Thrasher: A Pop-Up Poetry Exploration

1. “Thrasher” by Neil Young Pop-Ups by Brock Rustin Thrasher: A Pop-Up Poetry Exploration

2. . • “Where the eagle glides ascending There's an ancient river bending Down the timeless gorge of changes Where sleeplessness awaits I searched out my companions, Who were lost in crystal canyons When the aimless blade of science Slashed the pearly gates. • It was then I knew I'd had enough, Burned my credit card for fuel Headed out to where the pavement turns to sand With a one-way ticket to the land of truth And my suitcase in my hand How I lost my friends I still don't understand. • They had the best selection, They were poisoned with protection There was nothing that they needed, Nothing left to find They were lost in rock formations Or became park bench mutations On the sidewalks and in the stations They were waiting, waiting.“ “Thrasher” by Neil Young

3. “So I got bored and left them there, They were just deadweight to me Better down the road without that load Brings back the time when I was eight or nine I was watchin' my mama's T.V., It was that great Grand Canyon rescue episode. • Where the vulture glides descending On an asphalt highway bending Thru libraries and museums, galaxies and stars Down the windy halls of friendship To the rose clipped by the bullwhip The motel of lost companions Waits with heated pool and bar. • But me I'm not stopping there, Got my own row left to hoe Just another line in the field of time When the thrashers comes, I'll be stuck in the sun Like the dinosaurs in shrines But I'll know the time has come To give what's mine. “ “Thrasher” by Neil Young (cont’d)

4. “Thrasher” is a song from one of Neil Young’s most idiosyncratic releases, “Young's status in the pantheon of living rock legends had achieved epic proportions by the late 1970s. He released his acclaimed Rust Never Sleeps album in 1979 and toured the same year in support of the LP, selling out shows across North America…Young came up with the scenario for the Rust tour: he would awaken atop oversized amplifiers, role-playing a youngster seduced by rock 'n' roll and then dwarfed by the industry and hype of it. Evil-looking ‘road-eyes’ with glowing eyes and hooded heads moved the giant ‘equipment’ around” ("Neil Young”). “Thrasher” by Neil Young

5. “I searched out my companions, Who were lost in crystal canyons When the aimless blade of science Slashed the pearly gates.” This biblical allusion references the description of Heaven in the Book of Revelations, “Pear·ly Gates (pûrl) n.Informal The gateway to heaven. [From the description of heaven in Revelation 21.]” (“Pearly gates”). In opposition to the gates of Heaven in Young’s lyric is the accidental cutting edge of science tearing away society’s structure of faith. Poets, artists, and scholars within various fields have continually traced the troubled marriage of religious belief and scientific investigation.

6. This portion of the song speaks to the masses of lost individuals homeless and/or drifting during the 1960’s and 1970’s in the United States, “Thus, homelessness may strip people of most of their accustomed social roles. In most cases, homeless people can no longer fulfill their obligations as friends, workers, students and so on (Goodman et al, 1991)…All of these factors may produce a sense of isolation and alienation from society, as well as disrupt established social bonds (Goodman et al, 1991; O'Connor, 1989)” (Saade). “They were lost in rock formations Or became park bench mutations On the sidewalks and in the stations They were waiting, waiting.“

7. This particularly striking imagery becomes especially intriguing when one considers the scientific data concerning the bullwhip. There are “many explanations of how the tip of a bullwhip is accelerated to supersonic speeds…the tip can reach velocities more than 30 times that of the initial velocity, well in excess of the speed of sound” ("Cracking the whip" ). In Young’s lyrics, without even a warning sound, the tender petal is destroyed. “Down the windy halls of friendship To the rose clipped by the bullwhip The motel of lost companions Waits with heated pool and bar.”

8. “Thrashers” is a colloquial term for antiquated farming equipment. The folllowing newspaper quote describes the contents of The Washington County Farm Museum in New York, “Chock-full of mowers, thrashers, and automated milking equipment from the late 1800s, the museum gives visitors a snapshot of farm life at the turn of the 20th century.” (Margiotta). One can infer that Young feels out of date and that these thrashers are the harbingers of passing time. “When the thrashers comes, I'll be stuck in the sun Like the dinosaurs in shrines But I'll know the time has come To give what's mine. “ There are several theories concerning the demise of the dinosaurs including widespread death due to rapid climate change, an ability to adapt to new plant and animals, and the introduction of a disease for which the dinosaurs could not develop an immunity (“Dinosaur”). Young’s lyrics carry a subtext of entrapment and extinction. One can infer that the songwriter is feeling a sense of displacement and weariness.

9. "Cracking the whip. (Physics).(kinematic research)(Brief Article)."  Science. 296. 5575 (June 14, 2002): 1931(1). Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. ALLEN HIGH SCHOOL. 9 Nov. 2009 http://find.galegroup.com. • "Dinosaur." UXL Encyclopedia of Science. Ed. Rob Nagel. 2nd ed. Detroit: U*X*L, 2007. Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. ALLEN HIGH SCHOOL. 10 Nov. 2009 http://find.galegroup.com. • Margiotta, Christine. "Visitors may get longer look at farming of yesteryear ." Post-Star 3.17 (2005). Web. 9 Nov 2009. http://web.ebscohost.com. Works Cited

10. "Neil Young." Contemporary Musicians, Volume 59. Thomson Gale, 2007. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. http://galenet.galegroup.com. "Pearly gates." The American Heritage Dictionary. 4th ed. Web. http://go.grolier.com. Saade, Rachel, and Cecelia Winkelman. "Short- and long-term homelessness and adolescents' self-esteem, depression, locus of control and social supports."  Australian Journal of Social Issues. 37. 4 (Nov 2002): 431(15). Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. ALLEN HIGH SCHOOL. 9 Nov. 2009 http://find.galegroup.com. Works Cited (Cont’d)