An interesting part of this album are the references to other artist's works.
In this song, for example, the whole thing, practically, is based on some Annie
Dillard Story. And then in the Beautiful Pea Green Boat song it happens
again. The whole song just tells the story. What's up with that? -JimDavies
By saying that it was in the Summer of '82, I get the feeling that
this is a true story. I have always been fascinated by the fact that
some of Laurie's stories are true and some are made up, and some are
probably a combination of both, but when you are listening to it it
doesn't seem to matter. I am always a bit struck when people ask me
whether a certain Laurie story is true. I think that starting with
Strange Angels she started telling stories that are so personal
sounding that I doubt they are made up. IMHO, her more abstract
stories that don't have to much to do with her better suit her
talents. If I want expressinism in music, I'll listen to Sinead
O'Connor or something. -JimDavies
The rust and the weak motivation show this is a lower point in the narrator's life. CHAZ@c230_acs_mailserv.edmonds.ctc.edu Charlie Campos
I interpret "greasy skid marks" as descriptive of
the sort of wat-clay-slime that would be revealed when the skids peel the
lawn off the yard. Only applies if you live where there is high clay
content in the soil. Where did Laurie live when this song could be
taking place? And is there "greasy" clay-based soil there?
David Priest
Taken literally, this is quite a statement. Driving in someone's back yard whether or not
skid marks are left is pretty nasty. Perhaps she means it in a metaphorical way, taking
advantage of the ambiguity of the term "back yard." Recall the expression: "Not in my back
yard" can mean the same neighborhood or even the same state, depending on the context.
Skid marks are understandable. But skid marks are not greasy. This too, may be metaphorical
in that the skid marks in people's backyards are the things they do that the people don't
like, and "greasy" is the term that the people use for them and their acts. Aside from all
this, I prefer to think about this passage literally, and appreciate the image. Laurie and
some guy peeling through yards, knocking down fences, leaving skid marks all over the place,
inches deep and constant, over trees and porches and lawns, with a little pool of grease
at the bottom. -JimDavies
If the weasel opens its mouth the ride stops.
CHAZ@c230_acs_mailserv.edmonds.ctc.edu Charlie Campos
Laurie is symbolized by the weasel in this story, and the guy with the car is symbolized
by the eagle. The eagle is the one who is taking them both somewhere, and the weasel
is along for the ride. -JimDavies
The weasel will fall to the ground if she opens her mouth. LAurie,
like the weasel, will "fall" if she opens her mouth. To say anything
you must open your mouth. To carry the analogy further, Laurie's
silence in the car is analagous to the weasel biting the eagle. So
Laurie is hurting the guy with her silence. The weasel must keep
biting for her own survival. Why must Laurie keep silent? What will
happen if she speaks up? -JimDavies
By not speaking, the narrator lies. The driver (let's
assume
it's a he) assumes he can trust her, there's a profound
attraction, and that she loves him. This is pure
speculation - nothing like this ever happened to me ;)
CHAZ@c230_acs_mailserv.edmonds.ctc.edu Charlie Campos
This is the first of two references to her grandmother in the album. The second is in
a dream with her grandmother selling cotton candy out of a little shack. The family
is one of the main symbols in this album. -JimDavies
Let's assume this little part has something to do with the rest of the
song (not always a safe assumption when it comes to Laurie's works).
The chorus singing along with the "made of weasels" part lets us know
that this is important. Notice the pun with "viscious circle." A
viscious circle goes on endlessly, getting worse, which goes with the
"we were going in circles" above. But weasels might be viscious, and
the coat wraps around somewhat like a circle. The car ride is
symbolized by the coat, going around and around, and the fact that the
coat is made of weasels ties in with the symbolism in the Annie
Dillard story symbol. Very clever! I like the image of "on the back
of an old woman" but I don't know what it means. -JimDavies
...isn't this simply another version of the "endless ride?" The weasel
is either in death biting the neck of the eagle, or in death biting
its own tail on the back of her grandmother? Wonder if she wore the
coat when out to convert the heathens... Mike Wadeuk 2005
The lyric in "Bright Red"
"did she fall or was she pushed?"
is most likely a reference to Ana Mendieta.
In Ana Mendieta, a Cuban born performance artist and
sculptor, fell from the 34th floor Manhattan apartment
she shared with her husband Carl Andre. Andre was
rather evasive about what happened, and the general
feeling was that he murdered her. Anderson would have
been very aware of this scandal. Mendieta was known
for Silueta^Ò (silhouette) works, in which imprints of
her own body merged into landscapes and still lifes -
these became posthumously notorious for the way the
works echoed her own death by impact.
It also might be a reference to photographer Francesca
Woodman - a New York photographer who was known for
various self-portraits of herself as an angel or
rehearsing to be an angel. In 1981 she committed
suicide by jumping from a window. Greg g.
Right here. -> Fall <-
Concerned Adult "Where did you get that nasty bruise?"
Abused Child "I fell" { "Dad/Mom/Uncle/Whoever pushed or
beat me" }
CHAZ@c230_acs_mailserv.edmonds.ctc.edu Charlie Campos
A real question for me on this is the use of the two voices,
alternating almost every other word. Initially I thought it might
have been only a studio technique to achieve a certain "texture"
(after all, she was working with Eno on this album); however, after
seeing this live with her doing both voices, one high, one low, I've
changed my mind. I think the effect of duplicity is what's important;
the primary voice (Laurie's) is countered with a new, lower, somehow
more dangerous voice, as though there were some element of the malice
of a molester rising through the honeyed tones that he uses to entice
the child to approach him.timothy_jarrett@mail.amsinc.com
echoes lyrics from Sweaters. Greg the G.
