https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/ssg10-week4-the-night-of-the-iguana/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:27:51 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/ssg10-week4-the-night-of-the-iguana/#post-370648 Sun, 27 Nov 2011 03:39:46 +0000 Sunday Songwriters Group jamestoffee https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/ssg10-week4-the-night-of-the-iguana/#post-370648 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/ssg10-week4-the-night-of-the-iguana/#post-370631 Sat, 26 Nov 2011 17:23:34 +0000
Good to see you're still experimenting and it sounds great.

I'm not familiar with the play but somehow knew you were
using it as your source. I read a synopsis and thought
you were fairly right on.

John]]> Sunday Songwriters Group Celt https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/ssg10-week4-the-night-of-the-iguana/#post-370631 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/ssg10-week4-the-night-of-the-iguana/#post-370625 Sat, 26 Nov 2011 10:45:44 +0000
Thanks for the listens and posts :D
Some good lines, but I have to say that this probably works better as a play than a song. I think that anybody not familiar with the characters in the play would have trouble figuring out what this is about. Yes, I agree 100%
If anyone is interested in the read, here it is:
http://www.tennesseewilliamsstudies.org/archives/2001/night_of_the_iguana.pdf

Tennessee Williams does a great job of weaving his ideas together where this elderly poet is working on his "last poem" and when he finishes it at the end, it describes what all the main characters are striving for in their own ways. The poem itself is worth the read. I thought about trying to put it to music, but didn't go that route with copyright issues and such.

I also had the same feeling that a song wouldn't be able to capture the whole idea, but I pushed on when I saw Joni Mitchell had done a version of the song. I didn't listen or read it until I finished, because I wanted to compare the two songs. In her version, she chose one character to focus on; which was a better way to go about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3FMuXGqkcw
I have trouble with the end of the chorus:
'You can't leave but you wanna
Still you stay'

You establish 'you can't leave' (reason unknown but emphatic).
So, 'still you stay' seems redundant or maybe even judgmental. I agree. ****poof change made :mrgreen: *****
You can't leave but you wanna get away

Thanks again.

James]]> Sunday Songwriters Group jamestoffee https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/ssg10-week4-the-night-of-the-iguana/#post-370625 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/ssg10-week4-the-night-of-the-iguana/#post-370616 Fri, 25 Nov 2011 23:36:59 +0000 I like the verses a lot. Cool musical treatment ideas.

I have trouble with the end of the chorus:
'You can't leave but you wanna
Still you stay'

You establish 'you can't leave' (reason unknown but emphatic).
So, 'still you stay' seems redundant or maybe even judgmental.

Maybe the last line could be:
'Here you'll stay'

Or, maybe change 'you can't leave' to...something else, lol.
I think it's the 'can't' that makes the 'wanna' phrase kind of wan and the 'still you stay' phrase seem off.

All that said, it's only when reading the lyrics I get this critical. It flows great when you're singing it.
:)]]> Sunday Songwriters Group boxboy https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/ssg10-week4-the-night-of-the-iguana/#post-370616 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/ssg10-week4-the-night-of-the-iguana/#post-370615 Fri, 25 Nov 2011 23:07:21 +0000 Sunday Songwriters Group Hobson https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/ssg10-week4-the-night-of-the-iguana/#post-370615 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/ssg10-week4-the-night-of-the-iguana/#post-42033 Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:41:39 +0000
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11239973

Down at the end of the rope
Trying to get away; scratching and choked
A blind, deaf poet scraping for a rhyme
Scrambling for a line he'll never write

Down at the end of the rope
At wit's end; tied to a post
A colorless painter painting love-barren skies
Nothing warm is golden; believing white lies

Chorus
It's the night of the iguana
The night of the iguana
You can't leave but you wanna get away

Down at the end of the rope
Eyes gouged out; a punch line, a joke
A widow using lovers so she's never alone
Keeps the sheets warm; strangers in her home

Down at the end of the rope
Fattened for the kill; ready for the roast
Rum-coco drinker; tour guide, gigolo
Freedom's just another word for nowhere left to go

chorus

solo

chorus]]> Sunday Songwriters Group jamestoffee https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/ssg10-week4-the-night-of-the-iguana/#post-42033