The Ninth Wave: Protagonist's name...

[satyrnband@aol.com (SatyrnBand)]

A recent inquiry on r.m.g asked about the name of the protagonist of
The Ninth Wave, which I had claimed to know quite a while back.  In
order to help the requester discover, I've reviewed the CD, and determined
that the name I was hearing occurs at 0:21 and at ~0:27 in Waking the
Witch.

Unfortunately, I'm now not nearly as certain that the name I heard is
really there; I don't hear it as strongly as I did several years ago
when I first discovered it.  I'd like to know if anyone else hears a name
at that point.  
When I first detected it, I didn't appreciate the meaning.  Later,
while teasing my girlfriend with it, she asked "Does it mean
anything?"  At that point, I was just thunderstruck, because the name
I heard (or thought I heard) was just so absolutely appropriate!  If it's
not
intentional on Kate's part, I think it *should* have been.  I won't reveal
what
I hear just yet, but I'll just add that it's a name familiar to listeners
of
Kate's
later work.
On a related note, I've noticed that some interpreters of The Ninth Wave,
including (presumably) the author of the movie script version that was
posted several weeks ago, think that the story is about a *man*
lost at sea.  I asssumed, based largely on the fact that a woman sang it,
that it was about a woman.  That and the Jig Of Life song, which seemed
to me to be about a woman confronted a future self that wanted to
be allowed to exist.  Did any of you think it was a man's story related
by a female singer?  If so, why?  Has Kate said anything to imply the
sex of the protagonist?  Am I dense for thinking the obvious?  At least
one of the Waking The Witch intro voices I always interpreted to be
a male lover.  Then there's the whole "Witch" scene...seems like a female
nightmare to me.

Mike Gallaher

http://www.geopages.com/SunsetStrip/1235