the red shoes

[woj@remus.rutgers.edu (the horizon you run to)]

>From wisner@uunet.uu.net Wed Nov 10 13:07:26 1993
>Date: Tue, 9 Nov 93 17:35:44 PST
>From: steve.b@TQS.COM (Steve Berlin)
>Subject: TRS+7 days
>
>Hello, Earth,
>
>Well, I've had The Red Shoes for a week now, and after a dozen or so listens
>and a week of reading reviews, rants & raves on Lovehounds, here are some
>desperately needed comments:
>
>o  This is the FIRST Kate album since Never For Ever that you can instantly
>   say "Well, this one sure is better than the last one!"  OK, so The
>   Dreaming is better than N4E, but (and I'm addressing fellow old-timers
>   here), it took you awhile to figure that out, didn't it?
>
>o  Even though The Red Shoes is better than The Sensual World, TSW is still
>   a better album to make love to.
>
>o  Some folks are whining that Kate's no good anymore 'cause it's not as
>   good as The Dreaming or Hounds of Love.  I'ld like to see YOU make a
>   couple of albums as good as good TD and HOL hen try to make something
>   even better!  For that matter, I'ld like to see you try to make a couple
>   of albums as good as TD or HoL!
>
>o  Saying "Kate sucks" 'cause TSW and TRS aren't as good as TD and HOL is
>   like saying The Beatles suck 'cause Magical Mystery Tour and Let it Be
>   aren't as good as Sgt. Pepper or The White Album.
>
>o  With Kate's legacy, she could put out a dozen albums of note-for-note
>   covers of Menudo songs and STILL be the greatest musical genius of
>   all time.
>
>o  As for you who say "Sure, I love 'Hounds of Love', that doesn't mean
>   I have to love 'The Red Shoes'."  True, but if you want to hear HoL,
>   then play it!  The will never be another HoL;  TRS (and for that matter,
>   TSW) are great albums in their own right!  If you want HoL Part II,
>   you will be sadly dissapointed.  If you want a disc full of great music,
>   TRS is a must-have.
>
>Now, comments on heavily-discussed songs (and some changes of my previous
>review):
>
>o  I previously graded the title cut a "B" 'cause I didn't know where
>   it was going, and when I knew I thought it took too long to get there.
>   Now that I know the path, I think it's a great song.  Another 'A' for
>   Kate!
>
>o  "Why Should I Love You?" - I have to admit, this song really bites.
>   For the first time on any Kate album, I routinely hit skip (if listening
>   at home) or fast forward (if listening at work).  Old grade: C-
>   New Grade:  D-  Easily Kate's worst non-remix song.  And it's not Prince's
>   fault, either (if he was THAT much of an influence, it would have been
>   called "Why Should I Love U?")  I thought the clever wordplay at the
>   end could save it, but noooo....
>
>o  Lily-  This is just me, but I have to disagree with the majority here;
>   this song just doesn't do it for me.  Yeah, musically it's great
>   but lyrically, it's a turn-off.  The only spiritual songs I like are
>   "Dear God" by XTC and "Christianity is Stupid" by Negativland.
>
>o  Constellation of The Heart has been getting a lot of bashing here;  I
>   think it's a fun song, and I love the Dialog part.  It kinda reminds
>   me of Waking the Witch, actually.  (Waking the Witch Lite?)
>
>o  Song of Solomon has been also getting bad press here, a large part for
>   THAT line.  All you sensitive Katefolk out there can't take being blunt.
>   Me?  I don't think it's vulgar ENOUGH!  I think Kate should just YELL
>   OUT the point of the whole song, and scream "Fuck me NOW!"
>
>o  I'm starting to not dislike Eat the Music.
>
>- Stev0, President of the Sensual World Appreciation Society and Vice 
>  President of the Red Shoe Lovers of America
>
>"Take the S of Success
> the T of the toes
> the E of my eye
> the V of velvet
> the 0 of Oh my God, who kidnapped Kate and WROTE this trash?"
