Who Is Greta?

[bmfc1]

In "Four Seconds", Ed sings: "Greta got an eyelift." He then acknowledges that this is an "obscure, maybe piss-poor" reference.

Who is Greta? Perhaps it is FOX News host Greta Van Susteren who had plastic surgery in 2002. Citing a US TV host would be obscure, especially for a Canadian.

http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20136440,00.html

[therealshell]

Canadians are frequently obscure, and occasionally obtuse.

[TheHYPO]

In "Four Seconds", Ed sings: "Greta got an eyelift." He then acknowledges that this is an "obscure, maybe piss-poor" reference.

Who is Greta? Perhaps it is FOX News host Greta Van Susteren who had plastic surgery in 2002. Citing a US TV host would be obscure, especially for a Canadian.

http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20136440,00.html

That seems like a pretty likely possibility. The only other one I can come up with at the moment is Greta Garbo, who was known for her eyes, but that would be a lot less specific than the one you mentioned. Neither is spelled Gretta, as the liners spell it, but that doesn't really mean much.

[sandimas]

That seems like a pretty likely possibility. The only other one I can come up with at the moment is Greta Garbo, who was known for her eyes, but that would be a lot less specific than the one you mentioned. Neither is spelled Gretta, as the liners spell it, but that doesn't really mean much.

I was going with Greta Garbo as well.

[sarah11918]

I heard that Marilyn Monroe called her look the "Greta Garbo eye" so definitely it could be a reference to Garbo's eyes.

But, Greta Van Susteren is not too obscure a reference for us Canadians. We do get SNL, the Daily Show/Colbert Report and Real Time here, so most of the US politics/media references are not lost on us. (Though I sometimes just know that I know a name and forget exactly who they are.)

Now, when you guys in the US get the John Baird jokes, I'll be impressed!

[WeedMage]

Now, when you guys in the US get the John Baird jokes, I'll be impressed!

Who?

Ok, so you made me look him up. I'll assume you meant the politician and not the tv guy.


John Baird (26 May 1906 – 21 March 1965) was a British Labour Party politician and Member of Parliament (MP).
He has first elected to the House of Commons in the Labour landslide at the 1945 general election, when he defeated the long-serving Liberal MP, Geoffrey Mander.

When his constituency was abolished for the 1950 general election, Baird was returned to Parliament for the new Wolverhampton North East. He held that seat until he stepped down at the 1964 general election.

According to John Callaghan, Baird should be "countered as the first Trotskyist MP" for assistance he gave to the second Revolutionary Socialist League, later better known as the Militant tendency.

I ALSO learned this little tidbit:

Literally meaning "to see from a distance," television was the latest term for an concept that had been seriously discussed since the mid-19th century.

[sarah11918]

Ok, so you made me look him up. I'll assume you meant the politician and not the tv guy.

Yes, politician, but current. This guy, our current Minister of Transport:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Baird_%28Canadian_politician%29

As Wikipedia so diplomatically puts it:

Since his beginning in the political ranks, Baird has been well known for being combative in many subjects in both the provincial and federal levels of government.

Is there an episode of Rick Mercer that doesn't doesn't show Baird exploding about something or other? He's got an explosive temper, so it's often made fun of in Canadian political comedy.

(I realized after I posted that I should have referred to a Canadian news anchor for a perfect analogy, but the internet connection blew and I couldn't fix it.)

[WeedMage]

Who knew there were so many John Bairds????

[therealshell]

Kinda reminds me of how Tony Benn is thought by lots of people in the UK to be barmy, but he gets trotted out as an expert on Brit medicare in "Sicko".

[Philip]

Kinda reminds me of how Tony Benn is thought by lots of people in the UK to be barmy, but he gets trotted out as an expert on Brit medicare in "Sicko".

Although I usually avoid the politics here, I simply can't let this pass. Tony Benn is a long-serving and highly regarded UK politician. Yes, like anyone in politics he has his detractors, but he is revered by many in the UK, is highly thought of by the British public (often topping political popularity polls), and has stuck to his principals throughout his life - ridding himself of an unwanted inherited title (Viscount) and speaking out even in defiance of his party when his views differed from the majority. He opposed the war in Iraq and often campaigns on war and peace issues, but served himself as a pilot officer during WWII.

Erudite and witty, he is an engaging public speaker. He's also a romantic - having bought the public park bench upon which he proposed to late American wife, Caroline.

Now, to be honest, I don't know what 'Sicko' is, but Tony Benn does not 'trot' out for anybody and having been active in politics since the 1950s, having served as a minister of state within two UK governments, and having supported the NHS throughout that time, I think the claim that he is an expert on such matters is a fair one.

[garyrulez]

Kinda reminds me of how Tony Benn is thought by lots of people in the UK to be barmy, but he gets trotted out as an expert on Brit medicare in "Sicko".

Of course he does- because to Michael Moore, "expert" is defined as "someone who forwards the agenda I've pre-determined will be the point of this documentary".

Sorry, Shell- couldn't resist!

[garyrulez]

Although I usually avoid the politics here, I simply can't let this pass. Tony Benn is a long-serving and highly regarded UK politician. Yes, like anyone in politics he has his detractors, but he is revered by many in the UK, is highly thought of by the British public (often topping political popularity polls), and has stuck to his principals throughout his life - ridding himself of an unwanted inherited title (Viscount) and speaking out even in defiance of his party when his views differed from the majority. He opposed the war in Iraq and often campaigns on war and peace issues, but served himself as a pilot officer during WWII.

Erudite and witty, he is an engaging public speaker. He's also a romantic - having bought the public park bench upon which he proposed to late American wife, Caroline.

Now, to be honest, I don't know what 'Sicko' is, but Tony Benn does not 'trot' out for anybody and having been active in politics since the 1950s, having served as a minister of state within two UK governments, and having supported the NHS throughout that time, I think the claim that he is an expert on such matters is a fair one.

He sounds like your version of Dennis Kucinich.

[designerfox]

I was discussing that whole part of the song with my other half the other day. We thought perhaps Ed saying "that one's obscure, maybe piss-poor" was referring to just the line itself being silly to put in there. I remember he and Steve saying at their last show here that when writing they would put in lines that were just meant to show how the song should flow, and they were going to change them later, but sometimes didn't (i.e. Something You'll Never Find). So maybe it just fit in there, and they liked it, so they kept it. The name Gretta isn't entirely important to the flow, though, and that makes me think my little theory is probably incorrect.

I'm definitely going to ask them at the show next week. I'm very curious.