Phaedrus

" I don't know why I'm so gripped to go there
A universe riddle that only I know?
Mr. Robert he says, "It's all in the head!"
Tell me, Phaedrus, what's good, is it Idaho? "

I was driving home last night from acapella practice, with my iPod on shuffle and "Idaho" by Nerina Pallot surfaced. It's one of my favorite songs, and the timing was ironic because it's a song I associate with traveling - which I will be doing today right after this class actually. But the above lyric, the one right at the end, caught my attention.


Phaedrus.


It sounded mythological, but it wasn't one that I recognized from the Ovid book. Why would she put his name in the song? Why does he know what's good?


There were several men who came up with that name during my search, specifically Phaedrus, a book written by Plato, but the one who seemed to make the most sense was the Greek Phaedrus, who was the head of an Epicurean school of thought. Because Epicureanism revolves around the ideology that "pleasure" is the greatest good, it would make sense for Miss Pallot to add his name into her song, asking him, "What's good?"


Not as interesting as I was hoping for, but still neat to know the reason behind that line. There's always meaning in lyrics.

Here's the song - it's beautiful. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RlcDuRQSas