Columbus Day..*snort* I bet this is THE major holiday in Jersey

[<<<<<]

Political correctness would dictate that Columbus shouldn't be celebrated at all. 

I'm assuming that Trembling Eagle is aware of this?

[Wes]

I'm pretty sure he didn't say nothing about "strutting away our hours" ... but it sounds like something he would have said, don't it?

Obviously you never saw Robin Gibb's production of As You Like It.  

That Shakespeare was always Jive Talkin' .

I will use this thread to ask an important question: The Bee Gees' video for Stayin' Alive - set in a post-apocalyptic future or not?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCAjmuA1HDk[/youtube]

If so, how did the world end in this reality?

[Sarah]

Judging from the tidy state of their clothing and the careful hair, the boys have somehow been transported to a postplague future, luckily arriving at a point when all the bodies had already decomposed, leaving behind the slowly crumbling buildings.

[Wes]

I hadn't considered the potential time travel aspect before, but I think you may be right. Previously, I'd assumed that the Gibbs had some kind of built-in immunity to whatever had wiped out most of the population, be it a chemical attack or superflu of some kind, and were now wandering the planet as potential saviors/warrior-kings.

In any case, they do appear to be scouring the city for survivors or supplies of some kind, so perhaps even the Bee Gees don't yet know what has killed everybody else. The line in the song about "the New York Times' effect on man" foreshadows a moment where they find out what went down on Earth via an old newspaper. And the shot of the three of them sitting in the train towards the end implies that they get the train working again to escape the city, almost certainly on the run from mutant scavangers. But that leaves open the question of who's driving the train. Andy Gibb?

No, it's Frampton. Has to be Frampton.

[Chris L]

If so, how did the world end in this reality?

It's likely they misunderstood the concept of "Saturday Night Fever" when they were hired to do the soundtrack and assumed it had to do with a mysterious illness that wiped out most of humanity in about a 12-hour period.  The fever itself sent its victims into a blind rage before killing them, which explains the mass destruction.  At this point in the narrative, it's probably the following Sunday morning and the Bee Gees haven't had time to change out of their club clothes yet, deciding instead to survey the damage and ponder their inexplicable good (?) fortune to have "stayed alive." 

[Pat K]

I hadn't considered the potential time travel aspect before, but I think you may be right...

All this talk makes me miss that old Chinatown thread about fighting mummies....*sigh*

[daveB from Oakland]

If so, how did the world end in this reality?

It's likely they misunderstood the concept of "Saturday Night Fever" when they were hired to do the soundtrack and assumed it had to do with a mysterious illness that wiped out most of humanity in about a 12-hour period.  The fever itself sent its victims into a blind rage before killing them, which explains the mass destruction.  At this point in the narrative, it's probably the following Sunday morning and the Bee Gees haven't had time to change out of their club clothes yet, deciding instead to survey the damage and ponder their inexplicable good (?) fortune to have "stayed alive." 

That's pretty much what happenned in the movie, right? Wasn't Saturday Night Fever a Romero movie?

[Trembling Eagle]

All I know is "I started a joke" is easily on of the best rock songs....evar

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2HOiMeDOrs[/youtube]


Jesus, I wish Sizzla would do a reggae version
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qTUBBQfL5M[/youtube]

[Emily]

If so, how did the world end in this reality?

It's likely they misunderstood the concept of "Saturday Night Fever" when they were hired to do the soundtrack and assumed it had to do with a mysterious illness that wiped out most of humanity in about a 12-hour period.  The fever itself sent its victims into a blind rage before killing them, which explains the mass destruction.  At this point in the narrative, it's probably the following Sunday morning and the Bee Gees haven't had time to change out of their club clothes yet, deciding instead to survey the damage and ponder their inexplicable good (?) fortune to have "stayed alive." 

Maybe their shoes kept them alive during the apocalypse -

"Got the wings of heaven on my shoes.
Im a dancin man and I just cant lose."

Maybe these heavenly disco shoes keep them in a perpetual dancing motion, which results in their staying alive .. ?

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

This is the best thread ever.

[Stan]

 Sounds like someone should be working on 'nem bible matrices.

[Wes]

If so, how did the world end in this reality?

It's likely they misunderstood the concept of "Saturday Night Fever" when they were hired to do the soundtrack and assumed it had to do with a mysterious illness that wiped out most of humanity in about a 12-hour period.  The fever itself sent its victims into a blind rage before killing them, which explains the mass destruction.  At this point in the narrative, it's probably the following Sunday morning and the Bee Gees haven't had time to change out of their club clothes yet, deciding instead to survey the damage and ponder their inexplicable good (?) fortune to have "stayed alive." 

Maybe their shoes kept them alive during the apocalypse -

"Got the wings of heaven on my shoes.
Im a dancin man and I just cant lose."

Maybe these heavenly disco shoes keep them in a perpetual dancing motion, which results in their staying alive .. ?

The wings of heaven line is definitely cryptic. But the more I think about it, "whether you're a mother or whether you're a brother, you're stayin' alive" lends more weight to my theory that there's some genetic reason why the Gibbs are still alive, and they may be seeking out other members of the extended Gibbs family who may have survived the Fall of Mankind due to their shared biological immunity.

Also, the "feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'" line may also offer some kind of clue as to the nature of the Global Extinction Event. Was there some kind of earthquake? Natural or man-made? Or does the everybody shakin' lead back to the perpetual dancing/shoes theory? Barry does, after all, refer several times to the way he uses his walk. Curious.

[erika]

Political correctness would dictate that Columbus shouldn't be celebrated at all. 

I'm assuming that Trembling Eagle is aware of this?

Well, they still celebrate it in Colombia. I doubt that's all that politically incorrect.

Trembling Eagle is a troll, really. He's only aware of himself.

[Chris L]

If so, how did the world end in this reality?

It's likely they misunderstood the concept of "Saturday Night Fever" when they were hired to do the soundtrack and assumed it had to do with a mysterious illness that wiped out most of humanity in about a 12-hour period.  The fever itself sent its victims into a blind rage before killing them, which explains the mass destruction.  At this point in the narrative, it's probably the following Sunday morning and the Bee Gees haven't had time to change out of their club clothes yet, deciding instead to survey the damage and ponder their inexplicable good (?) fortune to have "stayed alive." 

Maybe their shoes kept them alive during the apocalypse -

"Got the wings of heaven on my shoes.
Im a dancin man and I just cant lose."

Maybe these heavenly disco shoes keep them in a perpetual dancing motion, which results in their staying alive .. ?

The wings of heaven line is definitely cryptic. But the more I think about it, "whether you're a mother or whether you're a brother, you're stayin' alive" lends more weight to my theory that there's some genetic reason why the Gibbs are still alive, and they may be seeking out other members of the extended Gibbs family who may have survived the Fall of Mankind due to their shared biological immunity.

Also, the "feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'" line may also offer some kind of clue as to the nature of the Global Extinction Event. Was there some kind of earthquake? Natural or man-made? Or does the everybody shakin' lead back to the perpetual dancing/shoes theory? Barry does, after all, refer several times to the way he uses his walk. Curious.

All I know is, these theories give those "Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah!"s in the chorus a disturbing, "Frankie Teardrop"-like resonance, as if they're reacting to the horror around them and the grim future ahead. 

[buffcoat]

In the future, as in the past, the height of a man's pants denotes rank.  Thus, Barry is the leader, followed at a great distance by Robin, who is in turn just slightly above Maurice.