Sounds like a kidnapping or something, because of the car and the fact
that "little girl" is used instead of a name. "come here Jenny. Get
into the car." just doesn't have the same feel. -JimDavies
Here the expression "bright red" is used to describe the cadillac. The
car in this context is dangerous. -JimDavies
This is actually quite interesting. The liner notes say it's from
Isiah 13:21, so I checked, but my translation is somewhat different
(Jerusalem Bible). The quoted section comes at the end of a fairly
bloodthirsty chapter in which Yahweh promises the destruction of
Babylon in his anger. It goes like this:
But beasts of the desert will lie there,
and owls fill its houses.
Ostriches will make their home there
and satyrs have their dances there.
It goes on:
Hyenas will call to each other in its keeps,
jackals in the luxury of its palaces...
Its time is almost up,
its days will not last long.
(Isiah 13:21-22)
Hmm. What can it all mean?
Gerard McMahon, ICL, Bracknell, U.K.
gerard@bra01.icl.co.uk
Isaiah 13:21. It appears to be a slightly wonky translation. The King
James reads:
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be
full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall
dance there.
The next verse reads:
And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses,
and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and
her days shall not be prolonged.
The whole of chapter 13 is describing the burdens of Babylon. Whether this
is past description, or prophecy I am not sure. I've never studied this
particular book. This sounds to me like a chunk of the bible that LA would
be drawn to. She was, after all, all of those rabbis in previous lives.
daves@atl1.america.net (Dave Hubble Slusher)
Just a reminder: King James is the wonkiest translation out there.
e.g. "Thou shalt not kill" is a mistranslation of "thou shalt not murder."
Big difference, eh? JimDavies
The quotation from Isaiah is the hardest part to make fit here, but
contextualizing it in Babylon makes it easier. The illicit revels of
the satyrs and sirens of Babylon are going to bring down the wrath of
the Lord, says Isaiah. Laurie's implication appears to be that the
behavior of her Caddy-driving molester is going to draw down
Armageddon. Certainly the Apocalypse is lurking somewhere in almost
every song on this album--here I think it raises its beastly head
almost to the surface. "Are things getting better or are they getting
worse?" The implication appears to be that not only are things
getting worse, they're getting _finally_ worse.
Is this Laurie coming to terms with the legacy of religion left her by
her grandmother?timothy_jarrett@mail.amsinc.com
I wonder if Laurie has a kind of love-hate relationship (probably just
an interest) with the shadow side of the human psyche, as she seems to
have with the computer/technology? I cannot help but notice the shirt
and the hairy ones. As Laurie always, it seems to me, walks on the
edge, so will I. Hair shirt is worn for repentance. your shirt on my
chair: chair can be like a skeleton, a firmament upon which your
shirt remorse rests. your shirt is the closest thing to you, your
flesh, in your absence...Could it be her fathers remorse may rest on
Lauries strong skeleton, frame, art?
reijo@ix.netcom.com (reijo koski)
This song is a critisism of the computer culture. I find it rather
ironic that Laurie would make a song like this, especially with her
interest in electronics and all. I have heard her complain that the
information superhighway isn't so great because not everyone will have
access to it. But I imagine that things like the internet will be
available to public libraries all over.. I wonder why she thinks this
will not happen. JimDavies
the computer is the automobile of the Information Superhighway
and you are in the driver's seat.
CHAZ@c230_acs_mailserv.edmonds.ctc.edu Charlie Campos
Puppet = A figure of a person or animal controlled
by an operator (puppeteer) = your online identity
controlled by keyboard and mouse instead of strings and
wires
Motel = A public establishment providing lodging,
entertainment, and other services for motorists =
Web site, Online service, Newsgroup, WOO or MUD.
This indicated that we are talking about a computer syetem.
-JimDavies
Maybe computer guys are spooky, but mean?-JimDavies
Maybe 'mean' in Puppet Motel refers NOT to computer guys but the
computers themselves. Have you ever tried to log on to a system to
which you were not supposed to have access? Type in a guess for the
name and password and what you normally get is a message like, "Access
Denied! Disconnecting!" or sometimes even, "Alerting computer
security!" These messages are not exactly polite.
