Interpretations:Lincoln, Washington, And That Jefferson Guy

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They should go into advertising. Great jingle! Oh they did? (Mr Tuck)

October 25, 2004 - Interpretation by Brian Rogers

There's not much to do for an interpretation, other than find a connection between those three presidents. Lincoln started his term of office in 1861, Washington in 1789, and Jefferson in 1801. Those years are all prime numbers. I checked every four years starting with 1789, and those are indeed the first three prime numbers. Therefore, the point of this song is that they are the first three American presidents to start their term in a prime-numbered year.

Additionally, Lincoln was the 16th president, Washington was the 1st president, and Jefferson was the 3rd president. Putting these numbers together in the order the presidents are named, you get 1613, another prime number.

November 14, 2004 - Interpretation by Matthew Dirks

Building on Brian's interpretation, three presidents are mentioned. Three is also a prime number.

March 10, 2005 - Interpretation by Mucket

Also, the lyrics are sung two times. Two is a prime number. What's more, the title is made up of eleven syllables - another prime.

I think you're missing (perhaps on purpose) the more obvious connection between these three presidents, which is simply that they're the three who are most emphasized by American history in general. They're the three presidents who have been immortalized in Mount Rushmore (along with Theodore Roosevelt, but I think that's simply because he was President at the time the mountain was carved). While Jefferson is more famous than most presidents, though, his fame doesn't hold a candle to that of the other two, so he becomes "that Jefferson guy."

I just wish this song had been around at the time of Lincoln, so it could have been a title track of sorts. Of course, it was actually Karl Haendel who essentially wrote the lyrics, rather than TMBG. -VoVat (Nathan DeHoff)

This song is so tongue-in-cheek and seems so meaningless in the way its sang. Would make an excellent theme to a sitcom

I think it's important to note that this is likely to be a reference to the Bob Dylan song "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues" where a section of the song says:

Now Eisenhower, he’s a Russian spy
Lincoln, Jefferson and that Roosevelt guy
To my knowledge there’s just one man
That’s really a true American: George Lincoln Rockwell
I know for a fact he hates Commies cus he picketed the movie Exodus

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