peacock
Majik of Majik Member
Posts: 505
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Post by peacock on Jul 23, 2012 23:50:10 GMT -5
I've got this song stuck in my head. What the heck is it about? I can't figure it out. Is this one of his UFO things like Longer Boats? Or am I completely missing the point?  I LOVE it, it really has a rock edge to it, but I just don't get it! Cold lamb and potatoes? A house with a wheel? Eucharistic dove? Eh? |
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tediber
Wild World Member
Posts: 297
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Post by tediber on Jul 24, 2012 1:14:45 GMT -5
I had a moment last week where I was sure I understood it all, but then I blinked and my understanding disappeared!
My most useful thought is that I wondered if it drew quite heavily on his TB and confinement in medical establishments - the whole sense of floating and being alienated from society, plus being desperate to go home.
It always leaves me with a troublesome craving for cold roast lamb - oh damn, there I go again...
Jo
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Post by blossom on Jul 24, 2012 2:13:35 GMT -5
I had a moment last week where I was sure I understood it all, but then I blinked and my understanding disappeared! It always leaves me with a troublesome craving for cold roast lamb - oh damn, there I go again... Jo :)Priceless Jo...you made my day!! honest..LOL!!  |
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Post by Monty Python on Jul 24, 2012 5:11:36 GMT -5
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Post by Kevin Duignan on Jan 6, 2019 12:41:59 GMT -5
Freezing Steel is about the seventh stage one experiences while meditating. It comes from the Ten Bulls of Zen. The album it is from is Catch Bull at Four, the fourth stage of Zen. This was Stevens' fourth album with Island Records and he felt, at that time, that he had reached the fourth Bull stage of Zen. Each song on this album is loosely based on it's corresponding stage. The first song, Sitting, is about the first stage, when one is on his way to reaching self-awareness, but still somewhat confused and afraid. The eighth song, O Caritas, is about reaching Nirvana, which is the eighth stage of Zen. In the seventh stage, one begins to hallucinate about meeting a religious leader or spiritual being. So, if your Jewish, you may hallucinate about meeting Moses or Abraham. If your Christian you will hallucinate about meeting Jesus or Mary. (Think of all those middle aged women who pray at Marion Shrines and swear that they encounter the Blessed Virgin.) If your Buddhist or Hari Krishna you will meet Siddhartha Gautama or the Lord Krishna. In this song, Stevens is implying that he is meditating and waiting to meet some Eucharistic Dove, but is abducted by an alien instead. To me, this song is probably an inside joke. He admitted he never moved past the fourth stage so he is just speculating about what stage seven would be like, so he compares it to being abducted by an alien who is transporting him to Venus. Either way, reaching stage seven while meditating is an out of world experience and his simile is appropriate in modern times.
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