I'm In Great Shape

[Bill Tobelman]

"I'm In Great Shape" seems like an interesting & important part of SMiLE IMHO. It's 28 seconds which takes us from sleeping (or dreaming) to the "upper country" (especially if you doubt the official lyrics  & trust your ears).

IIGS fits best after "Gee" in my line-up. That way it follows a sort of "Heroes And Villains" intro.

Speaking of the "Heroes And Villains (intro)"...that track on the GV 40 years box set reminded me of Brian's bio's bookstore flashback scene were Brian "...was in the center of a giant spinning top. Turning, turning, turning. The moment was completely surreal."

Since Brian was in a bookstore when all this happened then perhaps the phrase "heroes and villains" has something to do with what one commonly finds in books--heroes & villains. Also note that "heroes and villains" are opposites which Arthur Koestler maintains coexist quite well in dreams & hallucinations, and since this surreal bookstore scene was a hallucination this phrase works quite well.

So perhaps all the repeated "heroes & villains" lyrics that follow "Gee" represent this dream/hallucination in the bookstore.

IIGS (as in my line-up) suggests that this was a dream from which the person wakes up.

Brian's bio has him remembering Loren saying that "hallucinations were comparable to Zen riddles" and so the IIGS lyric that I insanely imagine exists "fresh Zen air around my head" seems to work quite well.

The dream scenario then changes into the "upper country" scenario which IMHO has to do with Lake Arrowhead. Regardless, the "upper country" lyric is a great intro for "I've been in this town so long....."

The point is that "I'm In Great Shape" seems like an important transition piece taking us from one dream to another.

[runnersdialzero]

"fresh Zen air around my head"

*giggle*

[RollPlymouthRock]

"fresh Zen air around my head"

I think its a sign of how much time you've invested into this theory of yours that instead of hearing freshened air you hear fresh zen air. You want to believe it so much you're seeing links that aren't there.

[pixletwin]

Sounds like "Freshen air around my head" to me.

[armona]

Sounds like "Freshen air around my head" to me.

My guess too. It was just an informal run through, sooo...he may have flubbed it just a little.

[Bill Tobelman]

RollPlymouthRock said:

I think its a sign of how much time you've invested into this theory of yours that instead of hearing freshened air you hear fresh zen air. You want to believe it so much you're seeing links that aren't there.

I'm just saying that it magically works with the account in the discredited biography (Zen reference & all). And strangely enough the account in the discredited biography seems to present a way in which a record album could promote spiritual enlightenment which just happens to align with some of Brian's suggested goals for SMiLE. Pretty stupid & delusional huh?

Blame Brian.

[rab2591]

it depends on what you listen for. But I can honestly hear both.

[runnersdialzero]

Sounds like Brian stumbling over the line, dicking around on a piano, not stressing too hard to get everything perfect due to being unaware that it'd end up being the only recording of the song to ever exist (sans BWPS).

[Chocolate Shake Man]

I'm just saying that it magically works with the account in the discredited biography (Zen reference & all).

It doesn't work. You're forcing it very hard to make it appear like it's working. I was considering putting together a list of logical fallacies you make in the opening post on this thread, but I think it's so self-evident that it really isn't worthwhile addressing.

[Chris Brown]

it depends on what you listen for. But I can honestly hear both.

So can I - I lean towards verbal fumble rather than clearly singing "fresh Zen air" but either is possible, and it's nearly impossible to tell given that it's a low-quality demo.

[bossaroo]

upper country

*giggle*


i think he probably flubbed it too, but how about "fresh air there around my head"?

[Lookit]

I always heard it as 'Fresh Zen Air'! It never occurred to me it was anything other than that.

[OneEar/OneEye]

It's totally "fresh ZEN air", to my ears at least, never heard it as anything else.  IMO it's a way better line than "freshen air" or "freshnin' air"  or "freshman year" or whatever others are hearing it as.  The BWPS "fresh clean air" is okay, but I still prefer the zen air - I just like it. 
I also always heard the other line as "agri- CULTURE", and I'll always prefer that to "upper country."  That's just me though, you're all free to hear whatever you want and enjoy it thusly.   

[The Shift]

I've always heard "Fresh Zen Air" and "Open Country", from the time it was released back in 1998.

In fact I'm not sure anyone thought any different until 2004's BWPS release… you know, the one where we were suddenly talking about a "handsome mannered baton" instead of "a handsome man and baton".

[RollPlymouthRock]

RollPlymouthRock said:

I think its a sign of how much time you've invested into this theory of yours that instead of hearing freshened air you hear fresh zen air. You want to believe it so much you're seeing links that aren't there.

I'm just saying that it magically works with the account in the discredited biography (Zen reference & all). And strangely enough the account in the discredited biography seems to present a way in which a record album could promote spiritual enlightenment which just happens to align with some of Brian's suggested goals for SMiLE. Pretty stupid & delusional huh?

Blame Brian.

The key word being discredited

1, Brian has stated under other in court that his only involvement was to "drop off a bunch of tapes" to Gold. I'm reliably informed that in those tapes, the majority of Brian's answers were "yes", "no" or "I don't remember". Gold himself admitted as mich on a Billboard article.

2. Gold stole large chunks of the Gaines and Leaf books and put the words of others into Brian's mouth. He then justified it by saying he had to flesh out Brian's sometimes terse responses.

You're basing a lot of your theory on that book being accurate.

