Author Topic: TOTW 23/08: Jack, his mother and The Shirts  (Read 23364 times)

Offline Mandy21

  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • ******
  • Posts: 2,238
Re: TOTW 23/08: Jack, his mother and The Shirts
« Reply #40 on: September 15, 2008, 01:38:43 pm »
I had never really given Jack's choce of song much thought before.In the s.s Ennis also sings a song called "strawberry roan" which is presumably about a horse.We know from later in the story that horses are one of the few things that Ennis feels any empathy with, as in the reunion scene, he says "little darlin" to Jack, an endearment he keeps solely for his horses and daughters.
Specifically referring to the s.s here,does the choice of song by Ennis reveal, (comming as it does after the paw the white out of the moon section,) that  even if it is only at a subconcious level, he is starting to fall in love with Jack?
The choice of song by Jack could have a few meanings I think.Maybe as it refers to water walking Jesus, Jack is hoping for some miracle for himself,to bring Ennis to him.It could also be a portent of things to come.As with Ennis it could  be his subconcious, connecting his mother, who I think he loved,and sung the hymn to him, with Ennis who he has started to fall in love with.
So many permutations possible with just 2 songs. The romantic in me, likes to think, that in the s.s the choice of music by the two is a further indication that they are being drawn more and more to each other, at some very deep level. It cannot be coincidence that it is that night where they first come together.

Fiona, here are the lyrics to "Strawberry Roan" by Marty Robbins.  In the SS, Ennis is singing this to Jack.  You could say it was "presumably about a horse", but I think once you read the lyrics, you'll presume it's about something else, as I did.   ;)

I was hangin' 'round town, just spendin' my time
Out of a job, not earnin' a dime
A feller steps up and he said, "I suppose
You're a bronc fighter from looks of your clothes."
"You figures me right, I'm a good one." I claim
"Do you happen to have any bad ones to tame?"
Said "He's got one, a bad one to buck
At throwin' good riders, he's had lots of luck."

I gets all het up and I ask what he pays
To ride this old nag for a couple of days
He offered me ten; I said, "I'm your man,
A bronc never lived that I couldn't span."
He said: "Get your saddle, I'll give you a chance"
In his buckboard we hopped and he drives to the ranch
I stayed 'til mornin' and right after chuck
I stepped out to see if this outlaw can buck.

Down in the horse corral standin' alone
Is an old Caballo, a Strawberry Roan
His legs are all spavined, he's got pigeon toes
Little pig eyes and a big Roman nose
Little pin ears that touched at the tip
A big 44 brand was on his left hip
U-necked and old, with a long, lower jaw
I could see with one eye, he's a regular outlaw.

I gets the blinds on 'im and it sure is a fright
Next comes the saddle and I screws it down tight
Then I steps on 'im and I raises the blinds
Get outta the way boys, he's gonna unwind
He sure is a frog-walker, he heaves a big sigh
He only lacks wings, for to be on the fly
He turns his old belly right up to the sun
He sure is a sun-fishin', son-of-a-gun.

He's about the worst bucker I've seen on the range
He'll turn on a Nickel and give you some change
He hits on all fours and goes up on high
Leaves me a spinnin' up there in the sky
I turns over twice and I comes back to earth
I lights in a cussin' the day of his birth
I know there are ponies that I cannot ride
There's some of them left, they haven't all died.

I'll bet all my money, the man ain't alive
That'll stay with Old Strawberry
When he makes his high dive.

And P.S.  the water-walking jesus lines were written by Larry McMurtry himself.  It's not a gospel song, it's just a couple of lines, but I have to say they're perfect for the situation, aren't they?
Dawn is coming,
Open your eyes...

Offline optom3

  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • ******
  • Posts: 4,638
Re: TOTW 23/08: Jack, his mother and The Shirts
« Reply #41 on: September 15, 2008, 02:58:18 pm »
Thanks Mandy, well that puts a whole different perspective on it.In fact it seems even more of a come on to Jack now.Hmmm will have to go off and think of that one now !!
Water walking Jesus is mentioned in the s.s is it the take me away part tht as the add on ?

Offline BlissC

  • Brokeback Got Me Good
  • *****
  • Posts: 557
  • There ain't never enough time...
    • NeonBlue Dreams
Re: TOTW 23/08: Jack, his mother and The Shirts
« Reply #42 on: September 24, 2008, 01:26:15 pm »
Hmmm...you know I'd never paid that much attention to the actual songs (I guess knowing all the symbolism and everything that comes along with Brokeback I should have figured out that there'd have to be some significance to the choice of the songs before now  :laugh:). As Fiona says, it does seem like even more of a come on to Jack. Thanks for posting that Mandy.


"No matter how hard you try, You're still in prison, If ya born with wings and you never fly."

Offline Mandy21

  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • ******
  • Posts: 2,238
Re: TOTW 23/08: Jack, his mother and The Shirts
« Reply #43 on: September 24, 2008, 04:41:19 pm »
You're welcome, BlissC.

That Annie, she's a clever old bird, isn't she ??

