24 replies to this topic

[jjars5]

I had the sheer pleasure of seeing John Butler Trio this past weekend for the 2nd time. I have been listening to them for a few years, but nothing like seeing them live. I enjoy a lot of their older stuff along with the new stuff as well. Seeing them this past spring In Central Park was Amazing, because we were seeing THEM- nice, Long Set...this weekend, opening for DMB- had to take my 6 or so songs they played and soak in the JOY of waiting in line to Meet them for a mere moment and have them sign my CD - JOY! They are soaked into my Soul- I am In Love! Now for my silly question - please do not blast me, I have been looking around and trying to figure it out on my own to no avail.....what is the symbol and meaning of the symbol of the Three Arrows pointing upwards? Thanks so much.

[jjars5]

Really....all these views and no one can just answer a simple question? Where is the love here? :shifty:

[Jojomojo]

Hi jjars,

I'm not sure of the exact answer to your question but I would suggest that the three arrows are representing the trio, or perhaps 'peace, love, and unity since John has been known to use that phrase often. I'm not sure of any other interpretation or published account/explanation of the symbolism.

Anyone else?

[jjars5]

Thank You! See- I figured it would be a no.brainer type question and I was a bit hesitant to ask it. I am a little surprised to find there might not be a published account/explanation of the symbolism. Thanks again

[Chuck U]

This is actually a very interesting question because I have been wondering the same thing and also thought it would have already been answered somewhere. I have noticed that the symbol has been on a skateboarding clothing line - maybe Element? Obviously, John is not going to use a corporate logo as his own for a disc - but we all know his love for skateboarding, so maybe there is some link there?

I don't have the dvd, was it possibly addressed on there?

Peace.

[jjars5]

Well, its used as the administrators profile or avatar picture here on this board. It is on JBT's CD and when I saw them in Central Park in NYC in June they had it up as the HUGE back drop center stage. Must be solid symbolism to it. Maybe the administrator can tell us?

[Brixeyy]

Its not explained on the DVD. The 'peace, love and unity' explanation sounds quite plausible. They should do anoyher 'ask john' questions video again.

[misha]

Hi jjars5,

Sorry for any delay with this view of what you ask. I've been over occupied and a little ill. Back though.

You are located in the USA I presume, so perhaps an understanding of some influential environment factors might not be all that clear. Perhaps this helps some.
What I'm suggesting is based on the precept; the environment one lives and grows in has a huge influence on what an artist produces.
So, this is from the perspective of someone living in the South West of Western Australia and my ideas on that symbolism.

For a start the colour combinations. If you have this page set to default you see that brown tone. ??
Thats the colour of a hard wood tree that is endemic to this area.... Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) Further South around Pemberton & Northcliffe it's a different timber that prevails... the smooth bark, tall growing Karri. btw... Northcliffe is a town mentioned in John's song 'Treat Yo Mama' That reference appears at the 5:30 time mark in that linked clip.
Man... I'm living in a big old 'house' full of the stuff... harvested when it was all around, but now due to near criminal negligence most of the good timber has gone.. wasted.... pissed up a wall. Currently I'm craft working [recycling] long seasoned timber that is proving to be real hard core stuff. I knew what to expect, heavy, hard, durable and with a beautiful grain.... a labour of love really... the item has to do with music reproduction so I can play my old old Blues and Jazz 78rpm records. I'm a bit over the splinters, but so it goes.... I accept that, just as I have to accept sharpening every cutting tool frequently, because they go blunt very quickly trying to work the stuff.
I've a piece of 'wood' [not milled wood = timber] saved from being burnt in an open fireplace... a door stopper at the moment. This has a fire affected tree at it's core. This tree has kept growing after fire trauma... stronger. In fact there appears to be two events this tree had survived before getting the chop... for a damn power pole of all things.
In the artwork of John's earlier albums you may notice curled leaves. This is Jarrah foliage.
It's also the name John chose for his record label.
The pale Blue.... what has always struck me is the colour of a clear sky here, and the scale of it.
The colour combination is close to being chromatic opposite so works well naturally.

The black colour. Wildfire is a nasty nasty thing here sometimes. It's been an environmental factor that has resulted in the type of flora & fauna presenting all across Australia... 40-60,000 years of human practice as well. It takes and gives life. In essence, it is a fundamental background as to why this land is how it is.

