|
|
Post by Nonfatman on Oct 14, 2009 10:54:29 GMT -5
Anyone care to venture an interpretation of the lyrics to this one, because I've really got no clue. Something to do with weather, but is there something more going on?
Jeff
|
|
|
|
Post by TM on Oct 15, 2009 15:45:17 GMT -5
Anyone care to venture an interpretation of the lyrics to this one, because I've really got no clue. Something to do with weather, but is there something more going on? Jeff
a new polarity?
You're binary, and desperate to deal in high figures
that lick us with their hotter flame
lick each and everyone the same.
And March, the mad scientist,
brings a new change
in ever-dancing colours.
He rings it here and he rings it,
but no one stops to see
the change of fate and the fate of change
that slips into his pocket
so he locks it all away from view
and shares not what he thought you knew.
And April is summer-bound,
And February's blue.
And no one stops to see the colours.
Maybe we should analyze Jan Voorbij's take from Cup of Wonder: March The Mad Scientist This acoustic gem, one of the most beautiful and intelligent songs Anderson ever wrote, was recorded during the "Songs From The Wood" sessions in 1976 and was released in the UK as part of the 'Solstice Bells' EP. It's a pity it wasn't included on the masterpiece "Songs From The Wood" as it reflects the overall message of the album so well. The fictive person, adressed in the first stanza (and who could be each of us), isn't all too happy about the life he/she is living in modern society and feels lost, uneasy with it and is therefore looking for a new and more full-filling direction: "... a new polarity". The strive for success and wealth ( "desperate to deal in high figures") has affected all of us ( "That lick us with their hotter flame, lick each and everyone the same") and we feel ambiguous about it: we don't want to give it up, yet we would like to change it all (" you're binary") and live a more relaxed and rich life. But this wealth is not to be found in material matters, but in tradition and sense of community - or as stated in this song - in nature itself. While all of society is preoccupied with chasing "the products of wealth", nature takes its course and spring arrives in all its splendor: "a new change in ever-dancing colours", so abundantly and omnipresent that Ian speaks of March as a "mad scientist". And though it's around for anyone to see, no one pays attention ( "he rings it here and he rings it, but no one stops to see"), nor to what is becoming of this world: "the change of fate and the fate of change". So the wisdom of nature remains hidden for a future time, when people are more willing to experience, appreciate and look for it: " so he locks it all away from view and shares not what he thought you knew". The closing verseline of the song stresses once more the point he is making. |
|
|
|
Post by Nonfatman on Oct 15, 2009 21:49:16 GMT -5
I forgot to look at Cup of Wonder, but I think Jan has hit the nail squarely on the head. I was thinking it had something to do with money, because of the "deal in higher figures" and "slips change into his pocket" lines, but I couldn't quite make the connection between that and the weather. Jan tied the two separate ideas together nicely, and I think it's exactly what Ian meant.
Jeff
|
|
|
|
Post by bobo the monkey on Oct 18, 2009 18:23:38 GMT -5
Good info from Cup of Wonder...in a way this song might be connected to jack in the Green...theorizing some kind of internal mechanism-personal and planetary that could oversee or direct the kind of changes one might hunger for deep inside...and the possibity and optimism on the topic---as proven by the change witnessed between winter and spring...when 'march' like a mad scientist-does it's magic thing and starts things anew----people have seasons too, maybe...and we just need to be ready for our onw 'springtime' door openings....but don't trust me on lyrics...i quit drugs years ago and, I'm afraid, lost my interpretive skills...you know...sometimes you get the monkey of your back...and you find out how much he took with him ( ask Clapton!).
|
|
|
|
Post by Nonfatman on Oct 19, 2009 12:16:53 GMT -5
Good info from Cup of Wonder...in a way this song might be connected to jack in the Green...theorizing some kind of internal mechanism-personal and planetary that could oversee or direct the kind of changes one might hunger for deep inside...and the possibity and optimism on the topic---as proven by the change witnessed between winter and spring...when 'march' like a mad scientist-does it's magic thing and starts things anew----people have seasons too, maybe...and we just need to be ready for our onw 'springtime' door openings....but don't trust me on lyrics...i quit drugs years ago and, I'm afraid, lost my interpretive skills...you know...sometimes you get the monkey of your back...and you find out how much he took with him ( ask Clapton!). I think you are onto something, Bernie, about Nature as sort of a benign, life-affirming force observing mankind from a distance, but available to all as means of improving their outlook and renewing their lives, if only they would take advantage of what it has to offer. It's a very spiritual and religious concept when you stop and think about it. The same concept can be found in Orion, except there the "force" is a benign, yet aloof, celestial being looking down on a rather sad world from the Heavens above. Of course, Ian also talks about the Heavens and a divine "force" in Dun Ringill as well. I'm sure there are many other examples of this in Ian's words. If you look at Jan's commentary about Orion, for example, he makes a comparison with Weathercock, although in that case the "force" of Nature is vested in an inanimate object. Jeff |
|
