Big Stripy Interpretation

[Jon Drukman <jdrukman@us.oracle.com>]

hiya kids.  albert philipsen and I have been debating the various
interpretations of big stripy lie in email.  i've decided to share my
lengthy opinion on the subject with y'all because i'm sure it's
accurate :)

basically, imagine Person A who is in totally in love with Emotionally
Damaged Person B.  Person B suffers from the usual glut of
dysfunctions: fear of committment, fear of intimacy, disbelief in the
permanence of love, etc.  Person B is likely to run away rather than
get involved with someone even if they find that someone really
wonderful.  It's too painful to open yourself up and risk that sort of
trauma again: "life is sad and so is love".

Person A is the narrator of Big Stripy Lie:

"big stripy lie moving like a wavy line coming up behind"

you're involved with someone, but always hanging in the distance is
this threat that the person involved will succumb to his/her fear of
committment and run away - the "big stripy lie" is something like "i
love you, we'll be together forever" - it's bullshit, but you don't
want to believe it, so this lie just hangs over the whole deal like a
dark shadow.

"all young gentle dreams drowning in life's grief/can you hang on to me?"

well, when you're young they tell you that love is beautiful and lasts
forever and solves all your problems.  you grow up to find that that's
a load of crap.  hence the young gentle dreams drowning.  the narrator
(presumably the less dysfunctional member of the relationship) is
saying "i see what's going on here, but can't you try to hang on to
me?  i'll keep you from drowning, really.  believe in me.  i know
you've been hurt before, but this time will be different."

"don't want to hurt you baby/i only want to help you/i could be good for you"

sung in a different voice - the voice of reason has failed, so Person
A, who is apparently very much in love with Dysfunctional Person B
just screams at them - "don't want to hurt you", etc.  you think you
can overcome years of trauma just by yelling loud enough.  it doesn't
work.

"your name is being called by sacred things that are not addressed or
listened to/sometimes they blow trumpets"

already gone over this - the sacred things are love, committment, etc.
Person B is just ignoring it, despite the fact that they are clamoring
for attention (blowing trumpets).

"only want to help you"

the screaming voice again, see above.

"oh my god it's a jungle in here/you've got wild animals loose in here"

Person A begins to realize that the psyche of Dysfunctional Person B
is a mess.  DP B might even recognize and admit this but still be
unable to deal.  Person A is shocked - can people *really* be so
messed up?

"want to help you/never hurt you/good for you"

the screaming voice again - notice how it's getting more desperate?
it's not even talking in complete sentences now, just fragments.

"hey all you little waves run away/mmm run away"

this one puzzles me - either Person A is telling the "little waves" to
run away (ie: make the "water" that is drowning DPB recede) or they
are learning to live with the fact that DPB will run away from again
because the possibility of committment is just too scary.  either way,
it still fits with the overall interpretation.

there you have it.  what do you think?

Jon Drukman                                         jdrukman%dlsun87@oracle.com
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This calls for a very special blend of psychology and extreme violence.