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Post by Admin on Jul 7, 2003 21:51:49 GMT
("He's here! He's here!
He's here! He's here!")
I hear him, before I go to sleep
And focus on the day that's been
I realise he's there
When I turn the light off and turn over
Nobody knows about my man
They think he's lost on some horizon
And suddenly I find myself
Listening to a man I've never known before
Telling me about the sea
All his love, 'til eternity
Ooh, he's here again
The man with the child in his eyes
Ooh, he's here again
The man with the child in his eyes
He's very understanding
And he's so aware of all my situations
And when I stay up late
He's always waiting, but I feel him hesitate
Oh, I'm so worried about my love
They say, "No, no, it won't last forever"
And here I am again, my girl
Wondering what on Earth I'm doing here
Maybe he doesn't love me
I just took a trip on my love for him
Ooh, he's here again
The man with the child in his eyes
Ooh, he's here again
The man with the child in his eyes
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Post by brillo69 on Feb 19, 2004 1:20:40 GMT
I have heard various stories about what this song is actually about,but I have finally come up with my own interpretation which I will explain in 'breakdown form'. To me the overall meaning of the song is actually pretty simple and that it is just Kate singing about her father. For example: "I hear him before I go to sleep" she has just settled down and can hear her father wishing her "goodnight". "I realise he's there when I turn off the light and turn over" Whenever she's going to sleep,she knows that her father is keeping 'tabs' on her and that he would not let anything happen to her.A caring father who loves his daughter. "He's very understanding and he's aware of all my situations" Whenever Kate has problems in which she needs to discuss,she knows that she can consult with her father. "And when I stay up late he's always waiting,but I feel him hesitate." Maybe Kate was a little rebellious when it came to being up late? and although she knew that her father wanted her to go to bed,he was very calm about the matter and left her to it. The rest of the lyrics I don't quite how they would fit in,maybe they're personal to kate?Who knows? Well that's my take on the matter,what are your thoughts on the meaning of the song.?  |
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Post by Adey on Feb 19, 2004 2:22:38 GMT
Mostly that works for me Paul, but I think the feelings also relate to a boyfriend or how she might imagine a lover to be (wrote it at 14 remember). I think there's some sort of comparison going on, or a definite move away from the Father figure.
Dad looks at her and still sees the child, rather than the woman she is becoming. Hence he is The Man With The Child In His Eyes.
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Post by brillo69 on Feb 19, 2004 2:30:00 GMT
Adey,agreed. Well I'm going for a bit now cos' I can't think of anything else to post. But I'll return before 6am  |
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Sven Golly
Moving
"In the night you hide from the madman you're longing to be"
Posts: 800
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Post by Sven Golly on Feb 19, 2004 13:36:19 GMT
People "say no it won't last forever" and especially "I just took a trip on my love for him" are for sure not things you'd associated with dear old dad...... It was well written for a girl of such a young age; however, she would not have the romantic naivete or inclination to write it now. One other possibility is sexual fantasy. Oooo, he's here again. She see's her reflection in his eye's - He woo's her and feeds her fantasy. He's the perfect guy, so understanding yet adventurous. In a fantasy world their love could last forever, despite her age. Oh maybe he doesn't love her, a bit of drama....But, Oooo, he's here again - now she's trippin'. Maybe she was reflecting on her love for 'Steely Dan'  |
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Post by Adey on Feb 25, 2004 15:14:24 GMT
.. It was well written for a girl of such a young age; however, she would not have the romantic naivete or inclination to write it now. One other possibility is sexual fantasy. Oooo, he's here again. She see's her reflection in his eye's - He woo's her and feeds her fantasy. He's the perfect guy, so understanding yet adventurous. In a fantasy world their love could last forever I quite agree Sven. I don't believe she would write like this now. Infact, from memory I recall an interview in which she decried a lot of her earliest work. She specifically mentioned The Man With the Child in His Eyes. Yes, I also believe that there's fantasy involved. I referred to how the character might imagine a lover to be, a natural thought progression for someone that age. I am sure that there is still a lot of affection for dear old Dad though in the song. Maybe she 's transposing the 2, a touch of Oedipus perhaps? |
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Sven Golly
Moving
"In the night you hide from the madman you're longing to be"
Posts: 800
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Post by Sven Golly on Feb 25, 2004 21:03:02 GMT
Yes, I also believe that there's fantasy involved. I referred to how the character might imagine a lover to be, a natural thought progression for someone that age. I am sure that there is still a lot of affection for dear old Dad though in the song. Maybe she 's transposing the 2, a touch of Oedipus perhaps? A reverse Oedipus complex would be a stretch, I think. It's natural for girls to admire father like traits in men without having the fantasy spill over into incestuous feelings. I noticed that you or no one else picked up on the "Steely Dan" reference. Bad taste? or just too obscure?  (The Burrough's "Naked Lunch" apparatus for 'moments of pleasure' ) |
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Post by Al Truest on May 19, 2004 13:49:55 GMT
.....no one picked up on the "Steely Dan" reference. Bad taste? or just too obscure? (The Burrough's "Naked Lunch" apparatus for 'moments of pleasure' ) ....too obscure AND bad taste. ;D |
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Post by Cheesy on Nov 3, 2004 1:56:25 GMT
Not all of Kate's songs are about herself, though she does put herself into the subject's mind when writing and performing, which is to be expected of a good writer or performer.