[Tristero]

This is definitely one of the more perplexing Smile tracks and we'll probably never know precisely what Brian had in mind for it (So many of his ideas were fluid and transitional at that point.).  We know that it was an outgrowth of H&V, maybe an early interlude that was replaced by the Cantina section.  Since H&V is told as a story of an old man looking back on his life, I tend to see this as a recollection of the protagonist's youth and vitality out on the frontier.  This is why, apart from their proximity in the Humble Harve demo, it's tempting to slot it in with Barnyard, which similarly describes day to day activity on the farm (i.e. the cook is chopping lumber to make those eggs & grits). 

But what do people make of a possible IWBA/Workshop connection?  Wasn't that piece at one point labeled with Great Shape in parenthesis?  They were later grouped together on BWPS.  Could the workshop bit signify putting the pieces back together, the restoration of great shape (wholeness) after the heartbreak?  It seems like a stretch but otherwise I'm hard pressed to figure out what he would have done with IIGS as its own track as noted on the list.

[mammy blue]

Judging by the chronology, I'm totally convinced that "Do A Lot" (on disc 2) was originally conceived as a part of "Great Shape".

[Tristero]

Judging by the chronology, I'm totally convinced that "Do A Lot" (on disc 2) was originally conceived as a part of "Great Shape".

This seems very plausible, given the hustle and bustle described ("tumble out of bed. . . eggs & grits and lickety split. . .), that clean, active country living.

[Bicyclerider]

Judging by the chronology, I'm totally convinced that "Do A Lot" (on disc 2) was originally conceived as a part of "Great Shape".

It definitely seems as if Great Shape was the repository for pieces that didn't make it into Heroes - and that Do a Lot is definitely a candidate.  But once it was in Veggies I guess all bets were off.

By the way, hearing the demo humble harv version on headphones - it's definitely "agriculture" rather than open country.  Fresh clean air is debatable the way Brian sings it.

[bossaroo]

it's definitely NOT agriculture. it amazes me that anyone hears this.

It's Open Country... not only is that what it sounds like, but the song was referred to as "open country song" before it was given the title I'm In Great Shape.

neither Fresh Zen Air or Upper Country makes any sense. Zen is a spiritual belief, not a word used to describe things like air or what have you. There is no "upper country" in the USA.


I too believe that while IIGS was originally part of H&V, it was later grouped with I Wanna Be Around/Workshop, which was meant to precede VegaTables. I think the whole reason Brian chose I Wanna Be Around is because the first line of VegaTables was "I wanna be 'round my vegetables" which got sung as "I'm gonna be 'round" by Al (or Mike on the demo)

[Chocolate Shake Man]

it's definitely NOT agriculture. it amazes me that anyone hears this.

It's Open Country... not only is that what it sounds like, but the song was referred to as "open country song" before it was given the title I'm In Great Shape.

neither Fresh Zen Air or Upper Country makes any sense. Zen is a spiritual belief, not a word used to describe things like air or what have you. There is no "upper country" in the USA.

Couldn't agree more.

[seltaeb1012002]

it's definitely NOT agriculture. it amazes me that anyone hears this.

It's Open Country... not only is that what it sounds like, but the song was referred to as "open country song" before it was given the title I'm In Great Shape.

neither Fresh Zen Air or Upper Country makes any sense. Zen is a spiritual belief, not a word used to describe things like air or what have you. There is no "upper country" in the USA.

Couldn't agree more.

+1

[Micha]

It definitely seems as if Great Shape was the repository for pieces that didn't make it into Heroes

I think this is an assumption based on two circumstances: 1. There are many pieces that didn't make it into Heroes, and 2. IIGS is on that infamous tracklist, so there must have been more to it than that short fragment. But we cannot conclude from this that IIGS was comprised of those sections. In fact we don't even know if the piece with the lyric "I'm in the great shape of the..." was part of the IIGS from the tracklist! It could have been just I Wanna Be Around/Friday Night.

Another recent thought of mine: Did Brian keep that title "I'm In Great Shape" on the tracklist because he thought if "Fire" could cause fires then a track called "I'm In Great Shape" would cause him getting in great shape?

[Andrew G. Doe]

There is no "upper country" in the USA.

"Few places were as important in the seventeenth-century European colonial New World as the pays d’en haut. This term means "upper country" and refers to the western Great Lakes (Huron, Michigan, and Superior) and the areas immediately north, south, and west of them. "

You were sayin' ? 

[rab2591]

it's definitely NOT agriculture. it amazes me that anyone hears this.

It's Open Country... not only is that what it sounds like, but the song was referred to as "open country song" before it was given the title I'm In Great Shape.

neither Fresh Zen Air or Upper Country makes any sense. Zen is a spiritual belief, not a word used to describe things like air or what have you. There is no "upper country" in the USA.

"Fresh zen air" makes sense to me. I guess it's all how you interpret the lyrics. For instance, 'over and over the crow cries uncover the cornfield' or 'she knew how to gather the forest' - it can all be meant in different ways - and we all perceive it in different ways. VDPs wasn't out to write literal lyrics, he was writing poetry - mixed words that would evoke emotion.

With that said:

"Fresh zen air around my head" - Zen is derived from a word that means 'meditate' - so feeling meditative around (or in) ones head makes perfect sense - especially if the person is in great shape (being in good shape is a centerpiece for being at peace with oneself).