>
>
>
>From wisner@uunet.uu.net Wed Nov 10 13:07:26 1993
>Date: Tue, 9 Nov 93 17:58:44 PST
>Subject: Re: the red shoes again
>From: jdrukman%dlsun87@us.oracle.com (Jon Drukman)
>
>larry:
>>>Second point: "Song of Solomon" is totally *EXCELLENT*.  
>
>woj:
>>perhaps the most impressive thing about this song is the sampled harp
>>sound. i was convinced that they had hired andreas wollenweider (or 
>>some such harpist) to play on that track the first time i heard it.
>>perhaps this ties in with your comments about the engineering too: the
>>crystalline sample is gorgeous.
>
>guess i'm jaded, having a totally way bitchin' ultra rad keyboard
>(wavestation) in my studio that can run rings around this harp sound.
>i instantly pegged it as keyboard.  the voicings give it away, for one
>thing - none of those little arpeggios that harpists are well known
>for.
>
>does anyone think that "song of solomon" is nothing but a rehash of
>"between a man and a woman" and "never be mine"?  (two of my least
>fave TSW tracks)...  i definitely hear it - the beginning where she
>sings the title a few times is the exact same melody as BaMaaW...
>
>>>Big Stripey Lie (C)
>>>	NK's violin lends a feel reminiscent of Anna Palm "Arriving and
>>>	Caught Up".  Commendably strange, but that's not enough -- it
>>>	doesn't gel.  
>
>>there's lots of little bits here and there that show an attention to detail,
>>but as you say, it doesn't gel. i still think it sounds like a splattered
>>canvas rather than a completed work, despite all the tiny bits that are
>>buried in the mix (like the wave sounds near the end).
>
>you two heretics should be shot and burned.  splattered canvas my
>butt!  i'll splatter a canvas with your entrails and then i'll smear
>your blood on my face and do a nifty little interpretive war dance in
>which i explain through the language of movement how totally way rad
>bitchin' big stripy lie really is.
>
>(actually i am getting kinda sick of it now but it's no splattered canvas.)
>
>another engineering comment:  much as i love "lily", the drum sounds
>are godawful!!  sound like they were broadcast into a cheap AM radio
>which was then recorded via a radio shack condenser mic.  with a
>fairlight and an akai s1000 you'd think she could've got some BOTTOM
>END in there.
>
>one last global comment (for now): john giblin's bass playing is
>excellent, as always.  give the guy some props!
>
>--
>Jon Drukman                                         jdrukman%dlsun87@oracle.com
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>This calls for a very special blend of psychology and extreme violence.
>
>
>From wisner@uunet.uu.net Wed Nov 10 13:07:26 1993
>From: Markku Kolkka <mk59200@kaarne.cs.tut.FI>
>Subject: Re: TRS gets better/how to enjoyETM
>Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 12:33:58 GMT
>
>>>>>> "Alex" == Alex Gibbs <arg@kilimanjaro.opt-sci.arizona.EDU> writes:
>    > Also, something about dissecting it
>    > into pieces and actually grading the pieces sort of bugs me.  Am
>    > I alone in this?
>
>No, you're not! I feel that dissecting and analyzing the songs is
>useless. It's the emotional reaction that attracts me to KaTe's music,
>not the technical quality of recordings or things like that.
>
>Remember: only dead creatures can be dissected. Music must be alive to
>be enjoyed.
>
>    > However, I do find the discussions about what Kate is referring
>    > to and background information interesting, and perhaps some of
>    > the various interpretations too.
>
>I agree with that as well.
