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river1974
Joined: 20 May 2003 Posts: 525 Location: Taiwan
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 9:48 pm Post subject: Hands Clean-Alanis Morissette |
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Dear teachers:
Lyrics questions again.
...And overlook this supposed crime (supposed crime?)
...And you've washed your hands clean of this (wash your hands clean means to turn over a new leaf?)
...what part of our history's reinvented and under rug swept? (under rug swept?)
...We best keep this to ourselves and not tell any members of our inner posse (inner posse means friends and relatives?)
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Bob S.

Joined: 29 Apr 2004 Posts: 1767 Location: So. Cal
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:57 am Post subject: Re: Hands Clean-Alanis Morissette |
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river1974 wrote: |
...And you've washed your hands clean of this (wash your hands clean means to turn over a new leaf?) |
Not quite. It means to refuse to be part of something, to refuse to have responsibility for it.
It is a literary reference from the Christian Bible. When Jesus was taken before the Roman governor Pilate, people were asking for Jesus to be executed. After Pilate questions him, he declares "I find no fault with this man" but agrees to send Jesus to be crucified even though he thinks Jesus is innocent of any crime. So Pilate washes his own hands, a symbolic way to say that this is not my prefered choice, this is not my responsibility, and this man's blood is not on my hands.
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...what part of our history's reinvented and under rug swept? (under rug swept?) |
To sweep something under the rug means to hide something and/or forget about it.
When a lazy person cleans their house floors, instead of dutifully sweeping the dust and dirt out of the house, they may instead just lift a corner of a large area rug and push the dust under it so no one can see there is still dirt in the house.
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...We best keep this to ourselves and not tell any members of our inner posse (inner posse means friends and relatives?) |
Yes. Closest friends. |
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bud
Joined: 09 Mar 2003 Posts: 2111 Location: New Jersey, US
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:31 am Post subject: |
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...And overlook this supposed crime (supposed crime?) |
Crime is probably being used as a metaphor, so not a legal crime but a moral wrong. Supposed conveys that while others may consider "it" a moral wrong, "I" (the speaker) most certainly do not. |
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river1974
Joined: 20 May 2003 Posts: 525 Location: Taiwan
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you both for your brilliant explanations! |
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