Wee Steve
13-12-2007, 12:40 PM
At the risk of possibly repeating what others might have said elsewhere, or of taking this thread into territory that really needs its own thread in "Words and Music", isn't "Hallucinating Light" one hell of a fine song?
Having relistened to the audio "Beyond the Door" yesterday, I went back to the DVD today and nearly cried. Obviously, I know about the song and Roy's dedication of it, and something of the history, but the juxtaposition of words, music, photos and the man suddenly grabbed me - and here's me, with 33+ years of glorious monogamy.
I was musing, as I watched, on a couple of references to "Maile Lei" and Jacqueline on the email discussion lately.
I do sometimes have problems with Roy's view of relationships - there's a line on screen somewhere in "Beyond the Door" - perhaps in "Punch and Judy"? - about human beings not being intended to stay with one partner, which jars with my personal experience (what am I? lazy or something?), but also seems at odds with the depth of passion that Roy attaches to his "love" songs.
Let's spread out his words before us and see where it gets us. I know, sometimes, it is unfair to do this, and I'm not looking for logic or consistency, and I love all the songs. There are so many, from the word "Go", through "McGoohan" through "Commune" and "I'll See You Again" and "Twelve Hours of Sunset" and the poignancy of "Hallucinating Light" and ever onwards - oh, hell, you can write your own list.
Each explores a different facet, perhaps, but, however detached we may be, or want to be, I think we have to take every one as intensely personal, because Roy has said so.
In a way, it saddens me to reduce (reduce?!) this to a level of poetry appreciation but, to me, it is in these explorations that we find the immense quality of his writing. I can live with and enjoy greatly the other material, but the songs of love and anti-love do it for me in the end.
Whatever he says about the ending of relationships I wonder, at the end, whether I really believe him. I wouldn't swap my original copy of "Death or Glory" for all the remixes in the world, painful as it is, but I suspect he still hopes he's got there or will soon. And I think the clues lie in the immensity of "Hallucinating Light".
Having relistened to the audio "Beyond the Door" yesterday, I went back to the DVD today and nearly cried. Obviously, I know about the song and Roy's dedication of it, and something of the history, but the juxtaposition of words, music, photos and the man suddenly grabbed me - and here's me, with 33+ years of glorious monogamy.
I was musing, as I watched, on a couple of references to "Maile Lei" and Jacqueline on the email discussion lately.
I do sometimes have problems with Roy's view of relationships - there's a line on screen somewhere in "Beyond the Door" - perhaps in "Punch and Judy"? - about human beings not being intended to stay with one partner, which jars with my personal experience (what am I? lazy or something?), but also seems at odds with the depth of passion that Roy attaches to his "love" songs.
Let's spread out his words before us and see where it gets us. I know, sometimes, it is unfair to do this, and I'm not looking for logic or consistency, and I love all the songs. There are so many, from the word "Go", through "McGoohan" through "Commune" and "I'll See You Again" and "Twelve Hours of Sunset" and the poignancy of "Hallucinating Light" and ever onwards - oh, hell, you can write your own list.
Each explores a different facet, perhaps, but, however detached we may be, or want to be, I think we have to take every one as intensely personal, because Roy has said so.
In a way, it saddens me to reduce (reduce?!) this to a level of poetry appreciation but, to me, it is in these explorations that we find the immense quality of his writing. I can live with and enjoy greatly the other material, but the songs of love and anti-love do it for me in the end.
Whatever he says about the ending of relationships I wonder, at the end, whether I really believe him. I wouldn't swap my original copy of "Death or Glory" for all the remixes in the world, painful as it is, but I suspect he still hopes he's got there or will soon. And I think the clues lie in the immensity of "Hallucinating Light".