Re: Kate questions

[chrisw@fciad2.bsd.uchicago.edu (chris williams)]

In article <2A640ACE9D5F80E775@cs.umass.EDU> Bob Kovitz writes:
>I just listened to the box set from start to finish, and came up with a
>group of questions:
>
>1. What does "the Goose Moon" refer to (in L'Amour Looks Something Like You)

   This is a guess, but I'd guess it's an orange-ish harvest moon, as
would be in the shy when the geese fly south.

>2. What is "The Sweeny" (`He'll never make the Sweeny' in "Wow")

   Presumably a higher class theatre than the one he's currently
playing.

>3. Who is "Georgie" (`Well take care of yourself, and remember Georgie'; 
>                      Don't Put Your Foot on the Heartbrake)

   Who's Emma? 

>4. What is the expression "I'll just put in the boot"? 
>   (from the context, I guess it means to ignore the feeling? 
>    Is this a British expression?  It's at the end of "Fullhouse")

   Two meanings - one about quitting, commiting suicide, and the other
a punning reference to the "boot" of the car (what we Yanks call a
trunk) in keeping with the rest of the song.

>5. Why does kissing the woman in the warm room feel "like kicking a
>   habit" (In the Warm Room)

   Why not? It's as good metaphor as any other in a song about someone
who's thighs are "as soft as marshmallows."

>6. What is meant by a "brechtian treatment" (a comment by Paddy Bush
>   describing the development of "Coffee Homeground")

   The most popular example is "The Ballad of Mack The Knife" from
Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weill's "The Three Penny Opera."

>7. What does "amat" mean? (`Delius amat' in "Delius")
>    Who is `Fenby'? (Delius)
>    Any comments about "Delius"?  I assume he is a 
>    classical composer?

    The British composer Fredrick Delius was incapacited, and Eric
Fenby was hired to transcribe the music that Delius could no longer
play or write. After a very rocky start, they achived an amazing
rapport. Kate appeared on the Russell Harty Show with cellest Julian
Lloyd Webber and Eric Fenby to discuss Delius. Kate's video to the song
was shown for the only time, and clips from Ken Russell's biographical
film of Delius were played. The implication was that Kate was inspired
by the film, made in 1956 (?).
 
>8. Who are "Minnie and Moony" (Blow Away)
>   Who is "Bolan"
>   [I assume they are dead rock and roll artists.  Perhaps Minnie
>    refers to Minnie Ripperton?]

   Minnie Ripperton, Keith Moon, and Marc Bolan.

>9. What is "baccy" (`The stink of cologne and baccy, and all their Yankee hash')
>                    (Pull Out the Pin)

   Tabacco.

>10. What is the "Orch 5" sound? (mentioned in reference to the Dreaming album)
>    My guess is that it is some kind of orchestral sound produced on the
>    Fairlight.

   Yep. A factory-supplied orchestra "sting" lifted from Stravinsky's
"Firebird." Kate was the first to use it on a record, but for a while
there it seemed that *every* pop tune had it, to Kate's dismay. This
is discussed in the "Keyboard" interview.

>11. What does Kate mean by saying:
>      "He's gonna wangle
>       a way to get out of it
>       She's an excuse
>       and a witness who'll talk when he's called"
>
>      "There's a plank in my eye
>       With a camel who's trying to get through it"
>    (Suspended in Gaffa)                          

   God knows. The last bit is a play on two Bible phrases. I cannot
quote the exact words but (from memory)
 
   "How canst thou see the mote in thine brother's eye, and not the
beam in thine own."

   "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than
for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven."

   ...So she seems to be trying to deal with her own faults and the
undesireable side effects of success. But who knows. This one song,
more than any other, is *the* proverbial can of worms.

>12. Any guesses as to what Kate is saying at 1:40 in "Leave it Open"?

   Do you mean "Harm in us but power to arm" or the "He-augh's" or
"We let the weirdness in."?
 
>13. What does Kate say at 4:13 in "Cloudbusting" ("I'm ?? ?? ?? Daddy")?

   "I'm Cloudbusting Daddy."


                          Chris Williams of
                             Chris'n'Vickie of Chicago
                               chrisw@fciad2.bsd.uchicago.edu (his)
                                 vickie@njin.rutgers.edu      (hers)
                                   katefans@chinet.chinet.com (ours)