Bob wrote: > Which you certainly wouldn't want to have for a mantra. Now, can we take > this another step along and look at "Edith & The Kingpin" & the "wires in > the wall humming some song, some mysterious song". Is there any > relationship between the song sung in "Electricity" and the wires in the > wall? The "mantra", as you suggest? Is she even referring to electrical > wires, or something different? Are they the same "wires in the wall" in > Man From Mars?
Since I've been guilted into de-lurking, I might as well just keep going! Geez, Bob, and I was trying to get the boxes for the cover CDs finished.... ;o) I thought it might be interesting to search for all of Joni's uses of "electricity" (or derivatives) in songs, and analyse them one by one. There are quite a few - some maybe a little far-fetched, but I've started, so I'll finish (of course, I may have missed a couple, too)! I'm not analysing the whole songs, just the phrases using those lines. Electricity "We once loved together, And we floodlit that time, Input output electricity, But the lines overloaded, And the sparks started flying" Here she seems to be talking about the connection she has with that person, and how powerful it is. Actually too powerful, since the "lines overloaded". Although the sparks are flying, they're not "good" sparks, and she's getting burned. Edith And The Kingpin "A plane in the rain is humming, the wires in the walls are humming, Some song some mysterious song" I see this as a similar reference to the first - she can feel that electricity starting to flow between Edith and the Kingpin, but it's not quite as evident, just a humming in the walls, that's gaining in power. You Dream Flat Tires "It came to pass, Like lightening striking from above, Electric flash, Just like lightening striking from above, Struck by precious love" A pretty unambiguous reference - she's in that first flush of love, where every look and glance is like being hit by a lightning bolt. Come In From The Cold "Is this just vulgar electricity, Is this the edifying fire" A more cynical reference perhaps - she's older and wiser, and acknowledging that the "spark" or lightning bolt may not mean true love (although sometimes it does!). Maybe it's the first sign of a possibility, hence the word "edifying". Before these lines, are the lines "And so with just a touch of our fingers, I could make our circuitry explode" which I think is another reference to the spark - but she's associating that spark with youthful enthusiasm, not the wisdom of age. Yvette In English "How did he wind up here again? Walking and talking, Touched and scared, Uninsulated wires left bare" Not so much a reference to electricity, but to the rawness he feels around Yvette - raw and exposed. Man From Mars "The silence is so full of sounds, You're in them all, I hear you in the water, And the wiring in the walls" I think this is very similar to the way she used these words in EATK, except in this case, although the sounds are there, she's imagining them, rather than them being real. Love Puts On A New Face "He said "I wish you were with me here, The leaves are electric, They burn on the river bank, Countless heatless flames" Again, a more literal use of electric, referring more to the colour of autumn leaves, like fire - orange, red, brown. Of course I'm sure to have missed a few references, and this is (the same old disclaimer) just my opinion. But you did ask! Hell ____________________________ "To have great poets, there must be great audiences too." - Walt Whitman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hell's Personal Photo Page: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~hell/main/personal.htm Visit the NBLs (Natural Born Losers) at: http://www.nbls.co.nz