The Grey. Thats the colour of rough bark on a Jarrah tree. It's also the colour of the ash left when burnt. Wiki isn't correct.... Jarrah burns hot and bright and not to charcoal when fully combusted... it leaves very little ash at all actually.

It's the colour of nature... this environment - the Jarrah, the sky and the 'why' are used in the symbol you question here IMO.

Next, I see three figures, incorporated into the continuing circle around the design.... and so, the John Butler Trio.
I don't see 'arrows'... I see three proud strong trees growing upwards.. taller and stronger every day.... as they should.
Giving us oxygen, shade and shelter for many unique creatures in the forest around here.

Can others see this too?
I saw this immediately when I had April Uprising in my hands the first time.

Sorry, I doing my best to put this into words.
I'm one for sitting alone quietly and deeply contemplating what I see around me, be that the bush or in society.
To me things like this can come in a flash... sometimes slowly. The words never come so easy as the understanding to me.

Edited by misha, 28 November 2010 - 03:37 PM.

[Zephyr]

I would never have come up with that on my own (lack of knowledge about jarrah trees being the main problem!) but that sounds like a pretty good theory to me, especially the idea of the arrows representing trees.

[manalishi1980]

At the risk of over analysing it could just be the artwork chosen for the current album which they are hanging in the background of their live shows like every band that's playing live today does!

[Harry]

I think both points made are very plausible, but what about the "3" that pops up throughout John's work?
I can't help but think that that is a significant factor

[hugh]

could it be due to the john butler TRIO?

Edited by hugh, 29 November 2010 - 07:53 PM.

[misha]

We are all products of our environment.

Ask Rachael.... being a West Coast girl, she knows how profound and inspiring this local environment can be.

Pinjarra isn't far from where I live... Jarrahdale not far from Pinjarra. Jarrahwood is another place between Margaret River [Maggies Swamp] and Nannup. It's a 'very' WA name that Jarrah.

The only thing more WA associated in terms of name would be '...up' at the end of name.
Take a look at what appears here on this map. How many ...up places do you see?
That comes from the indigenous people of this area and means 'place of'.

[misha]

I think both points made are very plausible, but what about the "3" that pops up throughout John's work?
I can't help but think that that is a significant factor

The album 'Three' was John's 3rd album on the Jarrah label
It has the catalogue number JBT003

[finchy]

I do enjoy Misha's take on the symbolism.
Its cool how we all see our own meanings through our own lives. That's one great thing about music, & instrumental music in particular. It's like looking at clouds & everyone sees their own unique imagery.

Anyway, I have no doubt that the 3 arrows is a continuation of the recurring '3' theme for John.
Yonks ago there was lots of questions & discussion about the 3 tattoo bands around John's arms & I remember somewhere that he said it was a very personal thing to him that had many meanings to do with '3'. He didn't share the specific meanings (other than the obvious) & I guess only the people close to John would ever know.

I'm quite glad that he kept that private, afterall: what's the point of life if you know all the answers. I enjoy the mystery & how everyone has their own takes, like Misha

[jjars5]

Thank You Everyone- Misha especially - for I am going to have to go back and re-read once more with the symbol in front of me and read up about it. Yes, I am in the U.S. I am thinking no one really knows for sure...and for some reason I just figured there would be a cut and dry answer.....

[jwchretien]

The first thing that came to my mind when i saw it was "red wood trees" and "arrows" and trio. red wood trees because they have this shape and they would look just like that a night of full moon Plus red wood have the reputation to be eternal but very "sensitive"
arrows because they represent the act of fighting, so both together could mean "fight for earth" or something like that and with a circle arround the three "arrows/trees" that would mean that they fight with us, all of us, as one. (sorry for my poor english tonight, but too tired )

[valley]

I just thought it represented each musician projecting their artform outwards...

The fact they are encircled represents unity, but there is an emphasis on the individuality of the arrows, and each arrow I reckon represents each instrument/muso..?

[misha]

[Dzambo]

Hey folks,

a few months ago I made this sketch for the front of my selfmade cajon drum.

http://www.flickr.co...N03/5491509271/


It is definitely influenced by the uprising logo & as you see I am just like misha a fan of the tree idea.

I haven't finished the cajon yet, but I will post a pic when its done.

