Super Furry Animals song "Download" (on "Radiator" album)

[gepree]

There are people who think, and people who don't
And the people who don't are the ones who have most

There are people who lie, and others who'll cry
And the people who lie are the ones that get by

In the corporate rush to devour the new
We'll be losing our friends who will number but few

Position yourself on another man's cruise
One to share, the other to choose

These are the lyrics of the Super Furry Animals song Download on the album Radiator.

On the back of SFA's single Herman loves Pauline there is the Welsh quote

Un i rannu, llall i ddewis.

which translates as:

One to share, the other to choose.

but there is no further description about the meaning.

So what do these 2 lines actually mean?

Position yourself on another man's cruise
One to share, the other to choose

[mugwump ji sum]

The Welsh quote is from the Laws of Hywel Dda; a medieval written arrangement of traditional Welsh law.

I think the jist of the rule is that if two people agree to share something, one divvies it out and the other gets first pick; one to share, the other to choose.

The 'other man's cruise' line always struck me as a 'put yourself in his place and see how you like it' kind of meaning.

The impression I get of the final couplet is that it's countering the injustice described in the rest of the lyrics, like some sort of wisdom will reorder everything.

That's just a tentative impression. What do you think?

[DrGreggles]

And it rhymes.

[phantom_power]

Yeah I don't think the two lines are meant to follow on from each other in a literal sense. The "one" and the "other" from the second line aren't the "yourself" and "another man" from the first line.  It is more two things you can do to get a fairer society; think about other people and be fair in the distribution of wealth (or whatever)