Why a mule?

[jean anne kirwin <jkirwin@s850.mwc.edu>]

Hey guys - I haven't been keeping up too much lately, but something
caught my eye that I just HAVE to address...

"The Dreaming" (yeah, I know, it's been belabored to death already)
My favorite song on this CD is "Get Out of My House", and lately
I've been listening to it REALLY LOUD (for various reasons).
The 'mule' thing at the end...  well, for those of you who find
it hard to understand why 1.) first she turns herself into a bird 
(so she can fly away from him and everything associated with him)

"I will not let you in
 Don't you bring back the reveries
 I turn into a bird
 Carry further than the word is heard"

and mostly 2.) she turns herself into a mule...  

"I will not let you in
 I face towards the wind
 I change into the mule"
 
Why a mule, you ask?  
What else has she become?  Stubborn, and in a sense, an ass.  In 
the end, this is what they BOTH become, he-hawing at each other.
She expresses this stubborness in so many ways throughout the 
song  Locking the house up (which we know is really herself),
declaring that she will not let him in, slamming the door.....
But deep down inside she doesn't really seem to want this, she's
only doing it for survival. 

"This house if full of my mess
 This house if full of mistakes
 This house if full of madness
 This house if full of, full of, full of FIGHT!"

But her 'concierge states:

"Won't letcha in for love or money"

She references love here.... implying the feeling that she is
really struggling with inside of her 'house'.  She's convinced
herself that she can 'clean it all up', wash it all away.  
Her concierge and her keeper (both parts of herself) are going
to protect her and help clean up her mess.
But she's fooling herself.  She loves him and she wants him
back.  So continues her internal struggle with fate. 
 
Because her actions contradict her true feelings,
she has turned herself into nothing more than a
stubborn ass.  This is the best culmination of this song and
the underlying message just wouldn't be clear without it!

- Jean