Now somewhere in the black mountain hills of Dakota
There lived a young boy named Rocky Raccoon
And one day his woman ran off with another guy
Hit young Rocky in the eye Rocky didn’t like that
He said I’m gonna get that boy
So one day he walked into town
Booked himself a room in the local saloonRocky Raccoon checked into his room
Only to find Gideon’s bible(…)
And now Rocky Raccoon he fell back in his room
Only to find Gideon’s bible
Gideon checked out and he left it no doubt
To help with good Rocky’s revival, ah
Oh yeah, yeah
From Wikipedia:
Gideons International is an evangelical Christian organization founded 1899 in Janesville, Wisconsin. The Gideons’ primary activity is distributing copies of the Bible free of charge. This Bible distribution is a global enterprise taking place in over 196 countries and in over 93 languages, with the organization being particularly well known for the copies to be found in hotel and motel rooms. The organization takes its name from the Biblical figureGideon, depicted in Judges 6.
In the song, Gideons’ Bible is cleverly used as a metaphor to described Rocky’s room as being empty. When mentioned a second time later in the song, it seems like McCartney implies that Rocky finds redemption in the Bible. He also made Gideon into a character that, we guess, left the Bible in there for the next guy who might need it.
http://youtu.be/wNRH7_Kd5Yc
He's also a regular contributor at the excellent news site Montreal Rampage
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