![[Strange Currencies]](strangecurrencies.jpg)
Strange Currencies
"You're in High School, and
you've got bad hair and bad skin, and nobody wants to go to the
prom with you, and this is your song..." [Stipe introducing the song in concert, as quoted
here.] * A "currency" is any medium of exchange.
[Ron Henry]
"the fool might be my middle name"
The Fool, in myth and Tarot symbols,
is an Everyman who naively goes through life unaware of the larger
forces around him. [Ron Henry]
Strange Currencies: "I tripped
and fell."
On the Tarot card, the Fool is
about to trip over a ledge and fall to his death. [Ron Henry]
* I always thought this was just a reference to the phrase "falling
in love", the "tripped"-part indicating that doing
so was unintentional or a failing on the singer's part. [mmiscevic]