Dear Tchocolatl ~
That's a relief! I'd never want my romantic speculations to be taken as 'fact'! However, yes, you're right ~ Lightning
does know a lot
about Leonard and others of her choosing. She generally chimes in with
facts.
Actually, I believe
you were the one to use the
correct term, to
begin with
~ I'm not an 'astrology person,' but my understanding is the "Ascendant" is the technically-correct term for "Rising," but "Rising" is the more casual and easier to say [and think in terms of] term. In fact, it always made more sense to me when I thought I was Gemini Rising. Two fish swimming in opposite directions; plus the duality of twins. I remember hearing a long time ago that, with Pisces being the 12th sign, that it has tidbits from all the previous ones, as well. Don't know if I subscribe to that notion, however, it would add to the mix-up for sure. In other words, I've 'felt' the same 'issue' that you cite for yourself. However, with Taurus as my Rising, I can cite particulars that would accommodate that, so......I guess to be grateful would be good. " . . . They stick to what they have forever if they can" ~ I can attest to that, at least in one realm
. I agree with your favourite sentence ~ and you do seem to
live it
. "I am romantic. A lot. But not always, all the time. And not in the beginning." ~ That says it for me, too.....especially the last sentence."
Leonard
also wrote "Jazz Police" as a wink to his group's dubbing him that, with regard to his meticulous concern for how his songs came to life.
His computer and synthesizer music ~ "Poetically speaking it is a multi dimentional instrument : it does things that you can not do with a classic band of musicians, in regard to symbolism." This is true and I like what I hear him doing with it. I don't understand the clamour for 'professionals.' With "in regard to symbolism" ~ this comment is very interesting and had never occurred to me. Would you mind going into more detail with that?
This album seems to me, more than any other, a biography. Leonard is bringing us into his own life ~ real people he has known, where his deepest feelings reside, given to us as 'simply' as this complex person seems 'able.'
I laugh every time I see speculations begin about what he means by this or that. "Speaks for itself"? Yeah, right, Leonard
.
"Undertow" is a very interesting consideration for his and Suzanne's relationship. From the
little I know [let me emphasize
that!], I think that speculation has merit. It's clearly about looking
back at [the
back of] a woman [the drawing of the back of the naked woman looking in the mirror ~ another symbol for looking back ~ underscores that]. The "signs in the sky" make me wonder if not only does he refer to the impact of the moon on the tide and the undertow; and the stars, perhaps, being concealed by clouds or bad weather ~ but whether he may also mean astrology and how his and Suzanne's charts didn't line up for a good union of relationship. Or, the "sky," perhaps, symbolic of the expanse of his 'current' environment at the time.....where he should have been able to just look at what was 'in front of' ['above,' in this case; did he maybe even 'feel' words spoken to him from G~d on this issue, this woman?] him and known. The child in his arms, of course, makes me think of his other line about children yelling to their Daddy to come play with them in the water. A scene of him, Adam, and Lorca on the beach. So, the child in his arms may have been Adam, and the chill in his soul the feeling of being frozen in one's circumstances, and lacking the satisfaction and the warmth one would expect or hope for, and not knowing exactly what to do, where to go, whilst feeling he's being drug out to sea, [and even drowning] in the undertow ~ all as a result of going somewhere he somehow 'should have' known not to go. He's also feeling 'off balance' ~ as the undertow definitely makes a person
be ~ whilst he tries to hold a child safely above the danger. This is a situation where his footing should be solid and secure, yet he's been "ditched" [by her, leaving him 'alone,' holding this immense, huge responsibility of a child, whilst he's struggling just to stand firm himself]. The lack of satisfaction in the relationship itself would seem to bring the image of ". . . my heart the shape / Of a begging bowl." Lack of stability and huge uncertainty abound in this song. The song as a whole seems a bleak synopsis of and an ode to a failed relationship. Oh dear. One always takes such 'risks' when trying to 'explain' each of Leonard's lines
and then relate them to one another within the song
Oh well, I like doing it, anyway. At least I've conquered my fear of even trying.
~ Elizabeth
.