This is a reference to the games software that computer people play. "Dungeons" is a doubly
good word to use. The stereotypical computer freak stays inside all the time with the
computer, making the atmosphere dungeonlike. Also, Role playing games like "Dungeons and
Dragons" are popular among this crowd. -JimDavies a lot of old mainframe rooms are very dungeon like. Usually in
the basement, usually dank as they have been put below water pipes
because the buildings weren't meant for them, etc..Shane McDaniel
flamesplash@yahoo.com
Is this a suggestion that the minds of the puppets are like people out on bail? Pending
trial, only out of jail because they paid some money? Serious accusation. Perhaps she
is not referring to computer users in general. -JimDavies
A reference to Virtual Reality. Computers are getting so complex with
their simulation of real world experiences and communication, some
people could have a pretty good life just sitting there at the
computer. -JimDavies
This makes me think of some type of exetensionalism that is reached
through computers. Like the jail isn't so much computers but real
life, and the computers are the being out on bail. Still attached but
slightly freer. Almost like getting lost in the ether is like getting
lost in meditation and a way to reach beyond. ie the 4th dimensional
dreams, and real being only what is seems. This line of thought
doesn't work in the scheme of the whole song, but is very interesting
in these couple lines. Shane McDaniel flamesplash@yahoo.com
So the puppets are in jail. But they are there willingly. Her point is that they
have imprisoned themselves and they don't even know it. JimDavies
I used this song in a 7-8th grade Sunday school class. This line
crystallizes the overall impression of this song that people are seeking
some ultimate satisfaction from being on-line (or other obsessive
behavior). Like the midevil knights, they are trapped in search of
something that they cannot even identify or name. God can release us from
the frenzy in this jail/motel and let us be ourselves. Of course, all the
kids noticed is that Laurie sounded like a man.
David Jung.
Quite a few of the computer guys I know like to get fast food for
something to munch on while surfing the net for extended periods of
time. Hacker Kevin Mitnick was famous for this sort of thing. Fast
food is, in many ways, 'virtual food' in that it is not fast nor is it
really food.
Only those with credit cards can afford to get wired.
Maybe a joking reference to William Gibson's Burning Chrome.
CHAZ@c230_acs_mailserv.edmonds.ctc.edu Charlie Campos
Sexual harassment online. Let's go to a private room and
chat. Online service = virtual meat market = The motel where you
"rent rooms by the hour" with your rent-a-girlfriend.
CHAZ@c230_acs_mailserv.edmonds.ctc.edu Charlie Campos
Here is another family reference. This never used to happen in her
old albums. JimDavies
In article 0011D897@ppsw.rug.nl, pc40@ppsw.rug.nl (PC STUDENT) writes:
>The "living that outnumber the dead" cannot be a way of describing a
new >better world, because she seems not so very pleased at all with
it. At >least I interpret the sentence "I'm one of many" in a negative
way. >I think it's meant negative, because a recurrent theme
throughout all >her work ("Oh no! Another Laurie Anderson Clone") is
drowning or >dissapearing without identity. One of the songs where you
can find that >theme is - of course - tightrope.
"Where I come from" is a reference to her ancestry, so "down a river
of red" refers to a bloodline. "Red" is a mojor symbol in this
album. JimDavies
So the quick are bright red. JimDavies
it struck me that "quick" also means "alive," which is a more likely
intepretation since it stands opposite to "dead." For example, the
living part of a horse's hoof is called the "quick," and somebody can
be "cut to the quick" (also an equine metaphor) and when a baby is
first felt moving in the womb is it called "quickening."
Laura Carey-Anniballi lauraca@cattell.psych.upenn.edu
World Without End has some treatments in the beginning that are
right out of Brian Eno's Apollo. And the beginning of Freefall
there are treatments that are right out of Music For Films.
I dunno if Brian just opened up his briefcase and plugged in the
tape of the effect that he made over a decade ago, or if he actually
re-composed them and they just happened to sound just like the
stuff he did in the late 70s and early 80s...
Initially I was disappointed to hear the re-hashed stuff.
"Oh, theres Brian!" I said when I first heard them.
Later, listening again, I decided that he put them there because
ovbiously he thought they would be cool. But I do still wonder if he
just brought them in, or if he actually re-created them. Personally I
think he brought them in. -wave@u.washington.edu (David Lee)
In Indian mythology, "the Western Lands" are where the dead
reside.
CHAZ@c230_acs_mailserv.edmonds.ctc.edu Charlie Campos
The description of Laurie's bereavement is one of the most amazing
things she's ever written here, moving from clinical description to
metaphor effortlessly, the whole thing steeped in grief. Then comes
"World without end remember me"....
First, whose voice is this? Her father's? Her own? One of Laurie's
principal themes here is an awareness of mortality brought on by the
deaths of others (her father, her grandmother). That the reaction to
her father's death is "remember _me_" struck me first as odd. The
issue raised here seems to be the old old one of artistic
immortality--will the artist best death, his memory perpetuated by his
works? The speaker's fear expressed here is that the "library" of a
life perishes along with the living, and that there is no immortality,
not even this attenuated fame, for humanity at all.
timothy_jarrett@mail.amsinc.com
In an interview for a German radio station, Laurie Anderson said she
regretted that she had written "When my father died ..." because he
was alive and well - and she wasn't sure what his reaction to it might
be.
There seem to be lots of references to falling on this record.
JimDavies
The harmony of this song never ceases to intrigue me. I love to
listen to it in the car and try to sing with the male's part.
JimDavies
The lamb? The only thing I can think of that this could mean is some
sort of reference to the "sacrificial lamb," from the story of Abraham
and Issiac (?) JimDavies
I don't know if this is supposed to mean something or if this is a
true story and it happened in a Queen sized bed. If the symbol is
intentional, it seems that as a child she felt too small for the bed,
and too small to be a queen, which, perhaps, is how she saw her
mother. JimDavies
A child's ploy to get the parent to tell a favorite story again.
Maybe it's a favorite because the owl and the pussycat
get to live happily ever after, unlike the narrator who
has had bad experiences with eagles, weasels, wild beasts,
owls, black cat nights, and enough old boyfriends to fill a ferris wheel.