>
>--
>	Markku Kolkka
>	mk59200@cs.tut.fi
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>From wisner@uunet.uu.net Wed Nov 10 13:07:26 1993
>Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 09:48:21 PST
>From: Kevin Gurney <keving@axil.COM>
>Subject: Constellation of the Heart
>
>Perhaps I've missed it, but I haven't seen anyone comment on the presence of
>the phrase "the big sky" in this song, and the fact that it's rythmically
>identical to the same words as sung in the song "The Big Sky" on the "Hounds
>of Love" album.  
>
>For those who haven't heard it yet, the lines I'm refering to are:
>
> "We take all the telescopes 
>  and turn(ed?) them inside out, 
>  and we point them away from the big sky."  
>
>(from memory - apologies for tiny mistakes)
>
>I wonder if Kate is being self-reflexive and saying that she has turned
>her own view away from the ideas expressed in the song "The Big Sky" and is
>instead looking more inward, to her heart.
>
>Also, isn't there a telescope in the video for "The Big Sky"?
>
>Anyone agree with the conjecture?  Disagree?  Couldn't care less? :)
>
>
>From wisner@uunet.uu.net Wed Nov 10 13:07:26 1993
>Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 15:19:35 -0600
>From: tom@nebula.tbe.com (Tom McCown)
>Subject: The Red Shoes etc.
>Cc: tom@nebula.tbe.com
>
>
>	I finally have it (a deplorable lack of capital prevented me from
>acquiring it sooner) and have listened to it twice.  I think it's a fine
>album (with a few minor flaws) that I am looking for to hearing many more
>times.  It's not "Hounds Of Love" or "The Dreaming", but I don't need
>another HoL or TD.  That was then, this is now.  I am only concerned with
>where Kate is currently and what she deems worth releasing under her name.
>That's all.  She grows, she changes, as do I, and I've always felt a kinship
>with her (maybe because we are almost the same age) that continues with this
>album.  The only time she will ever disappoint me is if she should ever do
>something that wasn't true to her own artistic vision.  I trust her never
>to do that (why should she start now?)  I've been a fan since the 1st album,
>they all have strengths and weaknesses, but they are all Kate and I love
>them dearly.
>
>
>							-TOM-
>
>"I'm not going to kiss the past's ass anymore!"
>
>					-King Dauphin
>
>
>From wisner@uunet.uu.net Wed Nov 10 13:07:26 1993
>From: josh@phoenix.lehman.com (Josh Whitehouse)
>Subject: The Red Shoes YAR (Yet Another Review)
>Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 21:36:41 GMT
>
>
>Alot has been said of TRS as a whole and of each of the songs.
>I feel compelled to share some of my observations about the 
>album, and hopefully clear up some of the flak about "Kate sucks"
>or "this song sucks" and hopefully give the album and songs 
>a balanced place in the Kate universe.
>
>Firstly, like every Kate album, a single listen is not enough!  A dozen
>listens is not enough!  You have to FEEL the album, and that takes time!
>I had mixed feelings for the album at first, especially certain songs
>and where Kate was directing her music, but the underlying themes and
>musical groundwork is pulling together for me.  Certainly she has grown,
>and in doing so, made appreciating her album more work!
>
>General Observations about the production:
>
>More of an attempt to musically connect vocals and the instruments is done,
>especially vocal solos with guitar solos and use of the Trio as a vocal
>instrument rather than backup vocals.  A more "rock" flavor is introduced
>into the music, which makes it seem to me like Kate is trying to "blend"
>the earlier sound of the KB band with the newer works with modern and 
>classical folk instruments.  The results are a leaner sound again for Kate,
>with the studio wizardy shifted from affecting the later "denser" layered
>music to a subtler blending of instrument and vocal effects.  Again, I feel
>this reflects the growth of the artist focusing on refinement of style,
>rather than the up front, more apparent sound of an artist pushing a style
>breakthough (The Dreaming is the breakthough album, w/o question).
