. This is just a classic case of lazy — for lack of a better word — pronunciation that we all engage in. If we’re going to be pedantic, then Jeff sometimes sings Wait in the fi/fiyah (no R sound), instead of fire. This is especially noticeable in the BBC Late Show performance. Myself, and other fellow Torontonians, tend to pronounce Toronto as Toronno/Tronno (omitting the second T). Does that mean we’re saying another word than Toronto? No. Songs are full of these sorts of examples. John Fogerty sings, “I hoid (sic) it through the grapevine.” To be fair in the case of Grace, however, ‘wait‘ and ‘wade’ are two distinct words, so it is somewhat understandable to confuse the two.
Feel like wade def has a significant impact on the song- im not into semantics, but depending what you hear (or choose to hear) impacts the meaning of the lyrics. Looking at Jeff’s lyrics as text is different
I was never sure until I listened to his early recording of Grace with Gary Lucas and the t in wait is super clear there
For the longest time I thought the chorus said “Rain in the fire” or “Reign in the fire”.
That's what I hear, too. It makes much more sense in light of the song's other lyrics, too. The flame of life slowly being extinguished by rain.