What is "The Trees" about?

[Relayer2112]

Society strives for mediocrity. Nobody can excel at the expense of others. Those with an advantage are "cut down" to fit in with the rest.

[Tuesday's Gone]

geeesh, some of the hate for Ayn Rand approaches Westboro Baptist Church mentality in terms of rationale and lack of emotional control . .

 

I have never heard or read what her ideas are but it always makes me laugh whenever someone mentions her. It's almost like pronouncing the words "Ayn" and "Rand" are 2 magical words to make some people hate each other.

 

Actually, I've started reading The Fountainhead because I'd like to know what the fuss is all about.

Edited July 1, 2015 by Tuesday's Gone

[JARG]

About the insanity of equal rights?

 

I wrote a paper on this song when I was in college. I got an A+. It's so obvious to me but it's just my opinion. The word "shade" is in reference to the African American. The oaks are the greedy white people who take up all the "light."

 

"Shade" could relate to any other race now that I think about it. The white man destroyed the Indians. Asians too. Hell the white man is pure barbarian. Even in the modern age.

 

"Manhattan Project!"

Playing to the prejudices of your professors never hurts one's grades, so well done. But what is accomplished by reducing the status of another? Shouldn't it be the case where we allow those who have been traditionally discriminated against to achieve and grow? If that was Neil's intent, he could have chosen a much better metaphor.

 

On the other hand, it's a perfect metaphor for socialism.

 

Or at least Neil's take (at the time) on socialism (which was and is a common conservative take on socialism). It's about how a controlling entity (i.e., the government) addresses social/income disparity by making everyone the same, specifically by cutting down those who have more until they're equal to those who have less.

Edited July 1, 2015 by JARG

[Xanadu]

If a tree falls in the forest but there is no one to hear it, did it really fall?

 

Wait, how does that go? :P

[JARG]

If a tree falls in the forest but there is no one to hear it, did it really fall?

 

Wait, how does that go? :P

 

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it still make a sounds offffff salesmen?

[Geddy's Soul Patch]

I've always interpreted it as people bickering among themselves and not paying attention to some serious external threat (i.e. the woodsmen) who then arrive and basically kill everyone (chop them down).

 

So Neil was very prescient with this song. It's obviously about the threat of global warming, decades before it became a mainstream topic.

I really hope this is a joke.

[laughedatbytime]

I've always interpreted it as people bickering among themselves and not paying attention to some serious external threat (i.e. the woodsmen) who then arrive and basically kill everyone (chop them down).

 

So Neil was very prescient with this song. It's obviously about the threat of global warming, decades before it became a mainstream topic.

I really hope this is a joke.

I've always interpreted it as people bickering among themselves and not paying attention to some serious external threat (i.e. the woodsmen) who then arrive and basically kill everyone (chop them down).

 

So Neil was very prescient with this song. It's obviously about the threat of global warming, decades before it became a mainstream topic.

I really hope this is a joke.

It is, the only question is, is it an intentional one?

[AndroidOnTheRun]

I think an important element of this song that is often overlooked is that, while the oaks and maples are unable to form a mutual understanding, they are torn down by a third party. I think that's the true thrust of the song, and why Neil stands by it. One kind of tree isn't any more hero or victim than the other; it's as much of a warning against the oaks' ignorance as it is a defense of their freedom to grow. When we cannot understand each other, we are all diminished.

 

If you need real-life examples of how that plays out, simply reread this thread. ;)

[rftag]

I think an important element of this song that is often overlooked is that, while the oaks and maples are unable to form a mutual understanding, they are torn down by a third party. I think that's the true thrust of the song, and why Neil stands by it. One kind of tree isn't any more hero or victim than the other; it's as much of a warning against the oaks' ignorance as it is a defense of their freedom to grow. When we cannot understand each other, we are all diminished.

 

If you need real-life examples of how that plays out, simply reread this thread. ;)

 

When I was a kid, hearing this song, it always struck me as being a message about "be careful about what you wish for, for you just might get it".

 

It reminded me of those stories where someone is granted wishes and there is some ironic twist to their granted wish they had not anticipated. So here, the maples apparently succeeded in getting this "noble law" passed, with the expectation of equality, and the law is enforced in the unanticipated way of cutting all the trees down.

 

I never saw any left wing or right wing or libertarian politics in it when I first heard it (being about 12) and I just saw it as a cool offbeat metaphor for society with a cool if disturbing ironic twist at the end.

[MMCXII]

I always saw it as a fairytale with the moral being 'don't be greedy'.. It actually reads like a bedtime story.. Edited July 12, 2015 by MMCXII

[Tony R]

I always saw it as a fairytale with the moral being 'don't be greedy'.. It actually reads like a bedtime story..

 

And there's me thinking Animal Farm was about the trials and tribulations of some pigs and their farmyard pals.

[Powderfinger]

I've always interpreted it as people bickering among themselves and not paying attention to some serious external threat (i.e. the woodsmen) who then arrive and basically kill everyone (chop them down).

 

So Neil was very prescient with this song. It's obviously about the threat of global warming, decades before it became a mainstream topic.

I really hope this is a joke.

 

I really hope several entries in this thread are jokes.

[Digital Dad]

I always saw it as a fairytale with the moral being 'don't be greedy'.. It actually reads like a bedtime story..

 

And there's me thinking Animal Farm was about the trials and tribulations of some pigs and their farmyard pals.

 

You are obviously thinking about Charlotte's Web.

[goose]

I think an important element of this song that is often overlooked is that, while the oaks and maples are unable to form a mutual understanding, they are torn down by a third party. I think that's the true thrust of the song, and why Neil stands by it. One kind of tree isn't any more hero or victim than the other; it's as much of a warning against the oaks' ignorance as it is a defense of their freedom to grow. When we cannot understand each other, we are all diminished.

 

If you need real-life examples of how that plays out, simply reread this thread. ;)

 

When I was a kid, hearing this song, it always struck me as being a message about "be careful about what you wish for, for you just might get it".

 

It reminded me of those stories where someone is granted wishes and there is some ironic twist to their granted wish they had not anticipated. So here, the maples apparently succeeded in getting this "noble law" passed, with the expectation of equality, and the law is enforced in the unanticipated way of cutting all the trees down.

 

I never saw any left wing or right wing or libertarian politics in it when I first heard it (being about 12) and I just saw it as a cool offbeat metaphor for society with a cool if disturbing ironic twist at the end.

:goodone: A lesson in unintended consequences.

[goose]

I always saw it as a fairytale with the moral being 'don't be greedy'.. It actually reads like a bedtime story..

 

And there's me thinking Animal Farm was about the trials and tribulations of some pigs and their farmyard pals.

 

You are obviously thinking about Charlotte's Web.

Some pig!

[grasbo]

I always thought that The Trees was about a really great chord progression with many ebbs and flows in the music with some strange lyrics about trees not getting on with each other.Couldn't quite understand that.