Re: Misguided?

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

In response to this...

On Wed, 5 Jun 1996, Dave Watkins wrote:

> Yes that was me!  (manic laughter) Misguided?  On the contrary my dear
> fellow, it is I who have seen the light - somewhere in the deep! (more
> manic laughter).
> 
> Dave
> 
> (HOL for ME, TD for YOU)
I can offer the following, and no matter how valid/invalid it may seem, 
please read it...

While I admire Kate very much for TD, HOL seems to be, in an abstract 
sort of way, more in touch with my own mentality (if that's the right 
word). Maybe it's just that it has taught me a lot - in this 'journey' 
she goes through in TNW, she learns a lot about herself, and loves herself 
better. That's helped me a lot. I've learned things about myself, about 
my own good and bad points, and because of this I've been able to love 
myself and the people around me better. While TD is very interesting, and 
holds messages on a personal level ("Leave It Open" and "Get Out Of My 
House") and a social level ("The Dreaming" and "Sat In Your Lap"), HOL 
has more intimate, more thought-provoking songs on it. I mean, in an 
interview I have on CD, she says RUTH is about being able to understand 
other peoples' points of view in a relationship. I've learned a lot about 
my own relationships, through arguments - though perhaps at the wrong 
times, i.e. after they've happened, instead of thinking about them while 
they're happening. Then there's HOL, the actual song. It has shown me a 
lot about how I've avoided things in my (admittedly short) life, and it 
has made me think about those things. The other tracks maybe be 
thoughtful as well, but TNW kind of explains the processes of life, the 
personal development, the regrets and the pain and joy that is found 
throughout, in a short space of time. I'm not saying I think HOL is the 
only piece of music that does this for me - I find a lot of thought in not 
only Kate's other work, but in songs by Chris Isaak, Del Amitri, and many 
of my other favourite songs, whether they are by a favourite artist or an 
individual song... maybe those of you out there who don't listen to this 
music, or have just heard it in passing, like on the radio or because of 
your own friends, don't get what I see in it. Personally, I don't see 
much 'deep' meaning in dance music, or techno or that general end of the 
whole spectrum of music, but I can see that other people like it for some 
reason, and perhaps that they have some equally valid meaning (if there 
is any in my own) within all this music. For me, though, there is so much 
in any music, if you can find a single thing within it that sparks a 
thought, and then a whole line of thinking, within your minds, then 
surely it is valid, even if just from your own point of view. Anyway, 
I'll finish here... Bye for now.

Alan.