All of this talk about the Jungle Line has forced me out of lurk mode! Oddly enough, when I first heard HOSL, The Jungle Line was the only song on the album that I even liked - the rest of the album left me cold! In fact, it wasn't until about a year after Hejira came out (which I loved instantly), that my room mate at the time forced me to go back to HOSL. I really resisted this album, even the second time around. Fortunately my room mate was extremely stubborn, and after numerous (forced) listenings, the fog finally lifted, and I saw the light. From what I remember it was like someone through a switch, and all of sudden I got it. Kind of like some weird mathematical theory that you just can't understand, and then bam! it's as clear as day. And once you understand it, you can't quite figure out why you didn't get it the first time. This same sort of thing happens to me with Joni's lyrics quite a bit. I can think of examples where I didn't understand a particular lyric for years, and then all of a sudden it clicks, and then it seems so obvious, that I'm almost embarassed I didn't understand it all along. An example of this would be near the ending of Refuge of the Roads. "In a highway service station Over the month of June Was a photograph of the earth Taken coming back from the moon" It took me years, and hundreds (if not thousands!) of listenings to realize she was talking about a calendar, and yet now when I read the lyrics, it couldn't be more obvious. Today, I would rank HOSL right up there with the best of Joni's work. And I still love The Jungle Line - those drums are incredible. I make a complete fool of myself everytime that song comes on - it brings out the head banger in me! However, it is also possible to never warm up to a song, and I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with that either. For example, I don't care how many times I listen to it, I don't think I will ever enjoy Underneath the Streetlight (or several other songs on WTRF for that matter). I just look at it as part of Joni's diversity, and just because I don't relate to it, doesn't mean there's something wrong with the song or me! Anyway, I'm babbling again. Time to crawl back into lurk mode. Jack Merkel
