Heartland

Being645 wrote:

markfiend wrote:I always thought the red ribbon was an obscure reference to this - or at least to the yellow ribbon practice in general.

Yes. That seems most likely to me as well. Also considering they made Crash And Burn decades later ... ...

Yeah, that seems plausible. Hadn't heard of that before
Also, this is probably just me being slow, but what's the relation to crash and burn?

LyanvisAberrant wrote:

Being645 wrote:

markfiend wrote:I always thought the red ribbon was an obscure reference to this - or at least to the yellow ribbon practice in general.

Yes. That seems most likely to me as well. Also considering they made Crash And Burn decades later ... ...

Yeah, that seems plausible. Hadn't heard of that before
Also, this is probably just me being slow, but what's the relation to crash and burn?

Just a feeling ... ...

Being645 wrote:

LyanvisAberrant wrote:

Being645 wrote: Yes. That seems most likely to me as well. Also considering they made Crash And Burn decades later ... ...

Yeah, that seems plausible. Hadn't heard of that before
Also, this is probably just me being slow, but what's the relation to crash and burn?

Just a feeling ... ...

Damn you lot and your cryptic-ness.

LyanvisAberrant wrote:

Being645 wrote:

LyanvisAberrant wrote: Yeah, that seems plausible. Hadn't heard of that before
Also, this is probably just me being slow, but what's the relation to crash and burn?

Just a feeling ... ...

Damn you lot and your cryptic-ness.

... ... Flowers on the razor wire ...

I think this song (as with a lot of songs, really) is about sex, particularly the sleazy casual variety. here's why...


"Flowers on the razor wire..." - love is a minefield. Enter at your own risk.


"Her lovers queued up in the hallway/I heard them scratching at the door" - He may be one of many, or he beat the rest of them to the prize. It's never made entirely clear.


"I tried to tell her/about Marx and Engels, God and angels/I don't really know what for/But she looked good in ribbons" - he (probably Von knowing him) intellectually dwarfs the other party, but it doesn't matter for now because she looks good in ribbons.


"Love is a many splintered thing/Don't be afraid now/Just walk on in" - again, love is a minefield...but these things happen, so let them happen. It's human nature.


"INCOMING" - here we go again....

"Sex and violence and intelligence all rolled into one - a perverse and wonderfully lethal cocktail." -Quote from Eldo about Ribbons in an old interview I read the other day ("Excess All Areas").

He says some other stuff about the Ribbons lyrics in that interview if you wanna check it out.

Also I'm pretty sure "flowers on the razor wire" isn't necessarily a part of the song's story or carrying any particular message. I think he's just using that image to make the listener mentally compare sex and violence.

Also also hey guys I'm new here.

AmericanDream wrote: Also also hey guys I'm new here.

Hihi ... the bottom forum to introduce yourself ... ... but hey, somebody has seen you, so

WELCOME, AmericanDream ... ...

AdrenaChris wrote: "INCOMING" - here we go again....

Cool and simple ... ...

My father thought Ribbons was somehow about the Vietnam War (he was a vet and was also a fan of that album). I'll explain the references:

"Just walk on in" -- this could refer to mortar fire "walking in." Here's a thread on Yahoo! Answers on what this means: https://answers.yahoo.com/question/inde ... 359AA3hhbo

"Incoming!!!" -- a reference to incoming artillery fire.

"I'm lying on my back now, the stars look all too near" -- This could be a reference to gazing at the night sky from somewhere in the middle of the Vietnamese jungle.

All the references to razor wire. Obviously a common thing in warzones.

"Her lovers queued up in the hallway" -- could be a reference to Vietnamese prostitutes.

"Marx and Engels." -- a reference to communist theory (the Vietnam War was fought against communism).

"I see no purple light, Crashing out of you" -- could be a reference to someone being hit (or not being hit) by an artillery shell.

Anyway, not conclusive by any means, but I was Googling the lyrics to Ribbons and happened upon this thread and figured I'd share a few thoughts.

mnyounger wrote:My father thought Ribbons was somehow about the Vietnam War (he was a vet and was also a fan of that album). I'll explain the references:

"Just walk on in" -- this could refer to mortar fire "walking in." Here's a thread on Yahoo! Answers on what this means: https://answers.yahoo.com/question/inde ... 359AA3hhbo

"Incoming!!!" -- a reference to incoming artillery fire.

"I'm lying on my back now, the stars look all too near" -- This could be a reference to gazing at the night sky from somewhere in the middle of the Vietnamese jungle.

All the references to razor wire. Obviously a common thing in warzones.

"Her lovers queued up in the hallway" -- could be a reference to Vietnamese prostitutes.

"Marx and Engels." -- a reference to communist theory (the Vietnam War was fought against communism).

