The Ninth Wave and other things...

[Alan Stonebridge <Alan.Stonebridge@durham.ac.uk>]

I've been REALLY addicted to TNW and TD for weeks and weeks now... The 
point is that I've listened to them so much, especially TNW, that I think 
I've finally realised why they 'work' so well for me.

Well, when I listen to TNW, I have to listen to it all, otherwise it 
loses some of the magic (and continuity) and I was lying around listening 
to it the other day and realised that I could picture the story, and what 
was supposed to be happening to Kate, in my mind very clearly. I think 
it's partly to do with the way the songs don't sound like she's singing 
lyrics, but more that they sound like what she's thinking (especially in 
"And Dream of Sheep", "Under Ice", "Watching You Without Me" and "Hello 
Earth") or they sound like a conversation ("Waking the Witch" and "Jig of 
Life"). For "The Morning Fog" it seems like a cross between both of 
these, as though she is thinking of what she's going to say to her family 
when she sees them again (e.g. "...I'll tell my brothers...how much I 
love them...") but at times it seems like she is already telling them 
(i.e. having a conversation; e.g. "...I love you better now...").

That probably sounds really stupid, but I think it's the way I can 
visualise the story plus the way the lyrics don't sound just like an 
average song (not that Kate's ever do, but this seems even more 
appropriate for TNW). I suppose the same thing works for TD... okay, so I 
can't forget the videos for "Sat In Your Lap" and "The Dreaming", but the 
rest of it gives me the same sort of pictures in my head, like Kate's 
actually telling a story. I think Kate got this across pretty well on the 
video for "There Goes A Tenner". For instance, "All The Love" always 
seems to give me the impression of Kate lying in a hospital bed really 
ill (I dread this thought - just think, no more albums or songs!) and 
people coming to visit her, just like the song's lyrics say. Anyway, 
sorry to have sent so much, but I just think that's why TD and TNW (plus 
the rest of HOL) and even some of her other tracks (especially "The Fog") 
have the same effect.

Alan.

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 "Come then!  My log does not judge!" - The Log Lady, from 'Twin Peaks'
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