>
>Vocally, Kate has again matured.  Though her voice is rougher (smoking does that),
>and she no longer sings in that unholy key ( E, an octave above middle C, I think)
>her voice remains capable of an incredible range of style and emotion that 
>few have matched.  She has also matured in the same sense vocally as musically,
>that is the vocal dramatics are better blended into the song and not as
>apparent and in your face.
>
>All in all, I am glad for the album.  Artists that recycle the same sound over
>and over grow stale, and Kate is definitely NOT that.  Sometimes that may
>define art (growth, I mean), and lyrically, the songs have gotten more personal
>and intimate.
>
>
>Rubberband Girl-
>	Bouncy like the title.  Pretty much a pop song with some Kate touches.
>	Her muzzein like ululating vocals tie directly into the guitar solo. 
>	To me she is trying to link how they touch the same feelings in 
>	different cultures.  I find some definite Prince "Minneapolis rock"
>	touches in this song too (the keyboards when she does the "vocal stretch")
>	so I laugh when people like this song but poo-poo WSILO.
>
>And So Is Love-
>	Kate Sings the Blues?  Really, the song is Kate singing, and Eric Clapton
>	answering her on guitar.  She included her keyboard "flute like" sound
>	to add more of an mellower tone to the song, and the percussion moves
>	interestingly from channel to channel.  She sings with some real emotion
>	in this song but with more of a traditional blues style!
>
>Eat The Music-
>	This controversial number is hard to define.  It has to be taken as a whole,
>	and no focus placed on any piece.  First of all, it is not traditional Kate
>	(whatever the hell that means).  I think attention should be paid to the
>	recording mix of the instruments and the background vocals, and the attention
>	paid to the dynamics of the two.  I like the lyrics, and the atmosphere
>	projected by the song, but will say it can seem weak next to Kate songs
>	that are so more emotionally charged.  But I dislike people saying it sucks
>	because it doesn't carry the emotional punch of other songs.  Get a life,
>	fellas, not every song by Kate has to be a cathartic experience.
>
>Moments of Pleasure -
>	And listening to this is one!  I like when Kate hands the orchestration
>	to someone else (like This Womens Work) and focuses of vocally showing
>	what she's got under the bonnet (hood, for Americans)!  Her phrasing is
>	so exquisite and the soaring vocals make the lyrics even more powerful.
>	'Nuff said about this, Kate shows none can match her vocally, though that
>	is only a slice of This Womans Talent.
>
>Song of Solomon-
>	In a similar vein to Between a Man and a Woman.  Enough bullshit about
>	the bullshit in the lyrics, she writes what she wants.  I like the 
>	smooth, clean percussion, light keyboards, backup vocals that are like
>	strings, that gradually progress to the Trio joining while Kates voice
>	sounds more urgent, then the whole thing winds down smoothly again.  A
>	well crafted song, that like many of Kates breaks the traditional rules
>	of how a song should start stop and end.
>
>Lily-
>	What is going on at the beginning while Lily chants?  It works for me,
>	alien and going right to the core of me with those vague noises.  Some-
>	times, Kate can do things to sounds that scare me.  Hard, hitting, 
>	magical, primitively pagan, this song is a Kate strong point, something
>	no artist ever does.  Her vocals during the chorus are unbelievable,
>	with the her voice breaking into each note with a hard urgent squealing
>	quality (how did they engineer that?), and miscellaneous Kate shrieks popping
>	in at a low level on the far right channel.
>
>The Red Shoes-
>	This combined with Lily, constitute what I believe is the core of the album.
>	Almost a jig, this song has keyboards throwing whipping, vibrating sounds all
>	over the percussion, with Kate's vocals and the whistle layered over this.
>	Kate's recording wizardy is to produce a 3-D space that is remarkably vast
>	(listen to the birds fly away in The Dreaming) and this song really uses
>	that vast space to it's best ability.
>
>Top of the City-
>	This song is good, though somewhat troubling for me.  I found the chorus
>	repetitive, and the shift from the refrains to the chorus too abrupt.
