Lederhosen Lucil lyrics

February 18, 2005 4:14 PM

I am hooked on this (semi-)sweet little song by French-Canadian indierock artist Lederhosen Lucil, Semi-Sweet [cute, funny music video in Windows Media format]. But I can't figure out the lyrics -- which are in English, with a spot of French -- and my Canadian friend is stumped as well.

Here's what I have so far.

I was living on brown rice on and TVP
When my ?? second? see me, and I walked past the till
Till she was ready to consult me

She said "you're getting too much ?? ?? thin(g?)"
She laughed and she started to grin like gin
?? ?? ?? ?? chilly(-ing?) in the back freezer

A bar of Zero, I'll make it semi-sweet
Polyvalent avec un beau biscuit
Nightshades are just the right thing to eat

My melting song? a silent? potpourri 'cause 's good
And the pollen? flows? free like tea
I stand? a jug and sitting? idle on the porch step

The neighbors dance with a particular swing
While kites dive into the dark din? that spins
Into the night when skipping ropes are tucked away

A bar of Zero, I'll make it semi-sweet
Polyvalent avec un beau biscuit
Nightshades are just the right thing to eat

By the way, if you liked this song, I wholeheartedly recommend the album, Tales from the Pantry.

posted by gentle to Media & Arts (11 answers total)

Response by poster: If you experience problems opening the video in your browser, trying saving it to disk first, then opening it up in your favourite media player.
posted by gentle at 4:44 PM on February 18, 2005

Write to them and ask for a copy of the lyrics.
posted by pracowity at 5:53 PM on February 18, 2005

I was living on brown rice on and TVP
When my ?? second? see me, and I walked past the till
Till she was ready to consult me

She said "you're getting too much of the thing"
She laughed and she started to grin like gin
Bombay sapphire chilling in the back freezer

The rest sounds right to me...
posted by borkingchikapa at 7:29 PM on February 18, 2005

Response by poster: Thank you. So obvious. Also I think figured out another line:

Ice tea in a jug and sitting idle on the porch step
posted by gentle at 8:50 PM on February 18, 2005

Boy, I ripped the song into a WAV so I could slow it down in Sound Recorder, and tweaked iTunes equalizer settings like crazy, and I still couldn't figure that second line out. "When my ?grouse? is sick of seeing me" is as close as I get; does that work for you? I do think it's "getting too much ofagood thing" (syncopation there). So maybe she's getting a put-down while shopping for student food? I like the "ice tea" interpretation too. But it's "my melted song", and "of Zero'll", I'm fairly sure.

(Oh, and appropriately, after it quit the next song queued up was the indecipherable closing theme from WKRP.)

I also grabbed all the free songs she had; these are the loopiest lyrics since Nellie McKay.
posted by dhartung at 1:29 AM on February 19, 2005

Polyvalent avec un beau biscuit

I think, and I may be way off base, but she's talking about tax assessor with a big biscuit: a large rebate. I found a reference that believes that's true as well here.

Quebec French is sometimes quite different than traditional French, it has it's own vernacular to it. I would guess that for the line:

I was living on brown rice on and TVP
When my ?? second? see me, and I walked past the till
Till she was ready to consult me

the ?? second? is a French word, possibly quebec slang, which refers to her case worker (presumably she's a starving student or artiste). It sounds very close to procesecond to me which isn't right but might help somebody who knows their Quebecois French (sorry, I was a pretty arrogant kid in grade school so I didn't learn it let alone take it further)

"When my procosecond seen me, and I walked past the till"

I think her funding got cut and she's making some sweets to either knock her self off or her case worker. The zero bar is being used to sweeten the taste of the sweet and mask the taste of the nightshade.

Next time I'm in Canada I'll pick up her disc.

When I talk to my sister I'll send her a link to the video and see if she can decipher it. She was a much better student than I was :P
posted by substrate at 5:41 AM on February 19, 2005

Also, this is a Zero bar if you didn't know. I'd often buy one from the corner store when I was a kid.
posted by substrate at 5:42 AM on February 19, 2005

Like substrate, I'm hearing the meaning of the song as she's making cookies with poison to kill off someone.

I think she's living off brown rice and TVP (Textured Vegtable Protein)

I hear the second line as:

When my grosse said come see me, and I walked past the till

I'm not so sure about the grosse (which means "fat") but the "said come see me" seems clear.

Polyvalent avec un beau biscuit means "multifunctional with a good cookie" which makes sense if you're making a poisoned cookie.
posted by ?! at 4:24 PM on February 19, 2005

Response by poster: Good ideas. I think dhartung is right, though I'm still not sure about "melted song" -- I think it may be something about "melted some".

The polyvalent thing has me stumped. The tax assessor interpretation seems like a stretch to me. But then I'm not French-Canadian.

I wish I could provide an MP3, where the sound is rather clearer, but that would be, well, illegal.

Thanks for the effort so far.
posted by gentle at 4:26 PM on February 20, 2005

Response by poster: It's grocer, of course. Damn I'm thick.
posted by gentle at 7:57 PM on February 26, 2005

We all were. And in retrospect -- of course it's grocer! It's all about making poison cookies.

We (a francophone and an anglophone) both missed it. Darn artists who don't print lyrics.

Where did you find it? Or did you eventually catch it?
posted by ?! at 5:41 PM on February 28, 2005