Webster

The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions." --American Statesman Daniel Webster (1782-1852)


Monday, April 29, 2013

Monday Music "Don't pay the Ferryman" and the Arrow of Light

I am getting this installment of my Monday Music early on Monday...rather than late monday or even Tuesday Morning.   I will not have time tonight to post.  My son is getting his Arrow of Light from his Pack. 
     The Arrow of Light award is the highest award available to Cub Scouts. It requires the Scout to have earned the Webelos Scout badge and eight activity badges. In addition to the skill and activity requirements of the preceding ranks, the Arrow of Light requires Scouts to learn the Scout Promise and Scout Law, and visit one meeting and one activity of a Boy Scout troop, in preparation for advancing to the Boy Scouts. Earning the Arrow of Light will help earn many of the requirements for the lower ranks of the Boy Scouts. The Arrow of Light award is the only Cub Scout award that can be worn on a Boy Scout uniform. Both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts wear the badge below the left pocket. Adults wear the square-knot version of the badge above the left pocket. Cub Scouts who earn the Arrow of Light are eligible to join a Boy Scout Troop prior to turning the normally-required age of eleven.  I will be coming in later tonight on account of that. 


                                  
    I decided to go with "Chris De Burgh" and his song "Don't pay the Ferryman"   This is from Wiki:
"Don't Pay the Ferryman" is a single by Chris de Burgh from the album The Getaway. It was produced in 1982. In 1983, the single reached #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States.[1]
The song tells the story of a man who boards a ferryboat and sets off. A storm approaches and the ferryman demands payment from the patron. The song's narrator warns the passenger not to pay the ferryman until the boat arrives at its destination on the other side.
The repetitive lyrics are believed to have a connection with mythology. The song describes the ferryman as "the hooded old man at the rudder," and seems to connect to the classic image of the Grim Reaper, a hooded being (usually a skeleton) who leads lost souls to "the other side," also a lyric in the song. The ferryman demanding his payment is also similar to the Greek ferryman of the dead, Charon. He demanded an obolus (coin) to ferry dead souls across the River Styx. Those who did not pay were doomed to remain as ghosts, remaining on the plane of the mare, the restless dead. Therefore in former cultures coins were laid below the tongues of dead persons.
In the bridge of the song, lines from Shakespeare's The Tempest can be heard, spoken very low by British actor Anthony Head.  Also Tom Baker from Dr Who fame played the ferryman.   He is uncredited

   

1 comment:

  1. Congrats to him! Hopefully an Eagle is in his future too!

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