look at it, leonard - one last time

[Geoffrey]

in one of leonard's songs he sings "now you never even show it to me, do ya!" what did she stop letting him look at, and why?

[tomsakic]

Well, isn't it obvious, to "what's going on bellow".

[Geoffrey]

Well, isn't it obvious, to "what's going on below".

Hello Tom. Yes, I know the text:

"There was a time you'd let me know
what was going on below
but now you don't even show
it to me, do you!"

But below what, and is "it" so dirty that it cannot be named?

[david birkett]

The darker, deeper, more challenging labyrinths of one's psyche.

[seadove]

Shit I woukdn't think of this one.

[Mabeanie1]

Geoffrey

Are you making mischief again?

I must admit though, I'd never really thought about it till I heard a group of women sniggering at one of the Halifax shows!

Wendy

[Geoffrey]

Mabeanie1 wrote:
>Are you making mischief again? I must admit though, I'd never really thought about it till I heard a group of women sniggering at one of the Halifax shows!

all i am asking for is a definition of "it", and why he wants to look at it again. does he want confirmation that it is still there, is he curious as to whether or not it has changed appearance - and why won't she even just show it to him again if staring at it means so damned much to him?

[Cate]

look at it, leonard - one last time

ah gesh Geoffrey - please put it away - nobody wants to look at it as truly impressive as I'm sure it is.

~ ~ ~
the next lines are of course

'But remember when I moved in you,
And the Holy Ghost was moving too,
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah'

so my feeling is the 'it' is something that goes beyond mere physical anatomy - perhaps a symbolic entrance.

I really liked Davids response - that's good. I think that will now merge into what I I'm hearing in that song.

[Geoffrey]

Cate wrote:
>the next lines are of course
>
>'But remember when I moved in you . . .'

if the truth were know, cate, he probably recalls moving out as well - both in and out movements - wouldn't you say? but why is he now complaining about not being allowed to even see it any more? what good could possibly come of it even if she let his eyeballs stare straight at it? what wrong did he do to cause her to ban him from even looking at it?

[Cate]

Why would you assume a wrong has been done - perhaps everything was very right but perhaps that moment in time has finished. What good comes from trying to recreate something - if new moments are to come they will come, if a time has finished then saviour it for what it is - be it a memory that has become part of you or a secret place/time that you re-visit in your mind when night is just to damn long.

or perhaps she's shy and doesn't like being stared at... or perhaps he keeps insists on showing his 'it' and 'it's' just not as impressive as he would like to believe. Of course with the later, it would have to be assumed that the narrator of the lyrics was not the same as the writer of the lyrics.

[imaginary friend]

Meh - they just drifted apart. She doesn't feel close to him the way she used to, doesn't feel comfortable (any more) with letting him see the part of her body that is symbolic of the innermost part of her. Who knows why they drifted apart – maybe she did wrong, maybe he did, maybe both. Regardless, the song flies in the face of all that went wrong, and still celebrates our humanity and resilience.

Cate,
John Irving comes to mind again, this time in The Hotel New Hampshire, when the narrator's sister had been raped as a young girl and she made up her mind that the rapist had only hurt the outside of her, that he could never get to or hurt the 'me within me...'

[Cate]

Junior Jones – “when somebody touches you, and you don’t want to be touched, that’s not really being touched. It’s not you they touch, when they touch you that way, they don’t really get you, you understand. You’ve still got the you inside of you. … “

I really do like John Irving. He shows no fear, he delves right in there to all the places most hidden and uncomfortable.

[Joney]

Geoffrey, you inspired me and I have heard that the "down below" is, in fact, her feet as evidenced by this unpublished verse

Everybody knows that she hates her corn
Everybody knows that he laughed at it
Everybody knows that this upset her
and she thought that he was being a git
Everybody knows he was indiscreet
when he ridiculed her funny feet
Now she never shows
anyone her toes

(Just a bit of fun - I hope nobody shoots me for this post)

[abby]

'It' is who she is when she encounters him authentically. She doesn't let him see her the same way as she used to because their relationship doesn't make a space for anymore relation of the I-Thou variety. He's remembering when he was able to meet her in the temple of the bedroom and it would've filled Martin Buber with joy to know that such a meeting was happening.

God, I feel like every time I write something on the forum I'm just saying the same thing again and again and again. That's ok, though, cause it's the only thing I have worth saying.

Tell me what it's like to feel the holy dove moving while you move in another.

[Geoffrey]

'It' is who she is when she encounters him authentically. She doesn't let him see her the same way as she used to because their relationship doesn't make a space for anymore relation of the I-Thou variety. He's remembering when he was able to meet her in the temple of the bedroom and it would've filled Martin Buber with joy to know that such a meeting was happening.

God, I feel like every time I write something on the forum I'm just saying the same thing again and again and again. That's ok, though, cause it's the only thing I have worth saying.

Tell me what it's like to feel the holy dove moving while you move in another.

That line has always perplexed me too, Abby. It seems that as he was moving inside of her he imagined an entity he calls 'Holy Dove' doing it at the same time. He apparently fantasises about some sort of kinky ménage à trois - before "shooting" at someone. All very Freudian. I find it hard to believe that a man associates a religious or spiritual occurance via the act of coition. The desire to copulate is instigated by lust, he instinctly obeys the commands of his libido to achieve physical satisfaction - as nature has ordained since the dawn of creation. A man may hoodwink a woman by talking passionately about love as if it's part of a celestial or holy experience, but he is after only one thing - to quench the primitive urge that will ensure the survival and continuation of his race. Sounds cynical, but the laws of the universe were not written by my hand.

Your posts are great, Abby.