CHAZ@c230_acs_mailserv.edmonds.ctc.edu Charlie Campos
So far this song is perhaps typical for this album. But from now on
the entire thing is her retelling this story. I get the feeling that
this story has some significance, but I can't see any connection with
this story and anything else.. Could it be that this song is meaningless
except for just the recollection of a childhoood event and a favorite story?
And what's up with not knowing the ending? JimDavies
The word "pussy" has such connotations in this culture that it's use like
this must be intentional. Maybe it's just a joke. I kind of laugh when I
hear it. JimDavies
These "hey"s are fairly innocuous in the song, but when looking at the
lyrics, there are four of them right in a row. Maybe she is just
being accurate with the lyric sheet, but I can't help but think that
they are written as such to draw attention to them. JimDavies
This reminds me of "The Dream Before" on Strange Angels, but somehow even
more boring and less interesting. Laurie Says on an interview that
this is about a friend of hers that has AIDS. JimDavies
It's about AIDS. It's too obvious, IMHO. JimDavies
These are quite obviously, referring to the same group of people, but
in three different languages. Yes, that's right Jim... this song is
about AIDS, and this reference here refers to the way this devastating
disease knows no ethnic boundaries. I guess you could say that, no
matter the nationality, all the victims of AIDS are... er... in the
same boat.
This reminds me of a book by William Burroughs. I think it was
"Cities of the Red Night", and one of the subplots involved
an anarchist multicultural utopian island populated by pirates
and governed by love. This must be how it ended.
CHAZ@c230_acs_mailserv.edmonds.ctc.edu Charlie Campos
LA talks about what I will assume is her character's husband in this
song being 'just one floor and a shout away.' Now, if YOU were having
an affair with someone, SURELY you wouldn't fool around with the
'other woman' in the same house when you're wife was home. This is a
ridiculous concept.
This is the kind of lyric that will stay with me forever and go
through my head at strange times during the day. I love it! I also
like the way the voice is presented. It's done with no vibrato and is
much louder than one would expect lyrics to be (relative to the
music). I love to crank this part up. It sounds like she's right
there in the room with you. JimDavies
Every time I listen to "Poison" ('It was one of those black cat nights...') I am reminded of the Mr. Heartbreak "Gravity's
Angel" -- 'Look, look, look; you forgot to take your shirt...'
David Priest
just like "weasel keeps hangin' on" ?
CHAZ@c230_acs_mailserv.edmonds.ctc.edu Charlie Campos
Before this line is the same line sung quiety in the background. I like
the contrast between the little line with the up-frontness of the rest
of the vocal track. JimDavies
This is the only time in the song when she asks whether there is blood
on her hands and doesn't give herself a reassuring answer. It is also
the last time she asks, indicating that she finally admitted, realized,
or faced the fact that there is blood on her hands. JimDavies
Another one of those neat lines! This symbol I find particulary good
and powerful. It indicated that the pain is there, in calling it a
small bullet or piece of glass. And by saying that your heart just
grows around it, she means that your heart recovers, but the glass or
bullet is still there-- it doesn't go away, and the pain is not
forgotton. -JimDavies
The guitar sustain and the drums sound so good in this song. In her
Empty Places tour, Laurie talked about some people's voices (Hitler's)
sounding like drums and music. This song could be about talking in
your sleep, and speech sounding like drums. JimDavies
On the "Stories From the Nerve Bible" tour, she explained that this
song was written as her reaction to what she called the "football coverage
of the Gulf War" on CNN. -snickell@students.wisc.edu (Scott Nickell)
In keeping with her United States theme, the fourth of July has been
mentioned here and before. Recall, from Home of the Brave: "Sounds
like the fourth of July.. Nope, wrong again." JimDavies
This reminds me of the part in US live where the near deaf woman says
to her near deaf husband about their stuck car alarm: "It sounds like
faraway bees on a summer day." And the man said: "What?" JimDavies
One question: Where the hell did this come from?? JimDavies
It's like when you're talking with your ex-girlfriend and
she's going on about a perfect and special time you two
spent together and you remember that same exact
time as some kind of endless nightmare.
CHAZ@c230_acs_mailserv.edmonds.ctc.edu Charlie Campos
Anyone else picture this grandmother with a coat made of weasels?
JimDavies
This is a magical image. I love it. It's also very funny. The most
interesting thing about Laurie's personal life as expressed in her
lyrics is her dreams,IMHO. JimDavies
Another family reference, common on this album. JimDavies
Alluding to the story of her near death in the Himilayas, this
could refer to her walking the tightrope between life and death. She
is thinking of her relatives and the effect her falling [dying] will
have on them. Tipping back and forth could be the literal motion of
her travel and her mental state, between conciousness and delirium.
Scott Teesdale stgrcd@comcast.net
"This long road" about 2:50 & 5:40 into Gravity's Angel, and
"This long thin line", the shirt and the shirt & chair,
why these mountains and those mountains for the characters
to jump from in another CD/track.
Her vocal tech.is the same in several parts of the 2 cuts that you find
similar; also, parts are in the same key I think.
michael,
mreilly@arl.mil
The first clue that the tightrope has to do with her music. "Song
line" is obviously music, and "This shout" is Laurie shouting out to
the world through her music. JimDavies
The only way she directly communicates with the rest of the world is through
her music. JimDavies
The next clue. The tightrope is the aforementioned line, and it's
made of sound. Another clue is on the cover. There is a laser shining
into her hand. It's bright red. A CD uses a laser to read the music.
