Re: Kate & Lily

[Richard Bensam <rabensam@earthlink.net>]

Many thanks to Richard A. Creighton for his scholarship.  I just hope this
doesn't set off another round of controversy like the one we suffered a few
months ago.  ("She's a witch!"  "Is she a good witch or a bad witch?"
"She's not a witch, she's just a little girl!")  In any event, I would like
to incorporate a small bit of this information into the next edition of the
Gaffaweb Dictionary.  But may I suggest a slightly more, um, prosaic
explanation for the question which concerns you?

It seems entirely possible that Lily was consulted on the song -- hey, if I
were going to record a song about a friend of mine, I would certainly check
with him or her to make sure it was okay before the disc was pressed! --
and Lily may very well be a member of an occult group which uses the ritual
which is inaccurately quoted in the song.  This is pure idle speculation on
my part, but isn't it possible that it was Lily herself who provided the
altered ritual?  She might have done this so as not to offend any of her
fellow believers, or just as likely, because she feared some dire spiritual
consequences from letting an "accurate" ritual be recorded.  Kate would
certainly have honored her wishes in something like this, and she would
respect someone else's sincere beliefs even if she didn't happen to share
them herself.

But honestly, as a general rule can we keep a little perspective here?  If
Kate recognizes a poetic turn of phrase when she hears one, she may simply
be looking for something to turn into a nice song.  That is, after all,
what she does.


RAB