Interpretations:Illinois

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County Fairs

Does anyone else think about County/State Fairs when they listen to this?—Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.32.220.99 (talk • contribs) 20:27, 1 June 2006

Actually, it makes me think about Merry-Go-Rounds. --64.131.249.17 00:08, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Sure, and the merry-go-round too. And men walking around in seersucker suits & white straw hats. And women wearing petticoats & fluffy knickers under billowy dresses, carrying lacy parasols while sipping mint juleps & saying things like "my dear gracious!" because a lady doesn't cuss. And little scallywags playing marbles on the dirt road.

And the fat town mayor sweating in his full four-piece suit in July checking his pocket watch because at 2:00 he's going to be cutting a ribbon for the grand opening of the new town library. A photographer waits. He has a big box camera with a velvet shroud. Pop!

After the photo op, the photographer goes to the other side of town square (next to the statue of Honest Abe) to take a picture of the farm board director awarding a blue ribbon to the owner of a large pig. Pop! Then it's over to the steps of the chamber of commerce to snap the chairman welcoming the proprietor of a textile mill to be built by the river. Pop!

Later that night in the darkroom, the pictures are being developed. Soon, the photographer's face expresses consternation. (At this point, Linnell's tune reaches the 1:00 mark where the "demented" notes intrude.) We see coming into focus the mayor's face in a leering expression toward the librarian's bosom. As the second picture develops, the photographer's loupe centers on a handful of currency being passed from the farmer to the board director. The music reaches maximum disharmony as the third picture shows, folded behind the chairman's back, a newspaper headline accusing the textile proprietor of dumping poison in the waterways of towns in other counties.

Land of Lincoln, eh? --Nehushtan (talk) 22:55, 8 December 2019 (EST)

By Thy Rivers Gently Flowing

I think this song is actually a heavily altered version of the actual state song of Illinois (which is simply called "Illinois"), which in itself just uses the melody of Baby Mine. Signed, DonutEater (talk) 19:51, 3 May 2021 (EDT)