Anyone know the story, or meaning, behind the song "Rank Stranger"? Is it literally about a story about someone returning home after a long time away and either a) he didn't know the people anymore and vice versa, b) he/they have changed so much, they weren't the same people he once knew; or is it a little more spiritual than literal?
Alan
I think it is more spiritual than that. JMHO.
Ron Lane
2002 Gibson F-9
Martin DC-18GTE
who really knows? heck, I'm still trying to figure out what Billy Joe and that girl were throwin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge...
"I looked for my friends, but I never could find them, I found they were all Rank Strangers to me"
A bit later:
"They've all moved away, said the voice of a stranger, to a beautiful home, by the bright crystal sea" (or pretty close to that from memory).
All friends and loved ones dead and gone to my ear.
Spencer
My gospel group plays Rank Strangers - beautiful song. #At one revival where we played it, the lay speaker who introduced us remarked that he grew up in the mountains of southwest Virginia, and the song had stirred memories from his childhood of his grandmother's funeral, where local musicians playing similar instruments had "sung the sister home" on the way to the graveyard with that song. #Later, he explained that he understood it to be inspired by soldiers returning home from the Civil War (or as we say down here, the Late Unpleasantness) to find that their families were gone. #I believe Rank Strangers is credited to Albert Brumley, a gospel songwriter and publisher, sometime in the 1920s. #He is also credited with I'll Fly Away, and Turn Your Radio On, and many other gospel tunes.
Clark Beavans
Ahhhh, man, I'm still try'n to understand the "true" meaning behind "Salty Dog"!!! - Just do the song and enjoy it! - leave the analyization(s) to the Folklorists..., Musicologists.., Pi###a-coglists and/or other assorted social scientists! - Sorry I just had to "vent" - Carry on. Moose.
Hey big guy, chill out. #Just because it doesn't interest you doesn't mean everybody feels that way.
For the longest time I wondered about the cryptic lyrics, just like the original post. #We even commented to that effect when we performed it. #The guy that explained it to us, after hearing us do it, was obviously moved by the memories that the song stirred up in him.
Clark Beavans
Again, sorry I "vented" - "Joe don't let your music kill ya', nobody cares"(source: Tom T. Hall) - Best o' luck & regards. Moose.
I would happen to think that the word "rank" means just what it appears to mean...but what the song fails to mention is what "rank" the soldiers are when they returned home to....find the voice of a stranger..and so the song begins...
tree, Moose is just as entitled to his opinion as you are of yours. If you post something on this board and expect everyone to agree with you you're barking up the wrong tree. I see from your profile that you've only been around here for about a month so you probably don't know much about Moose but beleive me he's probably forgot more about music than you or me will ever learn. Does he always express them in the most PC way? Maybe not but he's not doing it to be spiteful. FWIW I happen to agree with him that we would all probably be better off if we just felt and enjoyed the music rather than analyzing it to death.Originally Posted by
There are 8 meanings in Merriam-Websters Online Dictionary so I guess I'm more confused than ever. But the one I always thought of when heard the song was 4 a : shockingly conspicuous.
GVD
GVD
Hey All,
An here I thought rank stranger was about people who didn't use deodorant!Thanks for educatin me folks!
Take Care! -Ed-
Censored by Mandolin Cafe 2 time(s)?
Man, I thought I was the only person to be censored!
2015 Chevy Silverado
2 bottles of Knob Creek bourbon
1953 modified Kay string bass named "Bambi"
Hey All,
Mandopete - I've no doubt (know in fact) that many people have been censored here. Censorship is as fundamentally wrong as yelling "fire" in a crowded movie theatre. If one thinks about it my last sentence covers both extremes. I will keep count even if only to: 1) let people know what kind of site this is; and, 2) to give pause to the censors.
Take Care! -Ed-
GVD - If you check my posts against the original post, you will find that I'm directly on topic. #No offense to Moose or you intended. Can't change the date I signed on here, though I lurked for about a year before I dared to post. #Been picking for 35 years. #Have a lovely day!
Clark Beavans
I just looked it up, and the word "rank" refers to smelling bad. I'm pretty sure that this is related to "Salty Dog." I think most of the strangers smelled bad, and so that was the reason for the need for the salty dog.
Hope this helps.
Mark
J. Mark Lane
Stanley #10 F5
Pomeroy #72 F4
Brian Dean #30 Bowlback
The one I thought of was 4b: # b : OUTRIGHT -- used as an intensive <rank beginners>
<Insert witty saying here>
Wuh, wuh, wuh.... hmmmmmmm?
First of all, Mark, I find it hard to believe that you would have to look up the meaning of, "rank."
Second of all... no... it doesn't help...
I already told you Bozo's the meaning... #Anything wrong with that?
OdnamNool,
Do you happen to possess a "fist of death"?
Just curious.
If you can't learn to do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly.
PHEW!!!
And to think that we're talking about a "spiritual."
Here's my final(!?#) observation - I think we ALL agree: (1) Rank Stranger is a BEAUTIFUL song - (2) It is a "classic" Stanley Brothers song - regardless of WHO wrote it.
Oh no... #I'm really afraid to ask... #Dare I ask?
Now no wise cracks... if it's somethin' that can't be said, here... well... then nevermind...
But, ur... #(huddled over in my chair, knees tightly clintched together, toes pointin' in, hands held tightly over eyes and face...) #Ur... #What is a "fist of death?" # # (gulp.)
Whoops! #Uh-oh... #May day! #May day!
I just re-read my first post... #What I meant was that I told you folks the meaning of, "Salty Dog," not rank...
Oh.... #well.... #I still don't get it...
Moose? #Mark? #Mr. Ed? Anyone care to explain? #I should probably just shut up...
This one got lost in a hurry, didn't it?
Great song and fun to sing w/someone who can hit the high "..everybody I met..." part.
David Mehaffey
-------------------------------
...I wonder how the old folks are at home...
yeah, a bear to do right, like "Jordan".
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