Interpretations:On Earth My Nina

From This Might Be A Wiki

Hahaha, I played this song backwards to see how much it was like Thunderbird, the outcome was hilarious. -Josh

What with the whirlwind reference, I thought the song was about El Nino... but now I realise that's coincidence.

ASL



Alright fellows and fellowetts, this is why the song is the way it is. The song was formed when John Linnell was toying around with the song "Thunder Bird" and found that it sounded good backwards. You see... when he played it backwareds he heard a term that sounded like "on Earth my nina". Man Im good. drworm 818

It makes absolutely No Sense. -Walrus


Follow-up by Walrus: Here's what I hear in this song:

Fear me not- She's Walking out Fear me not- She's Walking out C'mon Commander man, Nina's Commander man. I kinda blew No-Pay and Gosh, now I'm annoyed. Say, that sparrow wants my morbid arrow, Me, took my quarter, mine it is buena, buena. May I buy A Whirlwind? Not that it keeps me yawning, But my sitter's down where mourning Fear me not- She's Walking out Fear me not- She's Walking out C'mon Commander man, Nina's Commander man.

Make any sense? NO!

I always thought it was "Herbert, nothing's walking out."

No matter. The song isn't supposed to make sense. The sounds aren't even necessarily supposed to be words (except, of course, "On Earth My Nina"). This is actually "Thunderbird" backwards. "Thunderbird" itself isn't played backwards here, but this is a forwards recording of what Linnell hears when "Thunderbird" is played backwards. One backwards segment sounded, with remarkable clarity, like "On Earth My Nina," hence the title.

  • FUN FACT: The words "On earth my Nina" are actually the words "I remember now" on Thunderbird, played backwards.

The words "I remember now" reversed = "On earth my Nina". Yeah. I actually played Thunderbird backwards.

I played it backwards and it actually sounds way cool with the thunderbird music in reverse too! -Anonymous

A long time ago, I commented that this song should be my country's (America) national anthem. I have since learned the true origin of the song, and I must say, I stand by my original statement. -Blompkin

Jervais Craddock[edit]

Does anybody know Jervais Craddock. Such a fellow would likely like a song like this one.--WhatTheHeckLinnell (talk) 12:11, 15 September 2017 (EDT)

fo nedrub reH[edit]

"Fo nedrub reH" seems more like the phonetic equivalent to Thunderbird. On Earth My Nina is "I remember Now"

"anin ym htrae nah"

"her burden of" is "fo nedrub reh" making the word bird be "b reh"

Also, here's the full song backwards: 

aniN ym htrae nO
aniN ym htrae nO
tuo gniklaw sgniht fo nedrub reH
tuo gniklaw sgniht fo nedrub reH
gninruom ereht nwod s'rettis reH
gninraey em speek syawla tahT
dniwlrihw eht yub ll'I ebyaM
now I eno eht s'taht ,retrauq a s'ereH
worra dibrom a stnaw worraps eht ,yaS
em deggum lleh lanoitaN
taef reugav a dibrof doG
aniN ym htrae nO
aniN ym htrae nO
tuo gniklaw sgniht fo nedrub reH
tuo gniklaw sgniht fo nedrub reH

You're Welcome

EDIT: I noticed that the page did say on earth my nina means i remember now soooooo.... yeah, kinda misread what people said here

--jimmyZenShinsThreeHundred11 (talk)

About living with an alcoholic father[edit]

This song, as others have mentioned, was written by creating words from the sounds that were created when John Linnell played Thunderbird backwards. As others have said, Thunderbird is written from the perspective of an alcoholic. We can see in the following stanza (which is also a genius inversion of a Beach Boys line) from Thunderbird that the narrator of that song has a daughter whom he eventually either abandons or leaves behind after an untimely drinking-related death:

We like fun, me and my girl
We'll have fun fun fun until
T-bird takes her dad away

Note that "T-bird" is a reference to the cheap wine that the narrator likes drinking.

On Earth My Nina is a song about the daughter that is mentioned in that stanza in Thunderbird. A daughter who lost her father to alcoholism. And you could even say, given how this song was created from the sounds in Thunderbird, that the song On Earth My Nina is the "daughter" of Thunderbird as well.

Let's take a look at the lyrics of On Earth My Nina in this light. I think the most obvious is "her burden of things walking out." Having your father "walk out" on you when you are young, especially a father you once had "fun fun fun" with as a child, is most certainly a burden, and one that can come up over and over throughout your life. You end up constantly burdened by a fear of things in your life walking out on you. A burden of things walking out.

The rest of this interpretation is mostly guesses. I see the song as made up of these brief, poetic images that represent different parts of Nina and her life as it was impacted by her father's alcoholism. I would be excited to see if any of you have ideas for the lines that I haven't yet parsed:

"God forbid a vaguer feat" - Not sure

"National hell mugged me" - The NSDUH data estimated that 5.8% of American adults over 18—about 14.4 million people—have an alcohol use disorder. This includes 9.2 million men and 5.3 million women, or 7.6% of all adult men and 4.1% of all adult women.[1] Alcoholism is our national hell, and it "mugged" Nina, stealing away her childhood.

Say, the sparrow wants a morbid arrow - Not sure.

Here's a quarter, that's the one I won - Not sure.

"Maybe I'll buy the whirlwind, That always keeps me yearning" - This could refer to Nina being drawn to other alcoholics throughout her life, especially those who are fun, those "whirlwinds" but ultimately they let her down and "keep her yearning." It could also refer to her developing substance issues herself, with addiction being the "whirlwind that always keeps her yearning."

"Her sitter's down there mourning" - I picture this line about being about Nina being left home with a babysitter one day, when maybe something happened to her father. I picture Nina at the top of the stairs of her house, sleepy-eyed in her pajamas after having been woken up by police at the door with the bad news about her dad, watching her babysitter answer the door and break down in tears. Nina stands there, barely comprehending, watching "her sitter down there mourning."

As someone who has lived with and loved a number of alcoholics, this song is very close to my heart. I have the words "Her burden of things walking out" tattooed on my ribs. I think it's one of the most beautiful, intricate little things the giants have made.--Never (talk) 13:14, 8 November 2021 (EST)

"Say the Sparrow wants a morbid arrow"[edit]

Just wanted to point out a possible allusion to a Mother Goose poem, "Who Killed Cock Robin?": "I, said the Sparrow, With my bow and arrow. I killed Cock Robin." I have no idea who would be the Sparrow or Cock Robin in this scenario, though. They-might-be-tortoise (talk) 23:24, 10 January 2024 (EST)

Retrieved from "https://tmbw.net/wiki/index.php?title=Interpretations:On_Earth_My_Nina&oldid=337950"