[misha]

Those three Jarrah-ish trees are directly across the road from where I've been living for the past 4years and I see them when making a coffee.... around 10 per day.

I say Jarrah-ish, because the eucalyptus species hybridis... these look like Jarrah with white flowers, however the best indication are the seed nuts formed.

If you look at the album artwork you see the grey rendered texture, being very similar to the bark on these types of Jarrah tree.

So, they are street trees here.... it's tough going finding old growth Jarrah here now.... sadly ... and I don't get into the forest as much as I'd like to for a better shot. I guess the only way to find a stand of trees old enough still living would be to follow a logging truck... or to try contacting one of the activists groups trying to save some of this beauty.

Edited by misha, 03 March 2011 - 02:34 AM.

[gecko]

Fantastic point on the Jarrah misha, that was honestly something that never occured to me. I'm sure if that's not what John had in mind he's going, shit - why didn't I think of that ?

Jarrah is associated pretty strongly with WA, because we've got the majority of it over here. This is due to the fact that the majority of Jarrah trees over here were deemed useless as timber when the early settlers arrived, because of their smaller(younger) size and multi-stemmed nature. The one's that were lopped were the thickest, highest, straightest trunked trees.

The ironic thing is, Jarrah has this multi-stemmed growth habit because of one of it's many natural defenses, this one in particular is inherent in most Eucalypt. species.

Jarrah trees have something that is called an "epicormic bud" that is present underground at the base of the tree. This bud is a small starchy reserve that contains tonnes of potential nutrients for the tree. When the foliage of a Jarrah tree is damaged(i.e. Fire, which we all know how important to the Aussie environment this is) this starchy reserve is activated, sending all of those nutrients up the tree so it has enough energy to regenerate itself. Oftentimes though the result is the tree sprouting another limb, because there is just so much energy stored in those buds.

The irony is that this technique is now used constantly in Eucalyptus farms, damaging the foliage so the tree becomes multi-stemmed, allowing them to harvest more of the useful properties found in Eucalypt. species(Eucalyptus oil mainly) and so they can be used more prolifically as ornamental trees .

Think of how many beautiful, old growth trees there would be left for us to enjoy today if earlier generations had understood a little bit more about ecosystems and how they work. Of course, less Jarrah furniture for everyone to enjoy though :shifty: .

[misha]

Your in WA?

Gone

I went to an auction on Saturday and managed to pick up a nice piece of milled Jarrah slab. This was at a mill, some of the Lots were logs. One Jarrah log was around 2metres in diameter and around 5metres in length.... went for around $1200 from memory. Lots of beautiful pieces in that and unlikely to be wasted as happened in the past.

The 3metre x 600mm x 30mm piece I have has 'natural' edges, meaning bark is still on each side. These make beautiful table tops.... question is do I use it for two built-in benchtops in a 'house' full of old joinery or do I make a nice coffee table for myself that I can use when I manage to get out of this madhouse? Given recent days I think that table is the far better option!

Edited by misha, 14 March 2011 - 08:23 AM.

[misha]

Jarrah grows on even after a bad burn, as in the core of this piece [mentioned previously] saved from an absolute waste burn in a bloody fireplace... that some will remember I have huge issues with that filthy hole in the wall fire.... more so, the 'people' with a 'piss it up a wall' or 'fujiar' attitude .
Not sure what to do with this raw piece. Maybe cut square and have the end grain finely sanded & polished, like the Jarrah joinery made in 1904 in this pic. Might check out all the remaining long telegraph poles this came from, as a carefully removed 2metre core piece would make a nice standing Lamp pole.

[jjars5]

This has all been so very interesting AND educational .... I appreciate the time spent with all the explanations.
As it has it, I just 1 week ago, fell in LOVE yet again, seeing JBT in NYC at Terminal 5 ... it was so intimate and amazing and the most amazing part was the opening band ... John and Mama Kin ... Simply Beautiful.
The band itself put on quite a show, definitely kicked up a notch from last summer or even this past winter when I saw them open for The Dave Matthews Band ... They jammed- and jammed hard, there was lotsa dancing and smiling faces (OK, me) - I tried to pay no mind to the college children that when I questioned them about their favorite song, really could not answer .... "One Way Road?"
Good Times .... Love this band!!!