Talk:I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus

Fare??

A line quoted about the Future Fair is given as "a fair for all and no fare to anybody", meaning free.

I'd always believed it was "...and no fair to anybody" - as in "not fair to anyone" rendered in childish style. This may sound a little clunky - but then so does the form "no fare to anybody": if it were referring to a charge, it would be "for anybody" (or from), surely?

The "no fair" form seems to me to be (more) in keeping with the Firesign mindset - a hint that the celebrations may not be as much fun as they sound.

Then again, I'll grant that describing the fair as free is more appropriate in a public announcement. Does anyone have an insight here?

A tiny point, I admit, and my apologies for bringing it up. The synopsis was so well written that this bit jarred with me. I have the CD, and I'll have a listen and see if I can find any clues. --Cdavis999 13:23, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

Hmm. Just had a listen, and the line is followed by "Yes, it's free!", which pretty much nails down the 'Fare' aspect. I've segued into a belief that FT intended it to be ambiguous - which may be a point along the path to my dropping my original idea entirely... --Cdavis999 14:14, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

The technical term for this "ambiguity" is "PUN". TheScotch (talk) 14:02, 23 January 2022 (UTC)

Synopsis

The synopsis is accurate but far from complete. The President of the United States is only small part of the exhibit. It leaves out what IMHO is the greatest achievement of this album - the revelation of Fudd's first law of opposition: If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. I may want to work on the summary and the significance - but I'm going to have to do listen to the album again to refresh my memory, since it's been a few years.--Synaptidude (talk) 19:39, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Sounds like Nixon?

I can understand saying that the President sounds like Richard Nixon, but I honestly always though it sounded like then-California governor Ronald Reagan. Has anyone confirmed that it's supposed to be Nixon (or someone like him)? Jackal59 (talk) 00:49, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

@Jackal59: Boy, you must have really hated Reagan to say such a mean thing. That's certainly WP:OR; even his political enemies never thought of him the same way as Nixon. That's Phil Austin voicing the electronic President, and he cultivated an impersonation of Nixon which he used on several successive Firesign albums which came out during Nixon's presidency:

• President Gazatchorn on David Ossman's How Time Flys
• President Nick Exxon (obvious name parody) on his own Roller Maidens From Outer Space
• The "former President" waving and weeping, riding his float into the hole to the center of the Earth on Everything You Know Is Wrong: turn the volume up and listen to the left channel; you'll hear his famous "You won't have me to kick around anymore" line, plus stealing Neil Armstrong's "small step, giant leap" quote. Nixon resigned just about two months before this album came out, so predictably Austin refrained from beating the dead horse after that. JustinTime55 (talk) 21:52, 15 December 2016 (UTC)

I last listened to this record in August of 1973 and remember it only vaguely. I'm willing to take your word that it parodies Nixon not Reagan, but it is patently absurd and gratuitous for you to remark "boy, you must have really hated Reagan to say such a mean thing" and "even his political enemies never thought of him the same way as Nixon". In the first place, whoever is being parodied, a parody is a parody, that is a comical and imprecise exaggeration of undesirable traits, not an abolutely faithful rendering. In the second place, I don't personally know, and haven't known, anyone who lived through both the Nixon and Reagan presidencies who doesn't, or didn't, consider Reagan a much worse president than Nixon. That's just their (and my) opinion, but it's a reasonable and widely held opinion, and it isn't "mean"; it's a rational, sober, measured assessment. Bear in mind also that this record predates Watergate (which is not to suggest that Reagan's Iran-Contra scandal wasn't roughly eqivalent). TheScotch (talk) 18:13, 23 January 2022 (UTC)

¿ah clem?

it's actually 'Uh, Clem' see https://firesigntheatre.com/catalogue-index/2018/11/28/i-think-were-all-bozos-on-this-bus Potholehotline (talk) 05:17, 26 January 2024 (UTC)

This source says it is "Ah Clem". https://medium.com/@stannenb/with-one-of-its-easter-eggs-siri-evokes-the-firesign-theater-and-steve-jobs-86ea5b4874d3

The record is an audio recording and it's not clear from that which spelling is to be preferred. The body of this article uses "Uh Clem" except where the above source is cited where it uses "Ah Clem". I wouldn't object to standardizing on "Uh Clem" everywhere. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 13:48, 26 January 2024 (UTC)

my guess is that steve jobs, or someone who worked for him, got it wrong. 'ah' is half of 'ah hah', whereas 'uh,' is a vocable used to gain time while one thinks, and that is what proctor's character is doing. but i do think the siri quote should stand as is. i'm contemplating changing 'A young man named Clem' to 'The unnamed protagonist' or 'An everyman character', as the protagonist is hiding his identity, using the name Clem, which is clearly not his. Potholehotline (talk) 02:53, 29 January 2024 (UTC)

it has always seemed to me that the everyman character is concealing his identify, why else would a person buy a little time with an uh before saying their name? this would also be useful to a hacker, to conceal one's identity. my edit in this regard was reverted, i've sent a message to firesign.com for clarification Potholehotline (talk) 20:00, 5 February 2024 (UTC)

The assertion that the main character is trying to hide his identity is a novel one. Do you have any sources to back it up?

BTW, there is no website at firesign.com. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 23:41, 5 February 2024 (UTC)

@Mr swordfish my apologies, it's firesigntheatre.com, i'm working with an intermittent signal from a nearby soccer stadium out in the elements, hence my contributions tend to be a bit rushed. i'd say the assertion is more dramatic or theatrical than novel, as i see no other reason to account for the uh of hesitation, perhaps someone else does? and clem? the quintessential bucktoothed cracker first name, as in red skelton's clem kadiddlehopper?hopefully we'll hear something from the source before long.

follows the message to info@firesigntheatre.com--

the wikipedia article says that the protagonist of bozos is named clem. i've always been under the impression that the everyman protagonist pauses with an uh and then gives a false name, and what better one than clem. i changed the wikipedia bozo page in line with this, but the change was reverted and i was told that the character's name is definitely clem. have i really had it wrong for 50 years? if not could you folks send something that would convince the editors, either to me or preferably to the wikipedia bozos talk page, something directly from phil or dave would be considered definitive.

thanks Potholehotline (talk) 02:33, 6 February 2024 (UTC)

From https://firesigntheatre.com/catalogue-index/2018/11/28/i-think-were-all-bozos-on-this-bus

The click of an electric typewriter switch is heard as a man by the name of, uh, Clem boards a bus full of clueless clowns going to The Future Fair ("A fair for all and no fair to anybody!") While the fair is a smooth-running machine spouting revisionist historical/political dogma and doing its best to maintain order on the fairgrounds, nothing is what it seems - and Clem has a hidden agenda. Or is it all just an eerily prescient dream?

Mr. Swordfish (talk) 13:35, 6 February 2024 (UTC)

@Mr swordfish yes, i also read that, but am not convinced by a blurb. listen to proctor's intonation as he says 'uh, clem'. i believe any actor, director or theater critic would say it's an intonation of equivocation. hopefully we'll hear something from one of the two remaining members, but i know they're very old. Potholehotline (talk) 14:50, 6 February 2024 (UTC)