You can't win arguing with me about Gaffa

[Doug Alan <nessus@mit.edu>]

I'd like to take issue with those who are saying that Kate is a liar.
Okay, well, maybe she does often avoid or bend the truth when people
ask her what something in one of her songs means.  But this is NOT, I
repeat NOT, the case with respect to the word "Gaffa".  Kate said that
"Gaffa" is gaffer's tape (i.e. duct tape, a very sticky tape which is
used by gaffers (film electricians) and musicians to tape down wires
so that people don't trip over them), and indeed Gaffa *IS* gaffer's
tape.

Vickie claims that Kate is lying because gaffer's tape doesn't make
any sense with repsect to the song.  To speak like IED, this is a
perfect example of slip-shod thinking.  Gaffer's tape makes *perfect*
sense with respect to the song.

Long before I ever heard any explanation of the song, or for that
matter, even knew that anyone else in the world had ever even heard of
Kate Bush, it seemed to me that "Gaffa" must be something like
molasses -- a thick, viscous, sticky substance that someone could get
stuck in, and have to move in slow-mo.  If Kate had said that Gaffa is
a brand of molasses, the song would have made perfect sense.  That
Gaffa happens to be gaffer's tape makes even more sense -- not only is
it a sticky substance that you can get stuck in, but it is also a tool
that musicians use to help them create their music.  (By the way,
"gaffa" *is* a word used in Europe to refer to gaffer's tape.  People
in Europe have told me so.)

The song "Suspended in Gaffa" is about the quest for perfection, the
difficult struggle of trying to reaching your ideal.  What could make
*MORE* sense than the irony of Kate becoming trapped by the very tools
she uses to work for perfection!

|>oug

U is for US, in Gaffa suspended