Favourite Song Interpretation!

Fun topic, Jon!I don't have a fave; I enjoy all kinds of music. But this one is fun.'Cecilia' by Paul SimonKeys to the interpretation: two features. (1) The events, taken literally, are unlikely. A new lover enters the second floor of the narrator's own house and goes to work--in the few seconds it takes the narrator to step into the bathroom? (2) The name of the patron saint of musicians is Cecilia. She provides inspiration, like a muse.Interpretation: The song is not about a real lover, but songwriter's block. First the ideas flow; the lady is generous. Then they don't; the tart is off inspiring someone else. Then the ideas flow again. Archaic but festive-sounding instruments kick in at the word 'jubilation.' Origin of that word: 'Jubal,' the name of the original musician described in Genesis.

quote:

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'Cecilia'
- Paul Simon

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Cecilia, you’re breaking my heart.
You’re shaking my confidence daily.
Oh Cecilia, I’m down on my knees.
I’m begging you please to come home.

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Cecilia, you’re breaking my heart...
I’m begging you please to come home.

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Making love in the afternoon with Cecilia
Up in my bedroom.
I got up to wash my face;
When I come back to bed
Someone’s taken my place.

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Cecilia, you’re breaking my heart...
I’m begging you please to come home.

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Jubilation!
She loves me again.
I fall on the floor and I’m laughing.

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Jubilation!
She loves me again.
I fall on the floor and I’m laughing.

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.Edited by Archer Opterix, : Typo repair.Edited by Archer Opterix, : Punctuation.Edited by Archer Opterix, : Clarity.Edited by Archer Opterix, : Added song lyrics.Edited by Archer Opterix, : Typo. Grrrr. Another edit!

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Yes, and then she is surprised to find hope.The woman's sand castle is her dream of self-destruction. It washes away just as, earlier, unrealistic dreams of love and power washed away. In the first two cases the loss left people broken. The irony in this third case is that someone finds healing. In losing her bitter dream the woman discovers something stronger and more enduring than that sand castle. She finds herself--the thing she didn't value--and the beauty she can now see in the world. She can live.It really didn't have to stop. It just kept on going..Edited by Archer Opterix, : HTML.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.

Here are two songs I enjoy that use the prophetic image of The Heavenly City as a vision for one's own country.First came this favorite song of English choirs. It alludes to a legend that Christ had made a visit to the British Isles as a young man.

quote:

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'Jerusalem'
- William Blake / Hubert Parry

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And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?

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And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic mills?

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Bring me my bow of burning gold:
Bring me my arrows of desire:
Bring me my spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire.

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I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.

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Then, with one eye on Blake, came this rock-gospel vision for America.

quote:

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'Let the River Run'
- Carly Simon

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Let the river run.
Let all the dreamers wake the nation.
Come, the New Jerusalem.

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Silver cities rise.
The morning lights
The streets that meet them
And sirens call them on with a song.

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It's asking for the taking: trembling, shaking.
Oh, my heart is aching--
We're coming to the edge, running on the water,
Coming through the fog, your sons and daughters:

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We, the great and small
Stand on a star
And blaze a trail of desire
Through the darkling dawn.

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It's asking for the taking: trembling, shaking.
(Come run with me now--the sky is the color of blue
You've never even seen in the eyes of your lover!)
Oh, my heart is aching--
We're coming to the edge, running on the water,
Coming through the fog, your sons and daughters:

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Let the river run.
Let all the dreamers wake the nation.
Come, the New Jerusalem.

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Edited by Archer Opterix, : HTML.

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ArcherAll species are transitional.