Heads We're Dancing

[mcb@ncis.tis.llnl.gov (Michael C. Berch)]

[Michael Mendelson <mendel@cs.uiuc.edu>:]
> [...]
> The only (minor) complaint I have is with Heads We're Dancing, which,
> despite having the best title of any song on the album, would be better
> off not referring to Hitler.  Kate says in NME that she'll be angry if
> anyone is offended by this song, but this unfortunately reflects Kate's
> lack of full understanding of the profundity of the Holocaust and said
> genocidists crucial role therein.  Hitler's crimes against society are
> so heinous, that even a cautious reference tends to trivialize these
> acts.  I, and many to whom I am close, feel strongly that allusion to
> Hitler in any light (e.g. his human side, attractiveness in the midst
> of "devil," etc.), however fleeting and cautious, must simply be
> avoided no matter the temptation.

I would like to express disagreement with the above, though being of
eastern European Jewish descent I certainly understand the
sentiment.  Any mention of Hitler outside that varies from the
official line is condemned, even explorations of collateral issues
like what sort of actual human person Hitler was, or his relationship
to issues other than the Holocaust or WWII.   But one of the things
that makes an artist great is willingness -- and ability -- to break
the rules.  In "Heads", Kate breaks all the rules, and I think that is
one of the things that makes her and her music great.

Though I had the lyrics to "Heads" for several days, I thought I'd
wait until I had heard it to comment.  (I planned to go in to Berkeley
to buy the TSW CD on Tuesday evening, but was interrupted by the 
earthquake and didn't make it until last night.)  The song itself is
one of the strongest on the album, IMHO; "Heads" strongly reminds me
musically of "Experiment IV", and I think there are some thematic
connections as well.  After several listen-throughs, with the lyrics
in front of me, my feeling is that "Heads" is less about Hitler and
the Holocaust than it is about the seductiveness of all things evil,
and how evil is so often clothed in attractiveness and temptation, 
how people sometimes refuse to believe that something is evil even
when confronted with the truth ("But it couldn't be you/It couldn't be
you/It's a picture of Hitler").  A powerful song, and already one of my 
favorites of the whole album.

--
Michael C. Berch  
mcb@tis.llnl.gov / uunet!tis.llnl.gov!mcb