Difference between revisions of "Interpretations:Ana Ng"

Revision as of 19:09, 31 July 2005

Ana Ng (the most common Chinese name the Johns found in the Phone book when writing the song) is a woman on the exact opposite side of the world of the singer. The first couple of lines introduce this poetic idea: "Make a hole with a gun, perpendicular/ to the name of this town on a desktop globe/ exit wound in a foreign nation/ showing the home of the one this was written for." In the rest of the song, John (one of 'em) sings more about their relationship, though they "still haven't walked in the glow of each other's majestic presence." (Being the dork TMBG fan that I am, I checked what was on the opposite side of the globe, from Brooklyn, New York, and it's the middle of the Indian Ocean... hey, maybe Ana's a fish [I doubt it]) ~MC

Ana Ng and I are getting old and we still haven't walked in the glow of each other's majestic presence sums up the song nicely. It is a beautiful song of despair over not having found one's soulmate, believing she must be on the other side of the world and therefore practically unattainable. Using a gun on a globe is suggestive suicide (just point it at your own dome instead). The song also brings back memories of children's cartoons, in which characters dug straight down through the earth and wound up upside-down in China.

For the curious, I made a world map (years ago) that superimposes a world map over another, showing what is opposite to anywhere. http://www.nut.house.cx/~nemo/gallery/misc/worldmap_upsidedown

I agree that this is a gorgeous song of hopeless romance -- the idea that The One is diametrically opposite you on the planet is one of the most depressing, and beautiful, I've ever heard in music -- but I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that this song is also about the futility of human endeavor in general. For all your planning, Linnell seems to suggest, for all your grooming and searching and wanting and hoping, your true love, by sheer accident of birth, might still be on the other side of the world. You can't do anything about it. Certain lines seem to support this idea -- the storm tangling up the wires, for example, is a pretty perfect metaphor for how uncontrollable events defeat the attempts people make to connect with each other. The scene in the video of hands adjusting what looks like a surveyor's instrument -- the person turns the device carefully, goes to make some fine adjustment, and the lens falls off, the hands recoil. Another image representing the transitory nature of what man does, how all his works crumble. And of course there's that last lyric -- "And the truth is, we don't know anything." Man oh man. Only They Might Be Giants.

Well Vietnam is pretty far away too. Ana Ng Might Be Vietnamese. "Exit wound in a foreign nation." Doesn't that "dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun duuuun" beat make you think a platoon jumping off a helicopter or something? "I don't want the world, I just want your half" could be an expression of the inherent contradiction of imposing one's principals, no matter how democratic or beneficial, in an imperialistic manner. So maybe Ana Ng is one of those extended metaphor thingies for all Vietnam, never walking in the glow of the majestic presence of a capitalist economy and democratic government. Riiight. Uh, so, in conclusion, if you look at parts of the lyrics out of context, and glaze over the rest, Ana Ng becomes a profound commentary on the failure of the U.S.'s interventionist policies in Southeast Asia. Hey, you know what Mill said about the importance of wrong ideas in the marketplace. -Josh Stern

I read somewhere that the John's were inspired to write this song when they saw a cartoon where a cupid shot an arrow through the Earth. I've also heard the same story, but a gun was shot instead.

I believe the gunshot cartoon was from a Pogo comic. Pogo was also the source of Lines Upon A Tranquil Brow.

I had a thought: the narrative of Ana Ng could all take place in the course of a day. The singer is in his apartment looking at his globe and thinking about the other side of the world. The closest he can get to the other side of the world is the ('64) World's Fair, where he sees all kinds of crazy stuff. Then the third verse takes place in the bus depot on the way home, where he thinks about how pointless the day was (sticking like a broken record, playing over and over like any other day) and realises that he "doesn't know anything". Taa daa! - Dave

I'm pretty sure that the "Eighty dolls yelling 'Small girl after all'" is a reference to the "It's a Small World After All" boat ride, and someone (possiably Ana?) thinking that the dolls are singing about her.

The "It's a Small World After All" attraction, later moved to Walt Disney World, was created as a UNICEF exhibit for the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. The ride features scenes from nations around the globe. The singer contemplates the many other places his "true love" may be found. (Perhaps China, but she could be anywhere, even the DuPont Pavillion.) It's more depressing when you consider that he is "all alone" in a ride very similar to a classic "Tunnel of Love."

I'd say this song has been pretty well summed up by everyone previously. There is one thing missing, though, and it's one of my favourite parts of the song. When he's at the World's Fair, the bench is still warm: his True Love was there, at that very bench, and he just missed her!

"Like a whirlpool, it never ends": from Tommy Roe's '69 hit single "Dizzy". I used to ride my rocking horse to that song, maybe the Johns did too.

Ivo

Interesting tidbit. A friend who plays Kingdoms of Loathing alerted me to this, which is apparently the final fight before you reach ascension, whatever that means.

You're fighting a Giant Desktop Globe

This is a massive, full-color rendering of the entire planet, made to sit on an equally massive desktop. It spins menacingly, perpendicular to its shiny metal axis. Certain continents look much more threatening than others, but the overall effect is startling.

To defeat it, you need to use the NG. No idea what an NG is, but here's the text my friend sent me:

You use the NG.

You wind up the NG and let it fly. It makes a hole perpendicular to the name of The Seaside Town, with an exit wound in a foreign nation. It splits cleanly into two halves. You don't want the whole thing, or even your half, so you leave it and continue on.

Ascension is the last and final world you can reach in Kingdom of Loathing. I heard not many clans have made it that far. I guess the NG is an item he whas carrying along on the moment he fought the Gaint Desktop Globe, wich he had to use. But I dont play it, so dont take it for true. As for the rest, the constellation is creepy, but does not support the interprations of the lyrics of the song. Interesting, though.