Michigan-based Northern Rock collective the Great Lakes Myth Society declar… Read Full Bio ↴Michigan-based Northern Rock collective the Great Lakes Myth Society declared itself a proper entity on January 1st 2003. The groups' previous incarnation as the "Original Brothers and Sisters of Love" yielded two critically-lauded albums (1999s The Legende of Jeb Minor and 2001's H.O.M.E.S.) for the Brooklyn, New York indie label The Telegraph Company (Kelley Stoltz, Stew, Finishing School) and successful appearances at New York City's Knitting Factory, CMJ, SXSW and Bostons NEMO Festival, but by 2002 the amicable departure of violinist and native New Zealander Elisabeth Auchinvole and the record company's untimely financial collapse had left the band with two gaping holes in its side and a mammoth completed record with no home. Rather than fold up their maps and head inward, Timothy Monger (accordion, guitar & vocals), James Monger (guitar & vocals), Gregory McIntosh (guitar & vocals), Scott McClintock (bass & vocals) and Fido Kennington (drums & vocals) adorned themselves in the most affordable black suits available, changed their name to reflect the region from which they drew their power and began to shop what would eventually become their formidable debut. It wasn't long before the newly minted "Great Lakes Myth Society" began sharing stages both locally and regionally with artists as diverse as Andrew Bird, Danielson, The Gourds, Saturday Looks Good to Me, The Hidden Cameras and The High Strung, eventually breaking through into the often impenetrable Detroit music scene with key shows at the Magic Stick, Lager House, Comerica TasteFest and finally a headlining slot at the first annual "Motor City Music Conference". Their eponymous debut, an alternately brooding and nostalgic blend of muscular English folk-rock, pine-kissed Northern Americana and Midwest Carny grit was released in April 2005 on the Boston-based label Stop, Pop & Roll (Paula Kelley, Ad Frank, Cathal Coughlan). Within weeks it had broken into the CMJ Top 200 and the band hit the road, bringing their consistently engaging and occasionally brutal live show to New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula, even putting in an appearance on NPR's "All Things Considered". The GLMS signed with Southeast Michigan-based publishing house, record label, web developer and video/television production company Quack!Media in 2006 with plans to release their second album, "Compass Rose Bouquet", in the Summer of 2007. An eponymous single followed in early 2008 featuring "Brablec Farms" and "She's Come Home To Steal Her Rainbows".

Stump Speech
Great Lakes Myth Society Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Ooh, love,
Weathervanes and charms
May protect your home.
But ooh, love,
Don't get caught
At night in the fields alone.

Ooh, love,

Are your nights with him
Worth the seeds we'd sown?
And ooh, love,
How I long to show you
The great unknown!

I'll come down in the middle of the night,
Hauling oblivion to shatter the sugar pines.
Splitting giants with a railroad light,

It's a stump speech!
To claim what was already mine

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Great Lakes Myth Society's song Stump Speech seem to be describing a love lost to temptation and betrayal, with the use of metaphorical language. The first verse talks about weathervanes and charms being able to protect one's home, but warns not to get caught alone in the fields at night. The second verse is addressed to the lover who has betrayed the singer, asking if their nights with the other person are worth the love that they had shared and the "seeds we'd sown." The singer then expresses their desire to show them the "great unknown" or to teach them something new and profound.

Then the chorus comes in with an unexpected twist. The singer declares that they will come down in the middle of the night and "haul oblivion" to shatter the sugar pines. This seems to be a metaphor for the singer destroying things that represented their love together, and the act of destroying them will be like making a "stump speech" to declare what was already theirs.

Overall, the lyrics seem to be about a feeling of betrayal and how the singer wants to claim what was once theirs while also expressing a desire to teach their ex-lover something new.

Line by Line Meaning

Ooh, love, Weathervanes and charms May protect your home.
Addressing love, the belief that installing weathervanes and charms may safeguard one's home from potential harm.

But ooh, love, Don't get caught At night in the fields alone.
Despite the aforementioned protective measures, it is advisable not to be alone in the fields at night.

Ooh, love, Are your nights with him Worth the seeds we'd sown?
Rhetorical question posed to inquire whether indulging in time with a partner is worth disregarding the mutual effort made by two people in building the relationship.

And ooh, love, How I long to show you The great unknown!
Yearning to expose the unknown world to a loved one.

I'll come down in the middle of the night, Hauling oblivion to shatter the sugar pines.
Descriptive narrative depicting a person descending in the middle of the night to obliviously damage the sugar pines, thereby rendering them shattered.

Splitting giants with a railroad light, It's a stump speech!
Using a railroad light to divide gigantic entities, and hailing it as a grand oratorical effort.

To claim what was already mine
Intent on possessing something that was previously owned by them.

Contributed by Eli J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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