"I see no purple light, Crashing out of you" -- could be a reference to someone being hit (or not being hit) by an artillery shell.

Anyway, not conclusive by any means, but I was Googling the lyrics to Ribbons and happened upon this thread and figured I'd share a few thoughts.

I really like these thoughts... ...
and btw, although it's quite late to say so, hello and welcome mnyounger ... ...

EricSweden wrote:anyone know what ribbons is about? it's one of my fav lyrics.

Red ribbon was tied around the cordite sticks used in shells during WW1

Hello, first of all I am not a native speaker.
Here my suggestions - in short: I guess it's about a serial(?) murder.

How many are involved?
- the first-person narrator
- a woman
- a knife the narrator calls "flowers on the razor-wire" witch he talks to
- a diffuse "we" (other murders?)

Perhaps the text is inspired by the Ripper murder of the prositute Mary Jane Kelly

Hello @chico & welcome to

Okay, so I've always thought it's about sex.
You know, for Von's liking - with a pinch of marxist manifestoes etc etc.
But hell, was I blown away with all the interpretations here! Death, ex-lover, murder, the war in Vietnam, nuclear holocaust, taking stuff so you end up where the stars look all too near, mourning by Gypsies, soulmates' connection. But who knows? Maybe it's all in there to a greater or lesser extent I wouldn't be surprised if Von wrote something at the same time about sex and a commentary on the US military politics (especially when you put the song's lyrics next to the other ones in Vision Thing).

isnt it about Patricia? pretty sure its is, in the same kind of pejorative down-the-nose way that Corrosion is about our Wayne.

eastmidswhizzkid wrote: ↑24 Mar 2025, 09:57 isnt it about Patricia? pretty sure its is, in the same kind of pejorative down-the-nose way that Corrosion is about our Wayne.

It very well may be. I've always thought the song to be about casual sex but well, written in a more ?peculiar? way than other ones taking up the topic. We'll probably never know for sure. Still, I'm wondering how Von's face would look like if he ever read the whole discussion here would he condemn us to hell?

I tend to take things literally (ie I’m a concise rather than a cryptic crossword guy like AE) so still think that one stanza’s simply about a cat with a red ribbon round its neck which suited it rather well. In my theory, Von, living by himself and missing the constant company he had enjoyed with Claire or at 7VP, spends time verbalising his thoughts and theories to said feline, whether about band matters (Marx), politics (Engels), the meaning of life (God) or vacuous hospital-based soap operas (Angels), but always felt that it was a pointless exercise. The cat’s suitors keep coming round to the house and scratching at the door (as cats do, humans tend to knock in my experience!). So far so good, but how this fits with the rest of the song I have no idea!!

Nikolas Vitus Lagartija wrote: ↑28 Mar 2025, 16:20 I tend to take things literally (ie I’m a concise rather than a cryptic crossword guy like AE) so still think that one stanza’s simply about a cat with a red ribbon round its neck which suited it rather well. In my theory, Von, living by himself and missing the constant company he had enjoyed with Claire or at 7VP, spends time verbalising his thoughts and theories to said feline, whether about band matters (Marx), politics (Engels), the meaning of life (God) or vacuous hospital-based soap operas (Angels), but always felt that it was a pointless exercise. The cat’s suitors keep coming round to the house and scratching at the door (as cats do, humans tend to knock in my experience!). So far so good, but how this fits with the rest of the song I have no idea!!

even better than the real thing although there is of course every chance that that is the real thing.

ms croww wrote: ↑24 Mar 2025, 19:57

eastmidswhizzkid wrote: ↑24 Mar 2025, 09:57 isnt it about Patricia? pretty sure its is, in the same kind of pejorative down-the-nose way that Corrosion is about our Wayne.

It very well may be. I've always thought the song to be about casual sex but well, written in a more ?peculiar? way than other ones taking up the topic. We'll probably never know for sure. Still, I'm wondering how Von's face would look like if he ever read the whole discussion here would he condemn us to hell?

there was a time ... but it's long gone. @Chairman Bux

Nikolas Vitus Lagartija wrote: ↑28 Mar 2025, 16:20 I tend to take things literally (ie I’m a concise rather than a cryptic crossword guy like AE) so still think that one stanza’s simply about a cat with a red ribbon round its neck which suited it rather well. In my theory, Von, living by himself and missing the constant company he had enjoyed with Claire or at 7VP, spends time verbalising his thoughts and theories to said feline, whether about band matters (Marx), politics (Engels), the meaning of life (God) or vacuous hospital-based soap operas (Angels), but always felt that it was a pointless exercise. The cat’s suitors keep coming round to the house and scratching at the door (as cats do, humans tend to knock in my experience!). So far so good, but how this fits with the rest of the song I have no idea!!

brilliant Nik.