I think here it all comes together. Her music is her connection to
the world, and the music is communicated through a laser. The laser
is red because that's how we usually think of lasers, and because it
is her life, her own blood. It carries the sound information, so one
could say that it's made of sound. It's a shout in the sense that she
wants to be heard. JimDavies
The association of "this long thin line, this tightrope" with Laurie's
music that Jim makes plays nicely into my earlier thoughts about
immortality in "World Without End." Here again we have supplication
for immortality in close juxtaposition with a reference to her music.
I'm not sure that it's as neat as that though. In her stage show in
Washington she told the story of almost dying in the Himalayas, and
remaining alive because one of the members of her expedition
walked
down with her, talking to her for some thirty hours so that she
would
have a human voice to focus on and cling to. It was this, the sound
of a human voice reaching her on the brink of death, that she called
the "long thin line" connecting her to life.
In this context, her plea to "remember me" is a cry from the
tightrope, a request to keep her memory should the long thin line fail
her and she fall.
timothy_jarrett@mail.amsinc.com
Last piece, 'Same Time Tomorrow', contains the LA trademark sound which
never fails to grip my heart.
This always makes people laugh. Laurie is often like a stand up commedienne
in the way she presents things we are all familiar with in a different way.
What makes it so special is that this funny line is also a symbol in the song,
not just a one liner disconnected from everything. This is one of the reasons
I like Laurie so much. JimDavies
One of the framing stories was about her meeting John Cage when
he was about 87. Instead of talking to him about music theory, etc. she
asked him if we (that's a collective ALL people, we) were getting better or
worse? and John Cage answered, "Better. slowly, gradually, perhaps
imperceptibly, but better." And I think that's what I like most about
Laurie Anderson's work. She asks questions about the puzzling predicament
we find ourselves in as human beings at the end of the second millennium.
Surrounded by technology and victims of our own innate human behaviors, she
shows us that we are puzzling, humorous, awe-inspiring, and in spite of our
problems, getting gradually "better". mrmuster@pacificrim.com
While listening to US Live and listening for themes to LA's music (falling, driving), I came to realize that cyclic events
are another popular theme: Walking and Falling; Closed Circuits; "This is the time, and this is the record of the time";
and even the opening and closing SFX...
And this stretches right into Bright Red, which opens with the vicious circle of eagle and weasel, and ends with Same Time
Tomorrow, which contains the lines "Can we start all over again?"
And Ferriswheels, and Sharkey's day and night, and "you've been on this road before" and ...
Is there any chance that LA puts faith into reincarnation? Or would that be too neat a tie-in?priest@fraser.sfu.ca (David Priest)
I don't hear reincarnation in this. I hear a sort of realism--day in,
day out, things are pretty much the same. No closure. Things that
happened years ago pop up next week. No matter how we try to wrap up
everything in neat thirty minute segments, things keep coming back. It's
as though life were syndicated, and since we'd already seen it all
before, we flip past it, except that some part of it has hit us and stays
in our head. That's how I see (?) her music, anyway....
charles padgett cpadgett@moe.coe.uga.edu
Last time Laurie was in Chicago (the Park West)
she gave an informal show and had a question & answer session after it.
Well, I asked her, regarding women in the art world, "Do you think things
are getting better, or are they getting worse?" When I met her afterwards
she said, "that was a very insightful question you asked me..". Imagine
my surprise when I bought the album and there was my question! I found
out when I saw her Chicago show last friday (3/18) that she asked that
question of John Cage when she interviewed him *shortly after leaving
Chicago* the first time. Do you think she really used my question, or is
it just a coincidence? I didn't get to meet her this time, I wish I could
have asked her. Anyway, those of you who have'nt seen the show yet, you
are in for a real treat. Bye.
JEssica
This is good, but it sounds like something she might have lifted from somewhere. JimDavies
In people's back yards.
We were goin' nowhere.
Just drivin' around.
We were goin' in circles.
And me I was just hanging on.
Like in that Annie Dillard book
The Annie Dillard story is "Living Like Weasels" from her collection
of essays Teaching a Stone to Talk (good book, too). Dillard herself
doesn't actually see the eagle, but rather reads about it somewhere, I
believe. Kathryn (SharkyzDay@aol.com)
Where she sees that eagle
With the skull of a weasel
Hanging from its neck
And here's how it happened, listen.
Eagle bites the weasel.
Weasel bites back
They fly up to nowhere.
Weasel keeps hangin' on.
Together forever.
We were goin' nowhere.
Just drivin' around.
You did all the talking and me
I didnt' make a sound
If I open my mouth now
I'll fall to the ground
If I open my mouth
There's so much I'd say
Like I can never be honest.
Like I'm in it for the thrill.
Like I never loved anyone.
And I never will.
Eagle bites the weasel.
Weasel bites back.
They fly up to nowhere.
Wesel keeps hanging on.
Together forever.
The image of the weasels biting each other's tail in a circle always
reminds me of the mythological snake that is eating its own tail.
