10° and Getting Colder

[Hink]

What is the meaning of this song from "Summer Side of Life"?
It appears to be about a young hitchhiker.
What is the significance of the sign saying MOTHER?
What does Lightfoot mean by "the world fell on his shoulder"?
Is the lady in verse 3 the driver in verse 1?
Why did he trade off his Martin?
What do the words "For his feet are almost frozen and the sun is sinking low" tell us about his condition?
Why does Lightfoot then address the listener with the words "Please pull off on the shoulder if you're going Milwaukee way"?
What is the significance of the temperature allusions at the end of all verses but the second?

[Joshua1]

What is the meaning of this song from "Summer Side of Life"?
It appears to be about a young hitchhiker.
What is the significance of the sign saying MOTHER?
What does Lightfoot mean by "the world fell on his shoulder"?
Is the lady in verse 3 the driver in verse 1?
Why did he trade off his Martin?
What do the words "For his feet are almost frozen and the sun is sinking low" tell us about his condition?
Why does Lightfoot then address the listener with the words "Please pull off on the shoulder if you're going Milwaukee way"?
What is the significance of the temperature allusions at the end of all verses but the second?

[GMLightfoot]

Hi Joshua1,

The following is my interpretation. . .
The lyrics you question are to 10 DEGREES &
GETTING COLDER, from the album SUMMER SIDE OF LIFE.
The "young musician" is hitchhiking home,in the dead of winter. Home,which is never stated geographically, is where his mother is.[so putting "Mother" on the sign can be a place unique to any listener's mind - very effective, it you ask me!] It's a song about a brief love affair that failed. The reference to temperature is the most significant part of the song, & it is genius the way Gordon uses it both literally & symbolically. The vehicle in the 3rd verse is just another vehicle passing through just like the truck in the first verse. Again, the word mother is used as a powerful emotional appeal for empathy for subject's
dilemma - "pulling off onto the shoulder" is
what a driver does to pick up hitchhikers.
The best part I like about this song is when
he first is with the woman and the temperature is 98.6, the average body temperature for a human being. It says everything about what
happened to subject & the attentive female
he met that night & the attraction they felt
for each other in the heat of which they made
promises, but everything turned into kind of a one night stand The musician
was hard hit & depressed by the lost love [something we can all identify with]hoping
it would be something more. "Trading off his Martin [his guitar] dynamically expresses the sacrifice he made over the relationship - afterall, "the world fell on his shoulders" And
now he is on the roadside with not much left
& freezing & just wanting to go home...leaving you, the listener where you
started at the beginning of the song...in the
freezing cold with this muscian.

[This message has been edited by Dorothea (edited February 25, 2001).]

[Dorothea]

Hi Joshua1,

The following is my interpretation. . .
The lyrics you question are to 10 DEGREES &
GETTING COLDER, from the album SUMMER SIDE OF LIFE.
The "young musician" is hitchhiking home,in the dead of winter. Home,which is never stated geographically, is where his mother is.[so putting "Mother" on the sign can be a place unique to any listener's mind - very effective, it you ask me!] It's a song about a brief love affair that failed. The reference to temperature is the most significant part of the song, & it is genius the way Gordon uses it both literally & symbolically. The vehicle in the 3rd verse is just another vehicle passing through just like the truck in the first verse. Again, the word mother is used as a powerful emotional appeal for empathy for subject's
dilemma - "pulling off onto the shoulder" is
what a driver does to pick up hitchhikers.
The best part I like about this song is when
he first is with the woman and the temperature is 98.6, the average body temperature for a human being. It says everything about what
happened to subject & the attentive female
he met that night & the attraction they felt
for each other in the heat of which they made
promises, but everything turned into kind of a one night stand The musician
was hard hit & depressed by the lost love [something we can all identify with]hoping
it would be something more. "Trading off his Martin [his guitar] dynamically expresses the sacrifice he made over the relationship - afterall, "the world fell on his shoulders" And
now he is on the roadside with not much left
& freezing & just wanting to go home...leaving you, the listener where you
started at the beginning of the song...in the
freezing cold with this muscian.

[This message has been edited by Dorothea (edited February 25, 2001).]

"Ten Degrees and Getting Colder" down by Boulder Dam today? If it's where I think it is (Hoover Dam) it must have been 10 Degrees there before the first coming of Christ. When I have visited it 's never been below 100. Then again, maybe I just miss the point!

"Ten Degrees and Getting Colder" down by Boulder Dam today? If it's where I think it is (Hoover Dam) it must have been 10 Degrees there before the first coming of Christ. When I have visited it 's never been below 100. Then again, maybe I just miss the point!