RE: The Dreaming

[Mike Wade <mwade@oxfam.org.uk>]

Re Billy's questions:

1. "There goes a Tenner. What is the last line ("That's when we used to
vote for him") supposed to mean?"
I've always interpretted this as a british politics thing.  Seeing a ten
shilling note provokes nostalgia (they were got rid of  as part of
decimalisation in 1971). This was also the period of male domination in
british politics, whereas at the time the song was written, Britain was
led by (the evil) Margaret Thatcher. Hence "Remember 10 shilling notes?
That was back in the days before we voted for women in government"

There could also be a reference to coming out of gaol and comparing what
things were like before and after.  The bankrobber became a "star in
Strange Ways"  (a pun on the name of a uk gaol). When he came out, he
would find people voting for a woman for the first time, new currency
etc.

2. "Leave It Open   What is it really about?"
Good question; great track.  My take on it is summed up by the last line
you queried "We...we let the wierdness in..."  You have to be constantly
open to new ideas, new thoughts, new experiences in order to grow, The
song is partly about the learning process you go through in order to get
there.  I may be wrong, but I've always taken "things that decay, things
that rust" to be a passing reference to the killing of John Lennon.
Bodies and guns.

3.   "The Dreaming  I know it's about Australia but don't quite
understand the significance of that."
Yes...Australia, but more about the way that the "westernisation" of
Australia has killed off/weakened the aboriginal population.  Summed up
pretty well in the video with a scene of a aboriginal man writingunder a
laser beam.

Kate's family tried a short-lived emigration to Australia when she was
around (11? 12?). Interestingly she also wrote a poem at school at about
the same time (on the crucifiction of Christ) which echoed the lyrics to
The Dreaming in a number of places.


4. "All the Love.  Then comes the final "goodbye" sequence..."
Yeah - Kate said that part of the inspiration for this track was when
her answerphone screwed up one night, and she came home to hear a string
of friends' voices just saying "goodbye" into the tape. (no idea if she
used this actual tape for the album sequence or not)

5. "Houdini.  Who is the other guy, and what's the code about?"
Houdini and his wife were both into the idea of contacting the dead.
Through his life, Houdini exposed a lot of frauds. The song is sung by
his wife (who passed him a key via a kiss during each performance so
that he could unlock the padlocks). Before he died, Houdini and his wife
agreed a code "Rosabel believe" so that she would know if a medium
really had made contact or whether it was a fraud. Eventually, of
course, a medium did come up with the code, which was only known to (the
dead) Houdini and the wife.

6. "Get Out of My House.  Never hurts to end on a bizarre note!  :) "
Do you know the film "the Shining"? A lot of the ideas of the song are
in here.

Cheers, and pleased you're enjoying such a brilliant album.

Mike