"Suspended in Gaffa" et al

[Doug Alan <nessus@athena.mit.edu>]

> [Brian Berns:] Excellent.  Thank you, IED.  Am I the only one who
> thinks "Night of the Swallow" is the best song on _TD_?  I mean,
> "Suspended in Gaffa" is OK, but it means nothing to me, as I have no
> idea what "Gaffa" is.

I don't think that all the debate over "Suspended in Gaffa" occurs
because most people think that it is the best song on the album, but
rather because it is one of the more difficult songs to figure out.
Personally, "Suspended in Gaffa" is far from my favorite song on the
album.  My favorite songs are "Night of the Swallow", "Get Out of My
House", "Leave it Open", and "Pull Out the Pin".  "Sat in Your Lap" is
a close runner up.

Kate says that "Gaffa" is gaffer's tape (i.e. duct tape).  It is a
very sticky, but removable tape that is used by musicians to tape down
all the myriad wires they have to deal with while recording or
performing.  The image that Kate seems to be invoking is that of
becoming mired in the very means that she needs to achieve her goals.

I don't think that this knowledge of the meaning of "Gaffa" is really
needed for an understanding of the song, however.  Before I knew that
Gaffa is gaffer's tape, I pictured it as being molasis.  This led to a
pretty similar interpretation.  The only thing I was lacking was the
neat implication that it is the very tools needed to achieve ones
goals that can be what is hindering you.

|>oug