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HI YALL
NEW MEMBER - CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME THE STORY BEHIND "IN THE SHELTER" OR WHAT HE IS TELLING US? WHAT DOES THIS SONG MEAN?

Can't say as I know, NS - but WELCOME!

Welcome No Sweat. Not sure either.

This charming and yet poignant ballad has always caught my attention. As far as I can tell it simply relates the state of a young lady's mind, as seen by her significant other, during troublesome times (perhaps associated with growing older and more independent). It might be based loosely on actual events, or perhaps it accurately chronicles some real human drama.

I do not know which characters are being described. But it is a lovely, if haunting, song.

bravedave wrote:This charming and yet poignant ballad has always caught my attention. As far as I can tell it simply relates the state of a young lady's mind, as seen by her significant other, during troublesome times (perhaps associated with growing older and more independent). It might be based loosely on actual events, or perhaps it accurately chronicles some real human drama.

I do not know which characters are being described. But it is a lovely, if haunting, song.

That it is, Bravedave. My freshman year at college when I was feeling "lost" in the world, that was the song I really identified with.

And welcome aboard, No Sweat!

Jimmy always said, this was about his first hippy girlfriend (he got laid but she stole 200 dollars)

The song is about a woman named Holly whose boyfriend (Livingston) left her to go to Texas.
At the end of In the Shelter Holly heads to the "big grey rocks" and ponders whether or not to follow him.

In the Shelter
(nice database, phjim)

In the shelter, in the morning as
the sun was brightly gleaming,
I heard her crying out,
"What is it all about? I just don't know,
but I can't go back home."

Lonely princess, all the days out
on your own are growing empty.
Nothin' is goin' well; if you
could only tell them how you feel.
But they're too real to understand.

Too many trite expressions ending in
forced rejection long ago.
Too many innocent faces in too many
far-out places; something's wrong.

Let me tell you that something's wrong.
It's been thatway so long, and it's a shame.

On the street car to the city,
where she knows that she may lose it all,
riding for just a dime,
takin' her own sweet and knowing well
that this could be her final fall,
past the boutique, down the alley,
to the river, people pass her by.
She sits on the big grey rocks;
takes off her boots and socks,
not knowing what she will do next;
just starts to cry.

To many small suggestions ending in
angry questions from her dad.
To many TV dinners; ah, everyone
loves a winner, but she has lost.
No ones knows the trials she had.

In the shelter, in the morning as
the sun was brightly gleaming,
I heard her crying out,
"What is it all about? I just
don't know, but I can't go back home."
Hell, I just don't know, but
I can't go back home.

Still tryin' to figure it out...but I love that song...

On MMIM (the kinda reggae version) he refers to the rocks being along the levee in New Orleans...if that helps. To me it always sounded like the story of a troubled young girl who ran way from home...dunno

BTW welcome aboard!

The original versions is sweet and poingnant. It's one of my favorites. Can't say I was too thrilled when he remade it into the "reggae" version. It lost something. I guess the same can be said for Floridays. Great original, not very good remake.

Bubbaphan wrote:Still tryin' to figure it out...but I love that song...

On MMIM (the kinda reggae version) he refers to the rocks being along the levee in New Orleans...if that helps. To me it always sounded like the story of a troubled young girl who ran way from home...dunno

BTW welcome aboard!

This is not one of my fave songs, but for some reason I always got the same impression of a girl whose about to do something her father doesn't approve of (which hey, could be anything) and if it doesn't work out she's going to throw herself in the water and drown.

Maybe I ought to read the lyrics! LOL!

Docktails at 5 wrote:The original versions is sweet and poingnant. It's one of my favorites. Can't say I was too thrilled when he remade it into the "reggae" version. It lost something. I guess the same can be said for Floridays. Great original, not very good remake.

DITTO to both original songs being far better (IMHO)!

Whenever I listen to In the Shelter, I visualize the entire song...picturing the street car ride and the walk to the river. I have spent many an hour sitting on those big, grey rocks. Thank goodness my mind has always been in a better place!

The song seems to be about a girl who is going through some identity crisis while living in the best city to have one in - New Orleans. I've been down to the river to sit on the rocks to contemplate life (and watch the ships) often. Not because of the song, because I lived in the Quarter and Uptown and it's a cool place to go at 4AM and watch morning thunderstorms roll in off the Gulf. Jimmy has always had a love for New Orleans and it was obviously written while he lived in the Quarter before his first two (failed) albums came out. I'm still trying to figure out how he went from (the failing) Barnaby Records to ABC Records!

Listening to In The Shelter on High Cumberland Jubilee is amazing. That he went back to that tune and eased it up even more yet made it heavier for CILCIAttitudes. The, ah, MMIMargaritaville version is a bit wanky but at least he did something different. And it's just a choice to listen to it.

The song seems to say it all, and probably alot better than I'll be able to. But I'll try anyway.
It seems to be about a young lady who decides to chase her dreams, against the wishes of her more grounded and responsible parents. She runs off to New Orleans to make it big, be it in music or writing or acting I don't know. She gets lost in the grand scene that is the big city, and has to contend with the reality of the hard real world, and that dreams don't put food on the table. She becomes a small fish in a big pond and simply breaks down.
We've all been at a point similar to this in our lives, that's why it touches us. It's all about facing failure and the lonliness that accompanies it.

And the arrangement on CILCIA is much more appropriate to this song.