Mug Of Roses

I've taken several stabs at trying to write some decent copy for this piece but because of an ear-worm buried somewhere deep down in my brain, I keep coming back to the exact same starting spot.

🎶"who else is going to bring you, a mug of roses"🎶

Why I've rewritten the Rod Stewart song "Broken Arrow" off the 1991 release Vagabond Heart to suit this needlepoint embroidered piece is well beyond me. But every time I bring up this page and look at the image I start to hear that song but with those words.

To try to further understand this happening, I decided I needed to understand the original tune first. So I ventured over to genius.com to take a look at what the general consensus appears to be with these lyrics.

And there was nothing. I'm not exactly surprised at the former rapgenius.com community maybe not having a lot to say about the meaning behind this throwaway Rod Stewart single from 33 years ago, but I figured at least one person would take a stab at the lyrical content. So I continued looking. And this is where my learning experience, or leaning "event" for this morning hit. It's a cover!

It's a Robbie Robertson cover to be specific. I dug through my bag to find my headphones. They're at the bottom somewhere. I found the original version and gave it a listen. It's off the first solo album of which I was definitely familiar with the single "Somewhere down the Crazy River" because, that is yet another tune I've ear-wormed new lyrics into my head for. Instead changing the chorus subject to be about the iconic Canada's Wonderland attraction for the more coaster-apprehensive types like myself, The Lazy River.  As in, "You can find me, Somewhere down that lazy river".

I wish!

Robertson's original is certainly more tasteful with big ROMPLER style bells and wood flute synths, definitely in the vein of the more recognizable "crazy/lazy river" tune than what Stewart and Co. would do to do it a few years later.  Still nothing on genius about the track but that's ok because there's plenty elsewhere supporting the writing on the track and album in general. The Band are heavily respected amongst the type of music journalists that still have blogs archived from the earlier, better day's of the internet and Robertsons' solo work, specifically this first Daniel Lanois produced album also seems to have been very appreciated with that crowd.

So at this point, I believe I understand the original, as much as I could. There's lots of imagery inspired by Robertsons life as an indigenous man. Specifically, the gifting of the Broken Arrow and Bottle of Rain, which certainly got lost in the Sir Roderick David Stewart, CBE (Commander of the British Empire) cover of this tune. 

I've settled on the fact that I keep inserting the title of this piece into the lyrics for the same reason I do with '..River'. It's just catchy and it works. I don't believe there's anything deeper there. It's possible that this track sits, subconsciously in my brain because I remember hearing it SO much as a child. There's an assortment of songs I remember ALWAYS being on the radio as a kid. It's such a strong nostalgia that I've actually created a playlist of songs that remind of sitting in the car (a rusty later 80's Toyota Corolla) as a child while we drove between our rural community town and the larger "city" half an hour away. Anytime one of these tunes shows back up in my life I am transported back into the back seat of the car, playing with button next to the ashtray that made the windows go up and down. 

So it's possible it's simply a nostalgia based ear-worm. Equally the best and worst kind. While I've come to no clear reason why my mind inserts "Mug of Roses" into the tune, I have a greater respect for the original version of it through this. I don't even think it's a mug depicted in the piece. It's a vase! Oh well.

Mug Of Roses is in excellent condition and a perfect size to be a focal point in your space.