Manowar Lead Philosophical Discussion Regarding the Meaning of the Words “Farewell” and “Goodbye”
Manowar’s Joey DeMaio is not someone I think of as a “deep guy.” But maybe I just never gave him enough credit. After all, in a new interview with his band’s own official website, the bassist and sole heir to the Hellmann’s mayonnaise fortune raises a fascinating philosophical question: what length of absence is implied by the words “farewell” and “goodbye”?
See, as you may recall, roughly three years ago, Manowar announced a tour via a statement in which they said that the trek “will be the ultimate moment to say Thank You and farewell!” and would “take us all over the world to say goodbye to all of you.” Which we all assumed meant it was Manowar’s farewell tour.
But not so! In a new interview with the band’s own official website, DeMaio says Manowar ain’t goin’ nowhere:
“OK, let me clarify something. We never announced the end of Manowar, we didn’t even plan to never tour again… We said it’s time for a break.”
Which is technically accurate! When I say “goodbye” to a friend after grabbing lunch, I rarely mean “I’ll never see you again.” So why, when a band uses it in a tour announcement, do we assume it to mean forever-ever-ever? It’s likely because the term “farewell tour” has become synonymous with band break-ups. But that’s on us for assuming that DeMaio would assume we would assume “farewell” to mean “Manowar is dunzo.” Don’t we all feel like fools? (I guess they could have cleared up any confusion by calling it an “Until Next Time” tour or actually using the phrase “take a break” in their original statement, but that wouldn’t have sounded as cool.)
Of course, more cynical fans may assume that DeMaio is just a putz with a history of oscillating on issues depending on his own agenda. What a sad world those people must live in!
[via Metal Injection]
