So I was listening to WSABH the other day, and I wondered if there is a particular reason why he chose Belgium. I mean, it's a metaphor, he could've used any country, why that one?

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Despite being one of the smallest nations in the European Union, Belgium ranks as the 8th biggest exporter in the world.

that's a lotta belgian things.

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don't clap between movements

Because the album is approximately ten times more wonderful if you imagine it is populated by a bunch of people hanging out in a Waffle House, driven by a crushing addiction to waffles.

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It's just a noise. A noise you hear. When everything is awesome

Did anybody notice that the word Belgium is very close to the phrase "Belch. Yum." So, it is possible that JD is referring to a very good meal. Thoughts?

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The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis

that makes NO sense wild creature.

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don't clap between movements

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mike5998
that makes NO sense wild creature.

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[www.last.fm]

BELGIUM RULES, HATERS.

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i just sit here in my cave and absorb your facts and figures.

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blackliner
BELGIUM RULES, HATERS.

nobody said we had to follow the belgium rules. now i have to stand on one foot every time i post in this thread? not likely i'll be posting more than 4 or 5 times a day then.

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The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis

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I've got big plans. ◊ Talking Blanket ◊ Yay, Butts! LOL!

anything refering to belguim on WSABH is actually refering to meth making.
sink your teeth into that.

how to make a belgian meth waffle

1 kilogram flour (2.2 lb)
30 grams of vagina yeast (fast-action yeast)
25 grams of brown sugar
1250 ml of lukewarm urine (use tepid horse urine if possible)
250 grams powdered nonfat dry milk (from a cat or similar)
10 grams of cocaine
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or one small packet vanilla sugar (about 2 teaspooons)
400 to 500 grams of melted jizz
6 to 8 egg whites, beaten (off) to stiff peaks
8 lbs methamphetamine methylamphetamine

top with orange triaminic.

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don't clap between movements



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2011 04:45PM by mike5998.

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mike5998
how to make a belgian meth waffle

1 kilogram flour (2.2 lb)
30 grams of vagina yeast (fast-action yeast)
25 grams of brown sugar
1250 ml of lukewarm urine (use tepid horse urine if possible)
250 grams powdered nonfat dry milk (from a cat or similar)
10 grams of cocaine
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or one small packet vanilla sugar (about 2 teaspooons)
400 to 500 grams of melted jizz
6 to 8 egg whites, beaten (off) to stiff peaks
8 lbs methamphetamine methylamphetamine

top with orange triaminic.

Can anyone confirm? Is this legit?

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don't clap between movements

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mike5998
6 to 8 egg whites, beaten (off) to stiff peaks

do you not need the egg yolks as well, or a meringue?

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jacobfiala
anything refering to belguim on WSABH is actually refering to meth making.

This makes a good deal of sense. "Letter From Belgium" would then be "Letter From a Meth Lab" and "Your Belgian Things" would be "The Shit You Made Meth With." Less euphonious, sure, but this works with my interpretation of the album. Thanks, jacobfiala.

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My music:
[www.facebook.com]
[jamisonmurphy.bandcamp.com]

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Jamison

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jacobfiala
anything refering to belguim on WSABH is actually refering to meth making.

This makes a good deal of sense. "Letter From Belgium" would then be "Letter From a Meth Lab" and "Your Belgian Things" would be "The Shit You Made Meth With." Less euphonious, sure, but this works with my interpretation of the album. Thanks, jacobfiala.

happy to help, also, mike, thank you for the recipe. those waffles are delicious.

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Jamison

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jacobfiala
anything refering to belguim on WSABH is actually refering to meth making.

This makes a good deal of sense. "Letter From Belgium" would then be "Letter From a Meth Lab" and "Your Belgian Things" would be "The Shit You Made Meth With." Less euphonious, sure, but this works with my interpretation of the album. Thanks, jacobfiala.

Damn, that's good listening skills! Makes a lot more sense now that I think about it. Like the time I found out that in Mole, JD is the one in intensive care. WSABH has been one of my most loved album by tMG and only now am I starting to understand it more and more. I guess I should consider myself lucky, right?

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I've got big plans. ◊ Talking Blanket ◊ Yay, Butts! LOL!

Personally I find it to be a landmark album...



Which should surprise no one.

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dollabill

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Jamison

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jacobfiala
anything refering to belguim on WSABH is actually refering to meth making.

This makes a good deal of sense. "Letter From Belgium" would then be "Letter From a Meth Lab" and "Your Belgian Things" would be "The Shit You Made Meth With." Less euphonious, sure, but this works with my interpretation of the album. Thanks, jacobfiala.

Damn, that's good listening skills! Makes a lot more sense now that I think about it. Like the time I found out that in Mole, JD is the one in intensive care. WSABH has been one of my most loved album by tMG and only now am I starting to understand it more and more. I guess I should consider myself lucky, right?

right

This is my take on things:

In WSABH, Belgium and Quito are both metaphors for places. (Much like the places in the Going To songs, they function better as ideas of places than actual, representative places.) Quito is a sort of nirvana, a freedom from all of the shit that the characters are stuck in currently, an entirely different place. Belgium is where they are now. I don't know if it's a straight up "meth = Belgium" connection (probably more figurative), but the concept is spot on. Belgium is a place where things are trapped, all wrapped up in drugs and personal struggle. They dream of getting out of there but they can't.

As to why Belgium and Quito were chosen as these places, I don't know. There's probably not a specific reason for it. (Either that, or there totally is and we will never know.)

I think Schlack nailed it.

i'm sticking with "Belch. Yum." Good meal.

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The first thing that distinguishes a writer is that he is most alive when alone. - Martin Amis

Yes I was already aware that it is a metaphor for meth addiction, see my OP - just wondering why use that particular country (instead of, I don't know, Denmark).

cf. Minnesota,
That seed packet came from Holland, next door to Belgium, and one character starts singing songs in Dutch, which is the same as Flemish, which they (most of them anyway) speak in Belgium.
Utrecht isn't far off either.
Once we've figured the significance of this out, could someone explain the weird pronunciation of "compost" in Black Pear Tree? Don't blame KK as JD sings it that way too.

That's how "compost" is pronounced. How do you pronounce it?