More corrections for "Jug of Life" & musings

[katefans@chinet.chi.il.us (Chris n Vickie)]

Vickie here. Re the "John poem" differences...

If I might be so bold, I'd say both versions are slightly wrong.
IED's is the closest to being right. 

> the differences being "Run on the ocean" in the first and "One when
> the ocean" in the second,

Both are wrong, but IED is more right. (yes, I'll explain)

> "curl of a wave" vs. "curl of the wave",

IED's "the" is correct...

> "and the holy land of water" vs. "in the holy land of water",

IED's "in" is correct...

> "unfurls" vs. "unfurled" ...

IED "unfurled" is correct...

These are the things they both have wrong

Anon>        Time in her eyes is spawning past light
IED>         Time in her eyes is spawning past light,    
                                               ^^^^^
This should be "life"

Anon>        Run on the ocean and the woman unfurls
IED>         One when the ocean and the woman unfurled,
                 ^^^^

This should be: One "with" the ocean and the woman unfurled,

How do I know?
Well, before HoL came out I got a call from our friend John Reimers, who had
interviewed Kate and went on to become very good friends with John Carder
(herafter known as "Jay") They would talk for hours and hours about all kinds
of subjects, everything under the sun, except Kate. Very rarely did they
discuss her. However, Jay had told John that he had a poem featured on KBV.
John was very interested in Jay's writing and even had some manuscripts.
John asked for the "lyrics" of the poem and Jay told him. John transcribed
them, and the next time we talked he asked me if I wanted to hear it. Knowing
that it would be on the Kate album, I transcribed the words myself.

This is what I wrote down:

    Can't you see where memories are kept bright? 
    Tripping on the water like a laughing girl
    Time in her eyes is spawning past life
    One with the ocean and the woman unfurled 

    Holding all the love that waits for you here
    Catch us now for I am your future
    A kiss on the wind and we'll make the land

    Come over here to where When lingers
    Waiting in this empty world
    Waiting for Then, when the lifespray cools
    For Now does ride in on the curl of the wave
    And you will dance me in the sunlit pools

    We are of the going water and the gone
    We are of water in the holy land of water
    And all that's to come runs in
    With the thrust on the strand
 

Now, there is one difference between my version and IEDs that I tend
to think is correct on IEDs. 

Vickie>    And you will dance me in the sunlit pools
IED>       And you _will_ dance with me in the sunlit pools
                                ^^^^
The "with" was not in my original version and I never hear it being said,
but the was Jay's voice weirds out at that point makes me think there is
something being said there, probably a "with" because it makes most sense.

"Time in her eyes is spawning past life" makes much more sense than "light"
because, although light is a subject in other songs on the side, this 
particular song, Jig of *Life*, is concerned with past, present and future
life.

"One with the ocean and the woman unfurled" makes sense because she's
just spent the night on the ocean, she became a part of it's being. She's
also looked inside herself and found wonders and terrors she never knew
existed within. "the woman unfurled"

This is interesting to me because it tends to make an argument for the
fact that the woman dies. If she's "one" with the ocean, after her mind
has gone through such amazing turmoil, then she could have died just when
she was a more "whole" person. It's hard to explain, I never can seem to
find the right words to describe what I'm thinking here, but I've always
felt the woman died. Hints in other songs helped, but this line in particular
leads me to think that, and to be very sad about it, but accept it.

We know very little about the character, who she was and what she was like,
before the shipwreck, so it wouldn't help us to know her after she'd been
"rescued", we wouldn't know if she'd changed. Common sense would tell us 
how an experience like that would change a person, but we just don't know.
In my tiny mind, there's no reason for Kate to "save" the character, because
the 9thW, besides being a rousing sea tale, is about learning to appreciate
the things you have, family, friends, loved ones. It's a morality tale.
If the character lives, it's just a nice story. If the character dies, it's
a lesson to the readers (listeners) to do what? I don't know. Live their
lives to the fullest, say "I love you" more often, never travel by boat. :-)

Hmm, just some disjointed thoughts. 

What a wonderful piece The Ninth Wave is! I do wish Kate and Terry Gilliam
had gotten together and gone ahead with the film. Then again, nothing on
film is ever as vivid as a listener's own imagination, so maybe it's best.

Vickie (one of Vickei'n'Chris)
katefans@chinet.chi.il.us