"I *do* know Mandinka!" Topic

I didn't understand it when she first performed it, and I don't understand it now. What the heck is this song about?

YouTube link

I'm dancing the seven veils
Want you to pick up my scarf
See how the black moon fades
Soon I can give you my heart
I don't know no shame
I feel no pain
I can't see the flame
But I do know Man-din-ka
I do know Man-din-ka
I do know Man-din-ka
I do
They're throwing it all this way
Dragging it back to the start
And they say, "See how the glass is raised?"
I have refused to take part
I told them "drink something new"
Please let me pull something through
I don't know no shame
I feel no pain
I can't
I don't know no shame
I feel no pain
I can't see the flame
But I do know Man-din-ka
I do know Man-din-ka
I do know Man-din-ka
I do
I do
I do
I say I do
Soon I can give you my heart
I swear I do
Soon I can give you my heart
I do
Mandinka
Soon I can give you my heart
Soon I can give you my heart
Soon I can give you my heart

Thanks!

Allen

It's Sinead O'Connor. She's as mad as a box of frogs, so I expect it 'means' all

I suspect that it's supposed to be a half-arsed 'tribute' to tribal African riddims (cf Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, and other late 80s-early 90s bandwagon jumpers), wot with the Mandinka being a major ethnic/tribal grouping in West Africa.

Or not

Depending.

She's as mad as a box of frogs

Shes WAAAAY madder than that.

Anyway, this is a pretty good song:

YouTube link

Mad or not, I want to know:

YouTube link

An old GF at Penn State thought that "Mandingo" was serious literature.
I don't know if she was mad as a box of frogs too, but she thought that Bartok was listenable.

The rewards of saying "Yes, Dear" and agreeing with her were not too shabby.

Way back when this first came out my girlfriend at the time (very keen Sinead fan) reckoned this was a coming of age song- the girl has become a woman and is now ready for love, both physical and spiritual. I can't remember the meaning of each line but that is the gist of it as I recall.

From Songfacts:

Sinead O'Connor in an interview in The Tech April 12, 1988: "Mandinkas are an African tribe. They're mentioned in a book called Roots by Alex Haley, which is what the song is about. In order to understand it you must read the book."

Pete

I read the book, ten years before hearing her wee song. The lyrics are still impenetrable.

Allen

I was listening to this song just this morning.

Since when did song lyrics have to make sense Allen? I gave up wondering about what this song meant years ago. I like it though.

God knows what weird corners and straight twists lurk in Sinead's head so that Roots goes in and unfathomable song lyrics comes out.

What the heck is this song about?

Years ago, an interviewer asked Kristin Hersch (of the Throwing Muses) what her lyrics meant, and she said "Don't ask me, I just write what the voices tell me".

Years later in her solo career the voices stopped telling her what to sing, and she struggled for a while before learning to write lyrics for herself.

Perhaps this is the same kind of thing.

my girlfriend at the time (very keen Sinead fan) reckoned this was a coming of age song

Actually true, in an thoroughly metaphorical way.
-Kle.

Then I'll just assume it's an adolescent fantasy about "coming of age" with the assistance of the porn star Mandingo (although I didn't know he was well known in Ireland), and leave it at that.

I make up my own meanings for most song lyrics… much more enjoyable than swogging through the artistic prattle of the songwriters.

I'm still curious about the story behind 'Powderfinger' though…

I'm still curious about the story behind 'Powderfinger' though…

Me too! Me too! It sounds like Revenue Men vs. Moonshiners, but the gunboat seems a bit much.