I found the following references about it in the
Encyclopedia Mythica:
-- Jormungand:
In Norse mythology, Jormungand is one of the three children of the god Loki
and his wife, the giantess Angrboda. The gods were well aware that this
monster was growing fast and that it would one day bring much evil upon gods
and men. So Odin deemed it advisable to render it harmless. He threw the
serpent in the ocean that surrounds the earth, but the monster had grown to
such an enormous size that it easily spans the entire world, hence the name
Midgard Serpent. It lies deep in the ocean where it bites itself in its
tail, and all mankind is caught within his coils.
At the destruction of the universe, Jormungand and Thor will kill each
other.
-- Ouroboros:
Ouroboros ("the tail-devourer") is the symbolization of concepts such as
completion, perfection and totality, the endless round of existence, etc. It
is usually represented as a worm or serpent with its tail in its mouth.
M.C.Plath@cs.bham.ac.uk
I remember that old coat.
My grandma used to wear
Made of weasels
Biting each other's tails
A vicious circle
And endless ride
On the back of an old woman.
Eagle bites the weasel.
Weasel bites back.
They fly up to nowhere.
Wesel keeps hanging on.
Together forever.
And me? I'm goin' in circles.
I'm circling aruond.
And if I open my mouth now
I'll fall to the ground.
Bright Red
Did she fall or was she pushed?
Your shirt on my chair
Your shirt on my chair
I'll be with you. I'll be there.
I'll never leave you
Your shirt on my chair.
Come here little girl. Get into the car.
It's a brand new Cadillac. Bright red.
I agree that the implication is supposed to be that of
molestation--the molester in his pretty bright red Cadillac (anyone
else reminded of Tori Amos here?)--but I don't think that's _all_
that's implied here. The promises "I'll be with you. I'll be there.
I'll never leave you" don't strike me as those that a molester would
make to his victim, but rather those that a man would make to his
lover. Is Laurie drawing an analogy between dishonest lovers
promising eternity but delivering betrayal and child molestation? She
certainly appears to be suggesting that they're part of the same
pattern of behavior.timothy_jarrett@mail.amsinc.com
Your words in my ears.
I'll be with you. I'll be there.
I'll never leave you.
Wild beasts shall rest there
And owls shall answer one another there
And the hairy ones shall dance there
And sirens in the temples of pleasure.
Your shirt on my chair.
I'll be with you. I'll be there.
I'll never leave you.
Your shirt on my chair.
The Puppet Motel
I live on the highway
Near the Puppet Motel
CHAZ@c230_acs_mailserv.edmonds.ctc.edu Charlie Campos I log in every day
I know the neighborhood well.
No about the residents
Of the Puppet Motel
They're more than a little spooky
And most of them are mean.
'Spooky' implies unfamiliar territory, somewhere you've never been
before. So if you have just hacked a system which you really
shouldn't have, would it not seem a bit spooky?
-Dwayne Kennemore Dwayne_Kennemore_at_ASTENGFW@ccmailsmtp.ast.com
They're runnin' the numbers
They're playin' cops and robbers
Down in the dungeons
Inside their machines.
Cause they don't know
What's really real now
they're havin' fourth dimentional dreams
Their minds are out on bail now
And real is only what it seems.
And all the puppets in this digital jail
They're runnin' around in a frenzy
In search of the Holy Grail.
They're havin' virtual sex.
They're eatin' virtual food.
Perhaps this is what LA means with 'they're eatin' virtual food' in
"Puppet Motel."
-Dwayne Kennemore Dwayne_Kennemore_at_ASTENGFW@ccmailsmtp.ast.com
No wonder these puppets
Are always in a lousy mood.
So if you think we live in a modern world
Where everything is clean and swell
Take a walk on the B side of town
Down by the Puppet Motel
Take a whiff. Burning Plastic.
I drink a cup of coffee I try to revive
My mind's a blank I'm barely alive
My nerves are shot I feel like hell
Guess it's time to check in
At the Puppet Motel.
Boot up. Good afternoon. Pause.
Oooo. I really like the way you talk.
Pardon me. Shut down.
Speak My Language
Daddy Daddy, it was just like you said
Now that the living outnumber the dead.
Surely "living
that outnumber the dead" is just a reference to the world's human
population crisis? I forget the exact numbers, but it will not be
long before the living do outnumber the dead. I agree with you that
this ties into the alienation theme. Of course, alienation is quite a
common theme in modern artwork, but Laurie has managed to put her own
perspective on it: I particularly liked the one about the ferris wheel
in the ocean. Charles King Where I come from it's a long thin thread
Across an ocean. Down a river of red.
Now that the living outnumber the dead.
Speak my language.
Hello. Hello.
Here come the quick. There go the dead.
Here they come. Bright red.
Speak my language.
World without end
I remember where I came from
There were burning buildings and a fiery red sea
I remember all my lovers
I remember how they held me.
World without end remember me.
East. The edge of the world.
West. Those who came before me.
When my father died we put him in the ground.
When my father died it was like a whole library
Had burned down.
This is a very moving passage. Everyone likes it. Laurie's father was
actually alive when she recorded this, but died sometime about a year
after the album came out, I think. --JimDavies
World without end remember me.
M.C.Plath@cs.bham.ac.uk
Freefall
You're out on the ocean
And you get pulled down
Freefall to the bottom
Like when you're drowning
Or falling asleep
You get turned around
And when you think you're
Swimming to the surface
You're swimming straight down.
Down to the bottom.
All the way to the bottom.
