kate buks

[Julian.West@mac.dartmouth.edu]

Jorn Barger is starting his annotation-project from the top. My comments:

> was there really a Berlin bar with a saxophonist?
Always thought it might have something to do with _Cabaret_. 
It's probably just a generic reference to interwar Berlin, though--
one of the things saxophones make her think about.

> I think om mani padme hum is something like "hail the jewel in the lotus"?
I haven't a clue. How would you find something like that out?
(Sure, I'm expecting you to say: "Look in a Sanskrit-English dictionary.
Duh.")

> "Beelzebub" is a name for the devil, also the hero of Gurjieff's hardest
book.
Also appears in Milton, I believe. I agree the Gurdjieff
reference is the appropriate one here.

> "lost on some horizon" refers tacitly to James Hilton
It certainly does.

> how unambiguously does this seem a song about masturbation?
Pretty ambiguously, I think. I don't have my copy of the
lyrics at work with me (disclaimer) but I'm not convinced.
Evening fantasies, yes. Physical masturbation, not necessarily. 
The two are usually connected for some, but not all, people.
The idea of guilt feelings is lurking in the background,
but these could as easily be connected with extensive 
mental fantasization. I think Occam's razor gets you here.

Julian