I honestly can't think of any combination of more clever people -- writer, screenwriter, director, actors -- to come together to make a film.  I've watched it more than 200 times all the way through, and yet there's still never a time that I don't pick up on some few seconds or some nuance that I had never noticed before.

Just the other day, I was telling Fiona to pay attention when Jack is laying on the hill after TS1, and Ennis approaches with his rifle in hand -- there's just less than a split second where Jack steels his jaw, prepared for whatever is about to happen, and then he relaxes it.  But we get to see that Jack is just laying there, seemingly calm and carefree as can be, BUT in that split second, if we're paying attention, we get to know what his worst fears might be.  Either he's going to be shot, or Ennis is going to say that's never going to happen again.  I think in that second Jack is prepared for both heartbreaking outcomes.  It is similar, to me, back on topic, to the split second when Ennis is sitting at the Twist table, after Jack's death, and OMT mentions "this other fella".  Again, we get to see, Ennis setting his jaw, almost identically to the way Jack had.  You can almost hear the words going through Jack and Ennis's heads at those times, just by the silly little gesture of how they set their jaws.  And you blink, and it's gone.

I think Annie, Diana, Larry, Ang, Heath, and Jake, not to mention the rest of the cast, were all on exactly the same wavelength, and I think that's one of the most important reasons that this movie resonates in all of us Brokies years and years later, and probably forever.
Dawn is coming,
Open your eyes...

Offline BlissC

  • Brokeback Got Me Good
  • *****
  • Posts: 557
  • There ain't never enough time...
    • NeonBlue Dreams
Re: TOTW 23/08: Jack, his mother and The Shirts
« Reply #44 on: September 25, 2008, 04:55:08 am »
I honestly can't think of any combination of more clever people -- writer, screenwriter, director, actors -- to come together to make a film....I think Annie, Diana, Larry, Ang, Heath, and Jake, not to mention the rest of the cast, were all on exactly the same wavelength, and I think that's one of the most important reasons that this movie resonates in all of us Brokies years and years later, and probably forever.

So true. I don't think there's ever been anything else I've ever read that's been so successfully transferred to the screen, and it's the fact that there are all those little nuances, things we never saw before, and all the symbolism and different interpretations associated with it that keep us coming back for more. The fact that Annie squeezed 20 years into 28 pages and did it so well is amazing, and that Ang and the screenwriters and cast translated all that without losing anything (and actually added more, without making any changes to the fundamentals of the story or the dialogue) is nothing short of a miracle.


"No matter how hard you try, You're still in prison, If ya born with wings and you never fly."

Offline Artiste

  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • ********
  • Posts: 15,998
Re: TOTW 23/08: Jack, his mother and The Shirts
« Reply #45 on: January 26, 2009, 03:01:02 pm »
You say:
       Case in point.  I knew my son was gay before his mother did, and he was about 30 when this became apparent to her.  But there is a mitigating factor here.   I knew that I could have been as queer as a 3$ bill since I was 13, IF!!! I had met the right man under the right circumstances.  But in those days (I'm 75 YO) the right circumstances were very rare and the right man was as much in denial about what could be as I was.

               


I say:
Beautifully said and like your freedom !!

More please...

au revoir,
hugs!


Offline LauraGigs

  • Moderator
  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,447
    • My Design Portfolio
Re: TOTW 23/08: Jack, his mother and The Shirts
« Reply #46 on: March 27, 2009, 12:14:58 am »

 
I love how her outfit matches J+E's shirts (solid blue over a plaid shirt), almost as if she's trying to give Ennis a clue.
« Last Edit: April 13, 2009, 06:09:46 pm by LauraGigs »

Offline Monika

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,587
  • We are all the same. Women, men, gay, straight
Re: TOTW 23/08: Jack, his mother and The Shirts
« Reply #47 on: March 27, 2009, 12:24:14 am »

 
I love how her outfit matches J+E's shirts (solid blue over a plaid shirt), almost as if she's trying to give Ennis a clue.
I´d never thought about that before. Amazing. Thanks Laura

Offline loneleeb3

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • Posting Vacation
  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • *
  • Posts: 4,970
  • I swear.............
Re: TOTW 23/08: Jack, his mother and The Shirts
« Reply #48 on: March 27, 2009, 04:28:31 pm »

 
I love how her outfit matches J+E's shirts (solid blue over a plaid shirt), almost as if she's trying to give Ennis a clue.
Incredible observation friend!
You're a sharp one. I never would have picked up on that but it's almost obvious now that you mention it with the picture!
"The biggest obstacle to most of us achieving our dreams isn't reality, it's our own fear"

"Saint Paul had his Epiphany on the road to Damascus, Mine was on Brokeback Mountain"

Offline Shakesthecoffecan

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *******
  • Posts: 9,566
  • Those were the days, Alberta 2007.
Re: TOTW 23/08: Jack, his mother and The Shirts
« Reply #49 on: March 27, 2009, 04:31:22 pm »
I never noticed that Laura, wow.
"It was only you in my life, and it will always be only you, Jack, I swear."