Secret codes and cryptograms
I'm lost in your words I'm swimming.
We're going down to the bottom
All the way to the bottom
Rapture of the deep.
I got your letter. I couldn't read it.
It was a cryptogram.
Did it say take me with you
Or take me as I am?
We're going down to the bottom
All the way to the bottom.
We get turned around.
There is another world spinning inside of this one.
I remember where I came from
There were tropical breezes
And a wide open sea
I remember my childhood
I remember being free.
We're going down to the bottom
All the way to the bottom
We get turned around
There is another world
Inside of this one.
Rapture of the deep.
We're going down to the bottom
There is another world
Spinning inside of this one.
Muddy River
This is the most apocalyptic track on the album (except perhaps for
"Night in Baghdad") and most of the imagery suggests the failure of
all humanity's structures (religion, civilization, technology even
words ("all the towns and cities and signs") against the power of
night and nature.timothy_jarrett@mail.amsinc.com
Rain keeps pouring down
Houses are cracking. People drown.
Cars are rusting here. A church floats by
Washed in the blood of the lamb.
The "lamb" reference here could be to the Abraham and Isaac story, but
more likely it's to the Christian image of Christ as the sacrificial
lamb whose blood redeems the sins of humanity. By extension this is
an Isaac image, since the Isaac story is one of the preludes in
Genesis to the story of Christ. The reference is ironic rather than
redemptive, though, because the image of the floating church is
juxtaposed with rusting cars, cracking houses, drowning people,
disappearing superhighways, and other failures of human effort. The
implication is that compared to the awful cleansing power of flood to
redeem the land from humanity, the power of Christ's blood to redeem
humanity from sin is insignificant. The double irony is that baptism,
the "washing in the blood of the Lamb," which is meant as an act of
salvation, is confronted by the true cleansing power of water and
provides no salvation against it.
timothy_jarrett@mail.amsinc.com
And all the superhighways have disappeared
One by one. And all the towns and cities and signs
Are underwater now. They're gone.
We're going down my the muddy river
We're walking down by the muddy river
Somebody tell me please:
What happened here?
Mud is everywhere.
Fish are swimming in the fields.
Everybody's running arund, they're yelling
Is this the end of the known world?
Men and women in their boats
Try to save what they've lost.
They're yelling, It's all gone now.
We're never gonna find it again.
But when the muddy river starts to rise
It covers us all. And when I look into your eyes
Two tiny clocks two crystal balls
We begin again. We try
We begin again. Down by
We're going down by down by the muddy river.
We begin again down by the muddy river
We're walking down by down by the muddy river.
We're going down by down by the muddy river.
Bright Red: Tightrope
Beautiful Pea Green Boat
I'm lying in the shade
Of my family tree
I'm a branch that broke off
What will become of me?
Dear Mom, I'm lying here
In this queen sized bed.
I'm thinking back
To all the stories you read to me
About those little animals
Who went to sea
In their beautiful pea green boat.
But I can't remember now.
What happened then?
Dear Mom, how does it end?
The owl and the pussycat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat.
They took some honey and lots of money
Wrapped in a five pound not.
The owl looked up to the stars above
And sang to a small guitar,
O lovely pussy! Pussy my love!
What a wonderful pussy you are.
Let us be married
Too long we've tarried
But what shall we do for a ring?
What shall we do for a ring?
Hey! Hey!
They sailed away for a year and a day
To the land where the bong tree grows
And there in a wook a piggy wig stood
A ring at the end of his nose
A ring at the end of his nose.
And hand in hand at the edge of the sand
They danced by the light of the
By the light of the, by the light of the moon.
And hand in hand at the edge of the sand
They danced by the light of the
By the light of the, by the light of the moon.
The moon, the moon.
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
Love Among the Sailors
Perhaps, this song performs some motifs on Jean Genet book "Querelle De
Brest" (I mean, last Reiner Verner Fassbinder`s film was based on that book
and has the same name). So, just like the motifs in Berlin-Alexanderplatz
appears in White Lilly song, it goes this way.
There is a hot wind blowing
It moves across the ocean and into every port.
A plague. A black plague.
Well, according to the book, seas and oceans and sailors and water itself
is something that always reminds murder, crime, homosexual relationship etc.
The black plague here is a metaphor, or the common idea for all that stuff..
And you've been sailing.
And you're alone on an island now tuning in
They like to whistle, sailors. Genet`s commonplace: solitude.
And if this is the work of an angry god
I want to look into his angry face.
Some metaphysical stuff. Ancient ideas sometimes taught, just from
Heraclitus tradition, that the world began by the work of a cruel god or by
the chance-operations. At least, this excerption from existential philosophy
could be compared with Sartre, Genet works etc.etc.etc.
Simulacre, sofronyi@mailru.com
There is a hot wind blowing
It moves across the ocean and into every port.
A plague. A black plague.
There's danger everywhere
And you've been sailing.
And you're alone on an island now tuning in.
Did you think this was the way
Your world would end?
Hombres. Sailors. Comrades.
From your comments you seem to not like this song too much. In its
defence, I think it is the most CREATIVE song and social commentary I
have heard on the matter.
It IS very alleatory, isn't it?
Dwayne_Kennemore_at_ASTENGFW@ccmailsmtp.ast.com
There is no pure land now
No safe plave
And we stand here by the pier
Watching you drown.
