<<Now, can anyone help me with Passion Play? I love the song, but it's
meaning is not clear to me.>>
Not an easy song to dissect or discuss, Ruth. It's been the subject of many
discussions prior, which is why nobody chimed in on your question. Also, it's
not clear, period...there are some obvious references; one being:
I am up a sycamore
Looking through the leaves
A sinner of some position
Who in the world can this heart healer be
This magical physician
Oh climb down climb down he says to me
>From the middle of unrest
They think is light is squandered
But he sees a stray in the wilderness
And I see how far I've wandered
Here she's referring to the story of Zaccheus the tax collector, a man who
repented when Jesus honored & loved him. The passage is found in Luke 19:
1-10. The two references are separated by a chorus and a bridge.
This one I would categorize as "semi-obvious":
Magdalene is trembling
Like a washing on a line
Trembling and gleaming
Never before was a man so kind
Never so redeeming
I would bet a paycheck that Joni's referring to Mary Magdalene, however she
doesn't mention "Mary", only "Magdalene", which basically refers to 'one from
from Magdala'. Anyway, Mary Magdalene would be the significant Magdalene and
the semi-obvious choice. There are actually very few references to her in the
Bible, and not many Gnostic texts either. Jesus cast out 7 demons from her,
and she was there for his crucifixion, but the thing that Joni was likely
referring to with the "trembling & gleaming" was the fact that Mary was the
first person to witness Jesus resurrected, and it was she who informed the
apostles of this fact. She is sometimes referred to as the "Apostle to the
Apostles" because of it. It is rumored that she was a prostitute, and/or that
she & Jesus had a marriage relationship, but I haven't seen anything that
supports that theory.
Anyway, what's interesting is her change in the 3-syllable word, from
"Ecstasy" (which follows the verse that I would suggest refers to
resurrection) to "Misery" which follows the verse about Zaccheus, to "Apathy"
to "Tragedy", which follows the passage that I would suggest refers to Jesus'
crucifixion:
Oh all around the marketplace
The buzzing of the flies
The buzzing and the stinging
Divinely barren
And wickedly wise
The killer nails are ringing
"Divinely Barren" referring to Mary (a virgin) and Elizabeth, the mother of
John the Baptist, who was well past conception age when she became pregnant.
"Wickedly wise", referring to the Pharisees & Pilate who did what they had to
do legally to have him crucified.
That pretty much just leaves the chorus:
Enter the multitudes
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Could refer to the "multitudes" that began to follow Jesus around, and what
scared the Pharisees into having him crucified...why Exxon Blue & radiation
rose? Maybe Joni's suggesting that we're slaves to Fossil fuels & nuclear
power. Maybe she just picked those as ways to describe the colors. There may
be a painting connection there.
Anyway, the song certainly leaves some things undefined, but I think there's
enough lyrical evidence to support the fact that Jesus is the central image
of the song.
I've never heard her talk about this song specifically. I don't think she's
ever performed it, except when she scatted her way through it in San Remo
Italy in 1988. She hadn't put any words to it at that point.
Hope some of that made sense...I rambled more than I meant to.
Bob
NP: Eminem, "Soldier"