>	But the backup vocals with the bass line, and the percussion is exquiste,
>	and the Kates vocals are HOT.  The siren noises in the background show
>	her attention to detail, and I understand what she wanted to do.  She
>	reversed a song taking the usually exciting and hook-laden chorus and
>	dimishing it, while pumping it up while she sang the refrains.  Interesting
>	thought to experiment with, and perhaps with some more refinement it could
>	become more interestingly powerful.
>
>Constellation of the Heart-
>	Clever lyrics!  "We take all the telescopes/And we turn them inside out/
>	And we point the away from the big sky".  A personal statement about
>	her work, perhaps?  This song, structually is the most straighforward
>	pop, but Kate peps it up with some emphatic vocalizations at then end.
>	The chorus is the more interesting part, with backup singers echoing
>	Kate, but the singers doing the refrain sound muddled.  The funk guitar
>	is an interesting touch.  Again, I find Kate playing with song structure,
>	by not taking the front seat on lyrics she is doing some new work and like
>	Top of the City, a more refined version of this style will be out and 
>	more impressive the the listening audience.
>
>Big Stripey Lie-
>	What a song!  First thing, the BALLS Kate has.  Here she has two of the 
>	world's more well known legends of the guitar, playing on her album, 
>	Eric Clapton, and Jeff Beck, and without any reservations debuts her 
>	first guitar solo right along both of them on her album!  It's a searing,
>	minimal Kate style, with a dirty guitar and bass, some heavy bass and 
>	strings, and murky, tight lyrics.  It has alot of power to me, and I 
>	almost don't like to listen to it.  But no question, it's a powerful song, 
>	(I think the most powerful) on the album, and quite a breakthrough for her 
>	in terms of style.  I can't describe what makes the song so brilliant
>	(perhaps just the open rawness), but it certainly is.  It is disturbing in
>	the way Get Out of My House is, without the dramatics.
>
>Why Should I Love You-
>	This song, again a flak magnet, does work on different levels then the 
>	obvious ones.  Prince is a musical genius in his own right (and
>	misunderstood as well), and Kate just doesn't do the Minneapolis sound,
>	she adds the Trio in a church choir style.  Like the difficult Rocketman,
>	where she made reggae with Kate styles an unusual blend, she does likewise
>	here.  Purists argue that this isn't Kate, but in reality only Kate has the
>	right to say what is and isn't her!  Technically, all of the elements of
>	the song, the Trio, the Prince keyboards and guitar, Kate and the backup
>	musicians blend flawlessly, while Kates vocals are technically challenged
>	by the tricky chorus (just try and sing it, I DARE you!).  I wonder about
>	those viewing her choice to be a versatile artist by incorporating 
>	contemporary conventional pop music as being negative.
>
>You're The One-
>	Again, Kate applies her profound knowledge of music to a conventional
>	song.  Of interest to me was again the emphasis of the vocals against
>	the guitar, most apparent here with the Trio and Jeff Beck (who can 
>	ever effectively blend two elements like this? Only KATE) as they
>	swirl in and out together, while Kate sings of the particular pain
>	of breaking up with someon you love.  Interestingly I notice the vocals
>	and guitars most here and in Rubberband Girl, the first and last songs
>	on the album.  Details like that are what Kate is.
>
>So, in closing, don't take the album at face value.  Kate has expanded beyond
>crafting songs, but now as a _musician_ is growing steadily.  I consider The
>Kick Inside and Lionheart as one chapter, and Never For Ever, The Dreaming, and
>Hounds of Love as another chapter.  The Sensual World opens a new one, with a 
>new focus and direction, and The Red Shoes a forward step from there.  I look
>forward already impatiently to see what Kate has learned from the process of
>these last two albums and where she will take them.  We are listening to one
>of the most important musical artists ever, and one hundred years from now maybe
>everyone will appreciate the real scope of what This Woman's Work means.
>
>
>Rubberband Girl:
>	I like the attempt to 
>
>
>
>
>From wisner@uunet.uu.net Wed Nov 10 13:07:26 1993
>Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 17:58:08 EST
>From: ody@apache.att.com
>Subject: Random Thoughts
>
>
>Just a few random Red Shoe notes:
>
>I've loved "And So Is Love" since I picked up the 3 .au files off the Internet
>ftp site (I forget which one). I'm glad the fidelity of the CD is better than
>the sample in the .au file, but the first Clapton break still sounds fuzzy.
>BUT he plays a GREAT hook just before the first occurance of "You let it slip"!
>This hook ranks right up there with a Lindsey Buckingham lick that makes
>"You Make Lovin' Fun" worth wading through. Funny how the pay-off to a whole
>song can occupy a mere 5-6 seconds.
>
>As far as "The Song Of Solomon", I love the spacey, distant, echoey intro,
>the background stuff that continues throughout the song. And that's enough
>to make me like the song, even if I didn't love the rest of it anyway.
>
>I love hearing the re-appearance of Gary Brooker. Procol Harum is "of" my time
>(i.e. I'm an old fart). Yes, I know they re-united, but I passed on that
>episode (only so much concert/CD money to go around). His playing on "And So Is 
>Love" is tasteful and a good complement to Clapton's bluesy guitar. On "You're 
>The One" it's prototypical Brooker. And on "Constellation" it's something 
>completely different, which is welcome.
>
>And perhaps my view is tainted by 24 years as a Deadhead, but "You're The One"
>IS a Grateful Dead song, or easily could be. The structure, the changes,
>the Hammond. Sounds like any number of their mournful ballads. Maybe that's
>why some of you hate it so much ;-) Perhaps they'll cover it in concert 
>(they've covered stranger things!)
>
>A few Sensual Notes:
>
>I think it's a great album! Sure, the initial bells aren't the clearest.
>Could've gotten better bells from a sound effects album. But they're probably
>the real bells from KaTe's childhood church and probably sound that way in 
>person.
>
>"Reaching Out" is a throw-away, except for the a-capella section at the end.
>Still, it's a lot to wade thru just for that. "Deeper Understanding" should
>be the official theme song of all of us Net-heads, anyway. And personally,
>"Never Be Mine" is my favorite from the album. Just touches something deep in
>me. "This Woman's Work" and "Walk Straight..." close the album strongly.
>
>I don't understand the complaints, either about the content or the recording
>quality. And all your whining about it won't change it from being one of my
>all-time favorites, IMVHO, of course.
>
>Finally, an observation on Jon:
>
>Now I see the appropriateness of Druckman's "extreme violence" signiture! 
>"Splattering YOUR entrails", really! I'm usually pretty stressed out, too, 
>Jon. But since I've been studying Shaolin, my Kung Fu workout drains my 
>hostility away pretty fast. Maybe you ought to find something like that and 
>give it a try ;-)
>
>Love,
>
>Mike
>
><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<*>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
><< Michael Ody                     | Our Motto:                      >>
><< AT&T-Bell Labs    (908) 957-4532|  We're all here                 >>
><< MT 1A-237  ody@apache.mt.att.com|     'cause we're not all there! >>
><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<*>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
>
>From wisner@uunet.uu.net Wed Nov 10 13:07:26 1993
>Date: Thu, 11-Nov-93 00:56:14 pst
>From: briarpatch!billy@uunet.UU.NET (Billy Green)
>Subject: Yet another "Red Shoes" posting....
>
>First, old business:  I still have a couple of "Rubberband Girl" posters
>(40" X 60") left--never picked up by those who inquired and no responses 
>from them regarding my e-mail--available for $7.50 each (what they cost 
>me wholesale).  I should have the 40 X 60 Red Shoes poster in by the end 
>of this week or early next week, plus I am promised that my 40 X 60 Vox 
>magazine cover posters are being shipped out "tomorrow" (11/11), so I 
>should have those by late next week (I hope!).  Prices and availability
>when they arrive (I ordered 18 Red Shoes and 10 Vox, but what I receive
>might be different, plus the price on Red Shoes was listed today as 
>being higher than it was six weeks ago, so I'm not sure how much they'll
>be until they get here).  As before, they will be available to anyone
>who can come to my house to get them.
>
>Preliminary thoughts after spending a week with The Red Shoes:
>
>Kate's trend toward optimism continues and increases.  Never For Ever
>almost seems to have been a thematic low point, where the recurring theme 
>was death (even down to the album's title), and songs ended on happy notes
>like "After she shot the guy/She committed suicide".  
>
>Hounds Of Love (rather, The Ninth Wave) was a noticeable turning point, 
>where the heroine decides she wants to live even after the nightmares she's
>been through, kisses the ground and gives thanks that she's alive.  
>
>Songs about distracting oneself from conflict or bad relationships ("The 
>Big Sky" and "Not This Time") gave way on "The Sensual World" to songs of 
>pushing through the bad spots and looking to others for help ("Love And 
>Anger", "Reaching Out").
>
>So why, then, do I not cringe when The Red Shoes keeps giving out lines
>like, "Just being alive/It can really hurt", "life is sad", "I feel that
>life has blown a great big hole through me"?  Even when the line, "Just
>being alive, it can really hurt" appears identically in two different
>songs?  Because this line isn't the end of the story.  This time, someone 
>is always there to pull the sufferer through the pain, so the pain is 
>always fleeting and even leads to better things.  So the basic message seems 
>to be "Life *can* really suck, but it sucks worse when you're all alone."  
>The message isn't left in terms of such a simple maxim, however.  There 
>is an undertone of "There are times to reach out to others for help and 
>protection, but there are times when you need to protect yourself as well.
>Recognize the difference and hope that you'll know how to act appropriately" 
>(e.g., "Lily" and "Big Stripey Lie" and "Constellation Of the Heart").
>
>Most of these twelve songs deal directly with interpersonal relationships, 
>both romantic and platonic (but decidedly more romantic than not).  
>"Rubberband Girl" makes no reference to anyone other than to the self 
>(though I suppose one could argue that, since it's about someone wishing 
>to be more flexible, that it's about one's relationship with oneself):  And
>the title song is about love of the dance.  This is a true dancers' song, 
>the closest I've seen someone come to expaining the passion involved in 
>devoting oneself to one's work.  The narrator uses the curse of the shoes to
>find some happiness--though cursed to dance till her legs fall off, she 
>lifts her eyes to God and uses the unstoppable dancing to make her dreams 
>come true.
>
>Speaking of lifting your eyes to God, I notice a large number of spiritual/
>religious references on this album as well (and I don't mean "Oh *GOD* it's 
>a jungle in here."):  
>"Song Of Solomon"; 
>the narration at the beginning of "Lily" ("Oh, thou that givest sustenance 
>       to the universe", etc.); 
>the angels Gabriel, Raphael, Michael and Uriel;
>"eyes are lifted to God"; 
>"Where just a couple of pigeons are living/Up on the angel's shoulders/
>       I don't know if I'm closer to Heaven but/It looks like Hell down
>       there"; 
>"'Tis here where Heaven and Hell dance"; 
>"she's opening up the doors to Heaven"; 
>"Your name is being called by sacred things/That are not addressed nor 
>       listened to/Sometimes they blow trumpets" (angels perhaps?)
>"The red of the Sacred Heart"; 
>"Have you ever seen a picture/Of Jesus smiling?"  
>(That's what I find on a cursory glance at the lyric sheet.)
>
>So the next question would be "Why?".  For the most part, these are not
>exclusively Christian images.  Kate has never been one to shove religion in 
>others' faces (to the contrary, she's very guarded regarding her personal 
>life), and I think that these references are intended to be taken more as 
>literary references (for want of a better phrase) than as Bible-thumping.
