Quack.

Time for my over analyzing and mindless ramblings.

There is definitely an American theme going on here. The most obvious, of course, is the color of the albums: red, white, and blue. According to the internet, red stands for hardiness and valor, blue stands for vigilance, perseverance and justice, and white stands for purity and innocence. The cover of Magnetic South features the Great Seal, which was designed by our founding fathers. The eagle, the symbol of our nation, holds 13 arrows in its left talon, and there are 13 stars about, both of which are symbolic of the original 13 states. The left hand is often considered the evil or sinister hand, so the arrows might be symbolic of the struggle for independence. The scroll contains the latin phrase "E Pluribus Unum", which translates to "out of many, one". This was the first post-Monkee album by Nez.

What is magnetic south? It's the opposite of magnetic north. If you take a compass, the red (I think) needle points in the direction of what I believe is an iron field (or something of the sort) in Northern Canada. Magnetic south is the opposite direction, where the silver or grey needle points. Magnetic North is supposed to be used as a reference to help you find your way. So, in a sense, perhaps magnetic south is the opposite, pointing you in the wrong way. Or perhaps it is symbolic of being unsure of where to go. I don't know.

A far as I know, loose salute is a phrase that refers to showing disrespect. In the army, you are supposed to salute officers as a sign of respect. A "loose salute" would mean that you are saluting, but only because you have to, not because you want to show respect. So perhaps the title Loose Salute is meant to show disrespect towards something. The only thing I can think of would be the Vietnam War, but I may be looking too deep.

What about Nevada Fighter? I really have no idea. I remember reading once that the B-side of the album is supposed to summarize the history of the Western part of the United States. The second side features songs with Nevada and Texas in the titles, as well as Tumbleweeds. I don't really know what to make of that.

As for the songs, I haven't really tried to analyze the lyrics of these three albums a whole lot. Songs on Magnetic South, such as Hollywood and The Crippled Lion seem to support the theory of wandering and not having much sense of where to go. I don't see how the titles of the other albums relate to the songs. Nevada Fighter is the only album to share a title with a song on the album, but I don't know if that means anything.

That's all I can think of right now.

BTW, this topic is a great idea and I hope we'll discuss the other albums too.