Re: Suspended In Gaffa

[bsbbs!nrc@bluemoon.rn.com (N. Richard Caldwell)]

In article <m0kS1vg-00025nC@chinet.chi.il.us>, katefans@chinet.chi.il.us (Chr

> Chris here,
> 
>    Ok, here goes...
> 
...
>    First off - I have used the stuff as a sound-man for 1.7 decades, toured
> around America, worked with engineers from other countries and have
> heard it refered to as "Duck" tape, "Rock'n'Roll" tape, "Gaffer's" tape
> or by it's proper name Duct Tape, but _never_ "gaffa" tape.

It's also called racer's tape, 200 mile per hour tape and for all we
know a hundred other things.   European Love-Hounds have in the past
confirmed the use of "gaffa" to mean duct tape.  The fact that you've
never heard the usage means nothing.

> There are distractions from her artistic goals:
> 
>      "I try to get nearer, but as it gets clearer
>       There's something appears in the way."

You're removing the context here.  The verse continues "It's a plank
in me eye/with a camel who's trying to get through it".  She is frustrated
in her quest for perfection by her own faults.  You identify the "plank"
as such later on but you choose to ignore it here.

> fear of revealing too much of her self:
> 
>      "I won't open boxes that I am told not too,
>       I'm not a Pandora"

What has this got to do with revealing herself?  This seems a clear
reference to Pandora's box.  This sounds to me like a fear of dire
consequences if she should do something she's been told she shouldn't.
Making an album like _The Dreaming_, for example.

> and fear of failing artistically:
> 
>      "and we're only bluffing,
>       we're not ones for busting through walls"

Or perhaps fear that she's not achieving her success in the "right
way". 

>    But fourth and principally, I think that "gaffa" is a _pluralization_
> of the word "gaffe" in the most time-honored tradition of the expansion
> of the English language. One gaffe, many gaffa.

I'd say that this is a good deal more spurious that the duct tape meaning
that you've already rejected.  In any case you haven't really supported
this meaning with any valid examples that support this meaning over
Kate's.

>    The song is about wanting knowledge and wisdom in much the same way as
> _Sat in Your Lap_ and I think of the two as companion pieces.

Agreed, Kate has said so herself.

>   In _Suspended In Gaffa_ she is being held back by her emotions; "..I don't
> know why I'm crying"; religious upbringing; "..I caught a glimpse of a god";
> personal fears; "..mother, where are the angels? I'm scared of the changes."
> and a paradoxical fear of success.

The glimpse of God is not one of the obsticles in this case, it is
a central idea of the song.  God represents the goal, the perfection.
Evidently in Roman Catholic belief you are given a just glimpse of God 
when you die.  But then you know that you will not be able to get
back to that perfection until you have completed your penance in purgatory.
The general idea is the feeling of one's goals being just out of reach
but not wanting to suffer the effort needed to reach it and be worthy
of it.

>    "Why dost thou notice the mote in thine brother's eye, yet notice not
> the beam [plank] in thine own"
> 
>    and the old 'fave...
> 
>    "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for
> a rich man [or woman] to enter the Kingdom of heaven"
> 
>    ...she is afraid of noticing others faults and missing her own, and
> the spiritual cost of success.

The latter reference actually has more to do with avoiding distractions
while seeking your goal in the right way.  The idea is that the rich find
it harder to serve God properly because of the distraction of their
wealth.
 
>    To put it bluntly, the song makes little or no sense if you only consider
> Kate's explanation. The "well, that's what _Kate_ said" view doesn't count
> for much in my book, given the errors in the published lyrics in _The
> Complete Kate_. Discussion cheerfully encouraged.

It makes complete sense if you grasp the metaphor.   Kate has given fairly 
explicit explanations of the meaning of _Suspended in Gaffa_ completely 
aside from the meaning of "gaffa" itself.  The accepted meaning of
gaffa fits that explanation, your proprosal does not.

| When I wrote this track the words came at the same time, and this
| is one of the few songs where the lyrics were complete at such an
| early stage. The idea of the song is that of being given a glimpse
| of "God" -- something that we dearly want -- but being told that
| unless we work for it, we will never see it again, and even then,
| we might not be worthy of it. Of course, everybody wants the
| reward without the toil, so people try to find a way out of the
| hard work, still hoping to claim the prize, but such is not
| the case. The choruses are meant to express the feeling of
| entering timelessness as you become ready for the experience, but
| only when you are ready.

The feeling of "timelessness" is the feeling of being trapped, stopped
cold just short of your goal.

| Suspended in Gaffa is trying to simulate being trapped in a kind of
| web: everything is in slow motion, and the person feels tied up.  they
| can't move.  Defeat.

It is probably no coincidence that she finds herself trapped in one
of the very tools of her trade.  Suggesting that this makes no sense
is like suggesting that it makes no sense for her feet to turn into
mud or for everything to go into slow motion.  


"Don't drive too slowly."         Richard Caldwell
                                  The Big Sky BBS (+1 614 864 1198)
                                  {n8emr|nstar}!bluemoon!bsbbs!nrc
                                  nrc@bsbbs.UUCP