From: owner-precious-things-digest@smoe.org (precious-things-digest) To: precious-things-digest@smoe.org Subject: precious-things-digest V10 #8 Reply-To: precious-things@smoe.org Sender: owner-precious-things-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-precious-things-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "precious-things-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. precious-things-digest Friday, January 14 2005 Volume 10 : Number 008 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Neil Gaiman isn't in the Hotel [Amanda Bradley ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 20:43:34 -0800 (PST) From: Amanda Bradley Subject: Neil Gaiman isn't in the Hotel Concerning my own question about Hotel and who Tori is focusing on in the song, I did some research on www.yessaid.com. I found this quote from Alternative Press circa July 1998: I think as youre getting married, all the loves, even 10-minute loves, are popping up. Hotel was really like feeling like an agent - a spy - in that he was the greatest guy at one time and they were giving me time behind enemy lines. Even though she knows they cant be lovers because its a whole other life, she just cant let him go. [Alternative Press - July 1998] I knew about the inclusion of The Velvets in the song and their link to Mr. Gaiman, but she has always referred to him as a brother. And this song has always had a romantic yearning or love lost tempo to it. I'm guessing it's about either Trent or Eric or even Maynard (but I do believe that they have always been strictly friends, too). In response to who said that it's not their fave: It seems to be that way for many Toriphiles. The song didn't get much attention when compared to her other "hits" on the album. Personally, I love it and respect it. I love the images it can conjure up in my mind. And I love her vocal ranges in the song. My favorite part is the ending "King Solomon's Mines/Exit 75/I'm still alive/I'm still alive". I love singing to this part, but it might just be due to the fact that I can't sing well enough to hit the other higher pitches Tori can. :) But, I'm still curious as to who it is she's singing about. Maybe Mr. Handall or Woj or n/m can answer it? Thanks for listening. ===== Peace Out, Amanda ~~She's a girl out working her Trade/and she loses a little each day/to ghetto pimps and presidents/who try and arouse her turquoise serpents~ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 13:35:08 -0500 (EST) From: Richard Handal Subject: Re: Neil Gaiman isn't in the Hotel Amanda Bradley said: > But, I'm still curious as to who it is she's singing > about. Maybe Mr. Handall or Woj or n/m can answer it? I'm afraid my answer won't satisfy many people. I believe that to concretize things such as this that are in the songs kills the possibility for one arriving at one's own metaphor and meaning. This search for facts reminds me of how some people want to turn the Bible into newspaper accounts by finding out all the geographic and other references of who did and said what back in Bible times, but they seem invariably to be the same people who have lost the *meanings* of the stories. The lessons to be found in the stories aren't dependent upon their historical accuracy, and for many who would focus on the historical points, the knowledge of those things seems to come at the expense of their taking the lessons to heart. I'm not uninterested in knowing details behind the inspiration for the songs, but I've never delved this aspect of this one, and Tori's not spoken of it in open terms, so she hasn't seen reasons to share this information. In fact, as cited here, she's given tools to use so people can come to their own sense with the song. The clear danger to me is for people to find out such details and to then hear the song and think, "Tori's singing about fill-in-the-blank," and then try to fit the whole song around whatever that was for the song in question and not let the song do its job, tell their friends what they should think about when they hear the song, etc. If the song's job had been to let us know that Tori went through such-and-such, then that could have easily been accomplished in an interview and there would have been no need for the song. A song surely must rise above the level of being a strict accounting of details in a factual scenario; at least, now that we don't live in a world in which people depend on traveling troubadors for news items from the neighboring town. I say let the song do its job, and don't try to cage it or turn it to concrete. If you do that you've killed its value as art. Work to develop a perspective of the entity or entities speaking from within the song, and do it on the song's and your own terms. Rather than only reading a lyric, think what the music is doing when a certain line is sung. The music is intended to fit the mood of the lyric and context is everything. Never forget that. If the music seems peaceful at some point in a song, the sensibility of the song at that point is one of contentment. If the song gets fast and drums are pounding like crazy, there's a different clue. This may sound obvious, but it's easily disregarded, and Tori's big on this very thing. I remember reading Albert Schweitzer's Bach's biography which was also a two-volume set about the music, and in the introduction one of his teachers told a story of wondering aloud what some of the instrumental music was trying to do with its mood, when Schweitzer pointed out the scriptures the music was composed with reference to, and then all became clear to the teacher. So, it's easy to forget that. Song lyrics are not poetry, they are song lyrics. If the song can live the life it was born to live I think that's the best thing for it to do. If one can do this but then put all that aside and still have an interest as to the historicity of events surrounding its creation, I say go for it. I don't know anything in this regard about this particular song, so if that's all you want then I'm afraid I can't help you. Thanks for the compliment of thinking of me, though. Be seeing you, Richard Handal, H.G. ------------------------------ End of precious-things-digest V10 #8 ************************************