Love among the Sailors.
Love among the Sailors.
There is a hot wind blowing
Plague drifts across the oceans.
And if this is the work of an angry god
I want to look into his angry face.
There is no pure land now. No safe place.
Come with us to the mountains.
Hombres. Sailors. Comrades.
Poison
Rather, I think that her husband just failed to try to hide the
affair, perhaps by explaining the 'long hours undoubtedly spent at the
office doing extra paperwork' in a particularly unconvincing way, or
maybe he just would come home late with no explanation whatsoever.
His wife's problem is that, up until the time she apparently did
something very nasty to him involving glass and/or a bullet, she was
afraid to do anything.
-Dwayne Kennemore Dwayne_Kennemore_at_ASTENGFW@ccmailsmtp.ast.com
It was one of those black cat nights
The moon had gone out
and the air was thin
It was the kind of night
that the cat would drag in.
I'll never forget it, we had a fight.
Then you turned around
turned on the light. You left our bed.
Then you moved downstairs
to live with her instead.
Yeah just one floor and a shout away,
I guess I should have moved
but I decided to stay.
Did I drink some poison
that I don't remember now?
And every night I open all the windows
I let a cold dark wind blow through.
I play loud organ music and I talk to myself
and dream of you.
Uh oh! I hear voices coming up
through the pipes
through all the springs in my bed
and up through the lights
The volume goes up
then it drops back down
I can hear the two of you playing records
moving furniture and fooling around.
Did I drink some poison
that I don't remember now?
Is there blood on my hands
No, my hands are clean.
Did I do something in another lifetime
that was really really mean?
Yeah, I'm hearing voices.
Am I losing my mind?
Think I'm going crazy, I gotta get out.
I run into the street and I start to shout
Get out of my way! Get out! Get out!
Did I drink some poison
that I don't remember now?
Is there blood on my hands?
Did I do something in another lifetime
that was really really mean?
A small bullet, a piece of glass
And your heart just grows around it.
In Our Sleep
In our sleep as we speak
Listen to the drums beat
As we speak
In our sleep as we speak
Listen to the drums beat
In our sleep
In our sleep as we speak
Listen to the drums beat
As we speak
As we speak in our sleep
Listen to the drums beat
in our sleep
In our sleep as we speak
Listen to the drums beat
As we speak
In our sleep as we speak
Listen to the drums beat
In our sleep
In our sleep where we meet
In our sleep where we meet
Night In Baghdad
And oh it's so beautiful
It's like the fourth of July
It's like a Christmas tree
It's like fireflies on a summer night.
And I wish I could describe this to you a little better.
But I can't talk very well right now
cause I've got this damned gas mask on.
So I'm just going to stick this microphone
out the window and see if we can hear
a little better. Hello California?
What's the weather like out there now?
And I only have one question:
Did you ever really love me?
Only when we danced.
And it was so beautiful.
It was like the fourth of July.
It was like fireflies on a summer night.
Tightrope
Last night I dreamed I died
and that my life had
been rearranged into
some kind of theme park.
And all my friends were walking
up and down the boardwalk.
And my dead Grandmother was selling
cotton candy out of a little shack.
And there was this big ferris wheel
about a half mile out in the ocean,
half in and half out of the water.
And all my old boyfriends were on it.
With their new girlfriends.
And the boys were waving and shouting
and the girls were saying Eeek.
Then they disappeared under
the surface of the water
and when they came up again
they were laughing
and gasping for breath.
In this dream I'm on a tightrope
and I'm tipping back and forth
trying to keep my balance.
And below me are all my relatives
and if I fall I'll crush them.
This long thin line.
This song line. This shout.
The only thing that binds me
to the turning world below
and to all the people and noise
and sounds and shouts.
This tightrope made of sound
This long thin line made of my own blood.
Remember me is all I ask
And if remembered be a task forget me.
The poem is by the great Irish poet, painter and songwriter, Percy
French, a contemporary of Whistler and Turner, best know to the
popular
culture as the author of Abdulla Bulbul Ameer! Obviously. Laurie is a
fan.
eric baldwin,
ecbaldwin@earthlink.net
Remember me is all I ask
And if remembered be a task
This long thin line. This long thin ine.
This long thin line. This tightrope.
Remember me is all I ask
And if remembered be a task forget me.
This long thin line. This long thin ine.
This long thin line. This tightrope made of sound.
Same Time Tomorrow
something like "UUUUUH-AAAHHHH' - it's un-natural
I suspect the effect is very studied, and wonderfully applied. Somewhere
in all her works a juxtaposition of sound manages to reach some primeval
part of me. ghawkins@news.seattleu.edu (N. Greg Hawkins) You knwo that little clock, the one on your VCR
the one that's always blinking twelve noon
because you never figured out
how to get in there and change it?
So it's always the same time
just the way it came from the factory.
Good morning. Good night.
Same time tomorrow. We're in record.
So here are the questions: Is time long or is it wide?
And the answers? Sometimes the answers
just come in the mail. And one day you get that letter
you've been waiting for forever. And everything it says
is true. And then in the last line it says:
Burn this. We're in record.
And what I really want to know is: Are things getting better
or are they getting worse? Can we start all over again?
Stop. Pause. We're in record. Good morning. Good night.
Now I in you without a body move.
And in our hearts we fly. Standby.
Good morning. Good night.