Joni's use of words truly shines in that song. So does her voice. I get such a kick out of listening to it - "Bow down to her royal travesty!" Makes me laugh every time.
--- James Leahy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > In Otis and Marlena, Otis empties out the trunk on > the steps of that > celebrated dump. What is that 'celebrated dump'? > > The lyrics printed in the LP sleeve and in the > Complete Poems and > Lyrics offer no help. 'Sleazing by the sea' is on a > separate line with > no punctuation before or after. It appears that Otis > is 'sleazing by the > sea' while unloading the car. > > However, the lyrics in the DJRD songbook offer more > guidance -- there is > a colon after 'dump', and 'Sleazing by the Sea' is > capitalized. Now it > appears that this is Joni's nickname for the hotel > that O&M are checking > into. > > What follows are several references to the hotel's > features: her royal > travesty; her ballrooms; her bedrooms; her golden > pools. The hotel is > made female and evokes images of a madame and a > whorehouse. > > The real name of the hotel is revealed later in the > song: Miami Royal, > thereby echoing the lyric 'royal travesty.' > > The average listener might not pick up all this on > first hearing the > song. It was only after I consulted the songbook and > discovered the > capitalization of Sleazing by the Sea that this all > gelled for me. Slow, > or what? > > What this brings up is: Does Joni have an editor? > Does she proof her > lyrics when they are printed? Does it really matter? > I've always loved > O&M, punctuation aside. ______________________________________________________________________ Web-hosting solutions for home and business! http://website.yahoo.ca
