Phone Went West

[numbdub]

Anyone know why this song is titled so? Any ideas? beats the crap outta me. though of course its the shit.

[purvis9876]

No freakin' clue.

[tomEisenbraun]

we talked about this one a while ago-- someone had the thought of it meaning that the phone went dead, a disconnected line or something of that manner. or that the girl has moved west...

i don't know, there are some odd cryptic lines and phrases that inhabit this album. it could be that a lot of them take on the shape of the song they are a part of, words written to fill the attitude of the song, sort of in the way some symbolist poets worked or hoped to achieve... sometimes words fit and don't make too much sense, but they elicit the idea they need to. it's odd, the way language and imagery work in that manner, evoking a place and attitude out of somewhat nonsensical phrases and images...

I know that doesn't help much, but maybe it's something to chew on as you try and grasp the meaning of the song title? there's an image behind it for each different person, and maybe part of the beauty in that is that you get a chance to define the image yourself inside the context of how the song moves you...

just thoughts. they could be wrong.

[The Big Come Up]

I think the title refers to the phone going dead/being disconnected. Listen to the demo version on the AD/TTF Demos and in the beginning of the song, you'll hear in the background a female voice saying "hello" and the beeps of someone dialing a telephone. Later on, an automated voice repeats "if you like to make a call, hang up and try again," which I guess indicates that the number the song's main character dialed has been disconnected.

Also, I recall seeing on some of the old typed-up setlists on Magnix's website that the song was setlisted as "phone went dead" a few times. Why they changed it to "west" is anyone's guess, but to me it does have a better ring to it than "dead."

Overall, I think it plays into the whole song being about a guy trying to deal with seperating from someone he longs to see again. He tries to call her but finds her number is disconnected. He worries that she may have moved on ("is there a doctor in the house?") and wonders if she still cares for him. So, he muses about going to her house, like he used to, and knocking on her backdoor to find out if she still feels the same way about him.

Just my interpretation. Could be way off.

[getinthevan]

No real breakthrough, just a little something I noticed or maybe I'm just hooked on those damn books and that amazing album.  In the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, to be sent west is to be exiled.  This would go with the current idea that Phone Went West means to be cut off/disconnected/etc.  

[slimkim]

I think the title refers to the phone going dead/being disconnected. Listen to the demo version on the AD/TTF Demos and in the beginning of the song, you'll hear in the background a female voice saying "hello" and the beeps of someone dialing a telephone. Later on, an automated voice repeats "if you like to make a call, hang up and try again," which I guess indicates that the number the song's main character dialed has been disconnected.

Also, I recall seeing on some of the old typed-up setlists on Magnix's website that the song was setlisted as "phone went dead" a few times. Why they changed it to "west" is anyone's guess, but to me it does have a better ring to it than "dead."

Overall, I think it plays into the whole song being about a guy trying to deal with seperating from someone he longs to see again. He tries to call her but finds her number is disconnected. He worries that she may have moved on ("is there a doctor in the house?") and wonders if she still cares for him. So, he muses about going to her house, like he used to, and knocking on her backdoor to find out if she still feels the same way about him.

Just my interpretation. Could be way off.

think that's about right...
cause

Tell me I'm wrong
Tell me I'm right
Tell me there's nobody else in the world...

no doubt one of my favorites.

speaking of phone went west... have you all heard the Mercury Show from 10.25.2001. i think jim's banter before they play Phone is freagin hilarious.

we got tshirts, cassettes. msg. this song is dedicated to the msg in my throat. and we got lps, cds. and cassettes. and we got cassettes of this show and our 2 lps. and cassettes.

so funny.

http://ia331318.us.archive.org/3/items/mmj2001-10-25.Mercury_Lounge_Austin_TX/mmj2001-10-25d2t02_64kb.mp3

slim i am

[slimkim]

and we got cassettes!

[easy way]

man...this is one of those songs for me. powerful stuff. something about a girl...

[numbdub]

thanks for the thoughtful, insightful replies.  seems to make sense, the whole "phone went dead" end of cherished connection idea.  definitely one of the most heart wrenching songs in the canon, though there are many.

[lime1968]

Yes!! I was trying to remember the version of Phone when he was rattling off about cassettes but couldn't find it. Thank you so much!
Speaking of the Mercury, I was just watching the PPW from the 6/3/03 show on youtube. Those videos from that show are one of the greatest gifts on this green earth.

I think that "There'll be a knock on your back door" is such lovely and beautiful sentiment, and I love it when they just rock it in the last verse.

There is a school of thought though, that the lines "Is there still a lock on your back door/There'll be a knock on your back door" are referring to anal. I am not in that camp but just presenting it as one of the possibilities.

[slimkim]

we have tshirts for sale ...

and cassettes.

can't get over that. HI-larious!

hey you can download that show in its entirety here. search for it under tapings. Kory did it.

love that show. his banter is funny on that as well...

[numbdub]

some do describe the anal factor. have heard that.

[lasvegas]

best. song. ever.

[slimkim]

we got cassettes for sale, right here on stage. of this performance. and we got tshirts...

and we got cassettes.