Re: Kashka

[Douglas MacGowan <MACGOWAN@NIC.DDN.MIL>]

> Also, this same friend then asked if "Kashka from Baghdad"
> was about a gay couple. This is apparently a popular
> theory. 
> Can any Love-Hound shed some light on these thoughts?


There are two ways to look at this one, and a friend and I discussed
this over and over a few years ago.

The line "lives in sin with another man" makes it appear that Kashka
is also a man, or else why the word "another" -- thereby making the
song about a gay couple.  Kate has written songs about gays before
(WOW and Eddie the Queen), so it is quite possible.  I have seen
people in print refer to this song as being about a gay couple.

My friend interpreted the song to be about a woman committing adultery
with "another man," or somehow illicitly involved with a man.  My
friend pointed out that while the phrase "living in sin" can be
connotated as a permanent arrangement, it also can be connotated that
the man is a "kept man," Kashka is paying his rent, etc.  The fact
that Kashka and her lover are only seen at night might suggest that
Kashka slips away to her lover's place after spending her days
elsewhere.  There's an earlier version of the song floating around
somewhere which might shed some light on this, but Kate might have
changed the focus as she revised the song.


Douglas MacGowan
MACGOWAN@NIC.DDN.MIL
-------