> Maybe I'm reaching...could she be contrasting/comparing the
conflicts of the
> interpersonal relationship with the conflicts between "developed"
and
> "undeveloped" countries or societies?
This occurred to me too. Anything is possible.
Like how one culture exploits another
> in "Dreamland", so do people exploit one another in relationships.
After all,
> when she hits rock bottom, she refers to herself as an "Off Night
Backstreet"
> using a geographical reference...
Interesting possibilities you raise here, Bob. Never occurred to me
but it fits.
>
> <<Jericho is another reason why I think she's just met this person.
> She's contemplating a new love and trying to fix the right path in
her
> mind to making it a meaningful and positive relationship. She is
at
> the beginning of this romance & is promising to 'keep myself open
up
> to you.' That's what I think, anyway.>>
>
> I agree, and interesting when you think about how well it fits in
the mix,
> even though it first popped up on Miles of Aisles, a couple of years
before
> she would attack the "theme" of DJRD...also interesting that she
performed
> DJRD as a companion piece to Coyote on her HOSL tour in 1976, and
featured
> Talk to Me in that tour as well. To be able to then later present
them as
> part of a separate cohesive whole is testimony to her genius, I
think...
Isn't Dreamland on the HOSL demos? That would mean she had some
version of that one in the can as early as 1975. I always thought
Coyote & DJRD had a similar sound, especially the rhythm guitar part.
I think part of her genius is being able to collage things together so
that they form a cohesive whole. Little Green was also written
sometime before the rest of Blue but it works beautifully on that
chronicle of the lady's dark night of the soul. Maybe she writes a
group of songs & when she's putting a record together she hits a spot
where a light bulb goes on in her head and she says to herself 'Wow!
Jericho would fit perfectly in here! I can redo it with a beautifully
lush guitar and put Jaco underneath it, polish it up & it's perfect!'
She always seems to have unrecorded or unreleased stuff up her sleeve.
>
> << I think Paprika Plains eventually ties in with the title track.
She's
> talking about the indigenous people of North & South America. >>
>
> Which is her heritage as well as she says she has that blood in
her...so
> maybe on one level Paprika examines her being drawn back to her
roots in a
> more "third world" setting while eventually returning to the guy in
the
> "Cotton Club"...
Any thoughts on the lyrics that she doesn't sing? There's a lot of
stuff just in that bit of poetry. More Native American issues,
environmental issues & an apolcalyptic vision, etc.
>
> Geez, it IS tough to try and get your arms around this entire
masterwork! But
> one's thing for sure, I like it a helluva lot more than talking
about
> laundry! ;~)
Brother, you said it!
Mark in Seattle