From a 1978 interview in "The Music Journal":
"She sees this man as an all-consuming figure," explains Kate. "He's wise, yet he retains a certain innocent quality. The song tells how his eyes give away his 'inner light'. He's a very real character to the girl, but nobody else knows whether he really exists."
It is widely known that Kate Bush rarely gives much personal information away in interviews so this phrasing could be a way of warding off the inevitable direct personal questions that would have followed. As has already been pointed out, Kate was young when this was written. Fifteen years old according to an interview she gave in 1978. I haven't been able to track down the exact publication or broadcast this was in, though I think it was a fan club newsletter. It will take me a while longer to pin that down. Given the two salient facts in this paragraph, it wouldn't take much persuading to convince me that this song does come from her own feelings, depsite the contra-indication in the above interview.
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kate123
Under Ice
i love kate bush
Posts: 8
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Post by kate123 on Dec 2, 2004 16:46:09 GMT
hi sorry to disagree but kate isnt talking about her father or a boyfriend its...... peter pan the man with the child in his eyes. because peter pan used to come in to childrens windows and take them to neverland. thats who kates talking about  |
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Post by Al Truest on Dec 2, 2004 21:36:43 GMT
hi sorry to disagree but kate isnt talking about her father or a boyfriend its...... peter pan the man with the child in his eyes. because peter pan used to come in to childrens windows and take them to neverland. thats who kates talking about Welcome k1. You've made quite a definitive assumption here. One that I would take exception to. I'd concur that the ''man'' may be mythical or a fantasy; however, Peter Pan is forever a child - not likely to satisfy the urges she is expressing as a blossoming woman. The Neverland she's seeks is not that of remaining a child, but just the opposite - that of adult, romantic love. Which also discounts the father theory. One that I had taken exception to as well. |
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RA
Reaching Out
Posts: 216
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Post by RA on Jan 20, 2005 14:00:56 GMT
Going back into the dark ages, I seem to remember hearing Kate say that the song was about Dave Gilmour. I can remember having a crush on the young Gilmour, so quite understand where she was coming from. Goggle a search on him and take a look - his eyes do have it!
I think Kate was referring to something unknown (listening to a man I've never 'known' before in the biblical sense), but in the line when she says "when I turn the light off and turn over" - I have always been sure she means that he is in her imagination at that point. No-body knows about my love, maybe he's lost on some horizon.
End of the day, who knows.
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RA
Reaching Out
Posts: 216
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Post by RA on Jan 20, 2005 14:02:43 GMT
Oh and by the way. I love Steely Dan - I never knew Kate was a big fan. Maybe they wrote Katie Lied for her (bit of a joke there folks) |
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Post by sniperforlife on Feb 26, 2007 0:48:56 GMT
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Post by tannis on Dec 6, 2007 13:08:19 GMT
TMWTCIHE ~ THE CHILD HIDES IN THE LIGHT...
On a lot of English first pressings of vinyl records you can find an inscription in the run-out area of the disc... Kate not only knows about the inscriptions, she even writes them, so most of them are of some significance...
Here's a list of the inscriptions on the first releases of the vinyl editions:
The Man With The Child In His Eyes / Moving: Side A: The child hides in the light.
In August 1980, Pat Benatar released her second LP, Crimes of Passion, featuring 'Hell Is For Children' ("They hide in the light, so you can't see their fears") AND her cover of WUTHERING HEIGHTS.
Hell Is For Children by Pat Benatar
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxYsi5Y-xOQ
"They cry in the dark, so you can't see their tears
They hide in the light, so you can't see their fears
Forgive and forget, all the while
Love and pain become one and the same
In the eyes of a wounded child..."Each line of TMWTCIHE seems to have a different address, from Jesus to her imaginary friend or groom...
I realise he's there / When I turn the light off and turn over...
And when I stay up late / He's always waiting...
'...go to sleep And focus on the day that's been...' - sleep/focus/dream - the unconscious dreamworld offers a clearer focus on the day than does the conscious mind...
Hamlet, 'To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub...'
Cathy, 'Bad dreams in the night...'THIS BROTHER'S WORK...
Cathy contains neither gossip nor scandal... echoes and evocations... hardbacked and linen-bound, in its own slipcase... The bright August sun slipping into... the happy sailing boat on her blouse... It is an easy seduction... But photos seldom show it... her body shape... it is budding... The oversize boots are cavalry and I wore them... make my motorbike go faster. The sword... two unexploded incendiary bombs... if she tried to walk she would have fallen over... Sheerline with walnut veneer... grey leather seats... I know the place... I can smell the creosote on the black fence... the whitewash that has dripped onto the skirting... where the grain was hoisted up... A magical, private place like a mouse's nest... The milk looks bright and cold... blue tits should show it is summer... there was a cat around... staying up to watch the late night film... