Re: TRS Peeves

[Peter Byrne Manchester <PMANCHESTER@ccmail.sunysb.edu>]

Mike Gallaher <Mike.Gallaher@msfc.nasa.gov> asked:

>        Is anyone else bothered by the opening lyrics to "The Red Shoes?" 
       <deletions>
>      But even more embarassing for her, she apparently didn't bother to look 
>up "diva."  This line makes as much sense as  "Oh she move like a Ph.D. do" or 
>"Oh she move like an Admiral do" or "Oh she move like a CEO do" or "Oh she move 
>like a Valadictorian do" or... well, you get the idea: a diva is a good singer, 
>not a good dancer.

Peter Stoller <afcpeters@aol.com> defended the colloquial grammar very well, and 
added this about Diva (joined also by Jeff Burka):

>Diva's do not dance, this is true, but they carry themselves with a certain
>type of overarching dignity and poise, so perhaps Kate wished to capture this.
>Also, diva is derived from the Latin for goddess, and so it may have been a
>deliberate alternate usage. Given that Ms. Bush has been called a Pop diva for
>over 15 years, I doubt she's unfamiliar with the word's true definition.

       Diva is indeed Latin for 'goddess', but the Latin in turn derives from 
the Indo-European root *deiwo meaning 'shining', from which Sanskrit takes its 
name for the great Goddess, Devi, object of an enormously popular cult and 
source of kundalini yoga and tantrism in India and Tibet.  In much 19th century 
English writing about Indic religion she is called Diva, and I strongly suspect 
that she is the specific goddess Kate has in mind.  Devi/Diva has two aspects:  
Shakti, consort of Shiva and dancer of maya (creation and illusion); and Kali, 
death and destruction, represented in images with a circle of skulls around 
her.  The cover art for the MoP single clearly calls Kali to mind, as others 
have observed here before.  It would seem very katelike for the image to express 
both aspects at once:  Devi-Kali.

...............................................................................
                                                               Peter Manchester
        "Hear a woman singing"                    pmanchester@ccmail.sunysb.edu
                                                       72020.366@CompuServe.com