>(Also,I don't think "this cross is your heart" is a religious reference; 
>my first thought on hearing this line was of a graphic image "X" or "+" and
>not of a crucifix).  
>
>Tentatively I will make this guess about why she's using all the religious 
>imagery:  She's underscoring her references to relationships so that you 
>know she's speaking of deep, spiritual love (and even spiritual sex), and 
>not just about casual or superficial relationships.
>
>I kind of consider "Constellation Of the Heart" as the culmination of 
>this album's images.
>
>Let me preface these remarks with a few words about the song, "The Big
>Sky".  I've always viewed that song as being about an argument.  The
>story underneath the song seems to be this:  Two people on a hill are looking
>at the shapes in the clouds; one keeps interjecting the statement, "You
>never understood me/You never really tried"; the song ends with the phrase,
>"You want my reply?/What was the question, dear?/I was looking at the
>big sky", as if to say, "You never tried to understand me, then, fine, I've
>more interesting and amusing things to pay attention to than *you*, and
>they don't require understanding."  This is similar to the theme of "Not
>This Time," where the singer sings nonsense lyrics to keep herself going
>in a decidedly abusive relationship--both give images of someone distracting
>herself to keep from facing an unpleasant situation.
>
>Well, now she's saying "Stop looking at the damn sky and look at yourself
>instead.  Follow your heart, steer straight into the storm.  The storm is 
>unpleasant, but it ends--and that's your path to paradise."
>
>It is in "Constellation Of the Heart" that the religious images are linked
>back to the human element ("'Tis here [in the heart] where Hell and Heaven 
>dance") .  This is the song that repeats, verbatim, the line from "Moments 
>Of Pleasure", "Just being alive, it can really hurt," and answers it with 
>"Without the pain there'd be no learning/Without the hurting we'd never 
>change."  This is also the song that echoes the "Top Of the City" image of 
>a ladder to salvation/escape ("She's no good for you, baby/Look I'm here 
>with the ladder" echoed by "Find me the man with the ladder/And he might 
>lift me up to the stars").  The curve (smile), cross (heart) and line 
>(path) mentioned in "The Red Shoes" and echoed in songs like "Song Of 
>Solomon", "Eat the Music" and "Why Should I Love You", seem to have become 
>linked in this song to deliver this message:  "Examine what's in your heart,
>trust what you find there.  It will lead you to the path that will lead 
>you toward happiness."
>
>If this is the overall intention of the album, then it is far and away the
>happiest message Kate has yet delivered.  And the alternate track listing
>makes sense that way, too--take the song about the confusion of breaking
>up ("I want to stay with you.  But I can't stay here.  But I want to 
>stay.  But...") and follow it with the song about the fear and anger of 
>betrayal, and end with the song that pulls all the others together.
>
>Also, it helps point out to me something I hadn't quite caught on "The 
>Sensual World"--if there is a recurring theme on that album, it is the 
>theme of helping, reaching out, working together, teaching.  I always 
>complained that the songs on "The Sensual World" didn't hold together like 
>Kate's other albums, that it just seemed a pointless mishmash of songs.  
>I'll have to go back and look at it again now......
>
>
>(Amusing P.S.:  A few weeks ago, I was passing a shop that sells wind-up 
>and battery-operated toys, a lot of which are animals.  They had a large 
>sign in their door which read, "It's a jungle in here!"  I had to control 
>the impulse to scrawl "We've got wild animals loose in here" at the 
>bottom...)
>
>
>Billy Green
>(415) 552-1289 (h)       (415) 781-6777 (w)
>briarpatch!billy@lever.lever.com   or   briarpatch!billy@boo.pacbell.com
>
>"Who says you can't have it all?"	--Michelob
>"You can't have it all."		--Kate Bush
>
>
>