Thugs

Thugs references

"...Everyone's got their breaking point, with me it's spiders, and with you it's me"

Hip Head Andrew discovered this interesting tidbit which links "Day For Night" to yet another film:

"I was watching an old movie called "The People that Time Forgot" and at the 35:30 spot, a character says a line that begins the lyrics to "Thugs." As the actress started the line, the song popped into my head and I wondered if she was going to say the whole thing, and she did. I found the movie at hulu.com

The line of dialogue is: "well everyone has their breaking point, McBride. With me it's spiders, 'n with you, it's me."

"...Ruby, honey are you mad at your man"

Stuart "Lord Brazle" MacMillan has the honours for discovering that the "Ruby" lyric is taken directly from a 1953 southern blue grass number called "Ruby (Are You Mad) by "The first Hillbilly to own a Cadillac," Cousin Emmy. The song has been covered numerous times, most successfully by Buck Owens in 1971, and given a very different twist by an American folk band named, fittingly enough, "The Kingston Trio."

The original Cousin Emmy lyrics courtesy the Owens 70's remix:

Ruby oh Ruby honey are you mad at your man
[ banjo ]
I was sittin' in the shade with shovel with my spade diggin' in the ground gold mine
Ruby honey are you mad at your man
I've done all I can do get along with you still you're not satisfied
Ruby honey are you mad at your man
[ banjo ]
If you don't believe I'm right then call on me tonight
I'll take you to your shady so cold
Ruby honey are you mad at your man
Ruby honey are you mad at your man

The Kingston Trio (John Stewart/Bob Shane/Nick Reynolds) tribute to Emmy:

Ruby, oh, Ruby. Honey, are you mad? Honey, are you mad? Honey, are you mad at your man?

Well, I'm goin' downtown. Gonna get me a jug of brandy. Gonna give it all to Mandy.
Keep her drunk and boozy. Good drunk and boozy. Good drunk and boozy all the time.
Well, if you say so, then I'll railroad no mo'. I'll just hang around your shanty.
Hang around your shanty. Hang around your shanty all the time.

Ruby, oh, Ruby. Honey, are you mad? Honey, are you mad? Honey, are you mad at your man?

Well, I'm walkin' on down till my shoes are getting' ragged. I'm getting' me down to Nashville.
Get me down to Nashville. Get me down to Nashville, Tennessee.

Honey, are you mad? Honey, are you mad? Honey, are you mad at your man?
Ruby, oh, Ruby.

"...Hairbird plucks the hair from a sleeping dog to build her nest"

The Chipping Sparrow is also known as "Hairbird."

From Hip Head Kyle:

"I was listening to Thugs from Day for Night this morning and the line (which I have heard countless times before) "Hair bird plucks a hair from a sleeping dog, to build her nest..." reminded me of a book my mother read me as a child called "The Best Nest", by P. D. Eastman (1968). It is nearly impossible to tell if Gord was referring to this story, but there could be an interesting link.

Anyway. Thank you for The Museum After Dark. I constantly look at your analysis while listening to The Hip. Your site makes me happy and helps me forget that I will never again see The Hip play live."

As Gord himself once said: "if that's what you think it's about, then that's what it's about."