'the' in "The Man With..."

[<DICKSON%HARTFORD.BITNET@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>]

>  [ Sinead O'Connor says that her lyrics are deeply personal, and
>    she's not going to tell us what they mean.  I guess she's not
>    even going to tell us what they are.  -- |>oug ]

     Ah well.

> From: Douglas Weiman <WEIMAN@SRI-NIC.ARPA>

> I can't wait until we discuss the meaning behind the word "the" in
> the title of Man with the Child...

     C'mon, Doug, don't you see it?  It's very significant that Kate
used 'the' instead of 'a'.  She is, of course, referring to a specific
child, as opposed to some vague concept of 'child'.  Naturally, 'the'
child, without any other information, implies the Christ child.  Now,
any other writer might have capitolized it in the lyrics, i.e. "The
man with the Child in his eyes."  But Kate, being the clever woman she
is, doesn't want people to get everything handed to them on a silver
platter, and so she *didn't* capitolize it, her intention being to
confuse us in this matter.
     I hope this has cleared some things up.  Next time: the use of
the word 'of' in "In Search of Peter Pan".

                                                -Pickle.