Bag o' Red Shoes

[nrc@bsbbs.columbus.oh.us (N. Richard Caldwell)]

mas@csa.bu.edu (Mark A. Semich) asks:
> In article <c6oL0B1w165w@bsbbs.columbus.oh.us> nrc@bsbbs.columbus.oh.us (N. Richard Caldwell) writes:
> >We've heard it.  Yep, the whole darned thing.  The Red Shoes. 
> >What do we think?  Well read on if you don't mind spoilers...
> 
> OK, two questions:
> 
> 1 - How did you obtain access to the album?

Let's just say that squid were involved.  More specifically, a lot of the 
squid in the Columbia wing of the big Sony aquarium have demos of
the album.  

> 2 - Now that Columbia, in its infinite wisdom, is postponing the
>     release of The Red Shoes until the end of January (even though the
>     album is *finished* - ARGH!), is EMI still releasing it in
>     October?  (ie, will we KT fanaTiKs still be able to get it?)

I haven't heard anything specific about a delay in the EMI version
so I assume that it's still on for October.  If that's the case the
delay in the Columbia version makes even less sense.   The reason
we've been hearing for the delay has been that the film isn't ready.
This just doesn't wash.  Most longform video releases don't come until
after the album release anyway and EMI doesn't seem to be waiting
for it.  And it's not like they're pushing this out a month or so,
they're pushing it out until late January, missing the Christmas season
completely.  Beyond that, Columbia is well aware of the Kate Bush
fan network and they know that they will lose those sales to EMI if
they push the release back and EMI doesn't.   

The only reason I can imagine that they'd take such drastic steps this 
late in the game is if they've run into legal problems, probably with 
Disney's rights to "The Red Shoes" movie.  Pushing the release out 
until January would give them time to change the title (probably to
"The Line, the Cross and the Curve") and change the packaging enough
to encourage the US fans to buy another copy.

Purely speculation, but it makes more sense than pushing it out because
the video isn't ready!

philbo@soda.berkeley.edu (Philip Gross (philbo) writes:
 
> That last one in the song Lily must be the archangel Uriel, also known
> as the angel of Death (Although I mean that in the nicest possible
> sense. The four Archangels all guard heaven from one of the four
> directions. 

That's it exactly, Gabriel, Rapheal, Micheal and Uriel...

> Sound like air/earth/fire/water? yep.  Sounds to me (based
> on the post) that KaTe is going pagan on us again. At least in
> moderation.

That may be, but it might just as easily be a reference to the 
Christian archangels.  The spoken part at the beginning sounds pretty 
monotheistic to me but it may be some aspect of paganism I'm not familier
with or it may be Kate's own custom blend of the two.

briarpatch!billy@uunet.uu.net (Billy Green) writes:
> 
> danced by the unkown ballerina.  The story of the ballet is this: a young 
> girl wants more than anything to dance.  A demonic shoemaker seduces her 
> into trying on a pair of enchanted red shoes, and she begins to dance.  She 
> can't stop.  She dances around the world, through beauty and terror.  In the 
> end, she comes back home, where she dies of exhaustion, and the shoemaker 
> puts the red shoes back on display for someone else to buy--a parallel of 
> the film's story.  

As you might expect, this is pretty much the story told by the song, "The
Red Shoes."  My impression of the song is that the dancer is seduced
into taking the shoes from another dancer.  The neophyte has always
wanted to dance like her and she's told that if she'll just take the
shoes, she'll be able too.  At least that's my impression, I haven't
made out all the lyrics yet.  


"Don't drive too slowly."         Richard Caldwell
                                  The Big Sky BBS (+1 614 864 1198)
                                  nrc@bsbbs.Columbus.OH.US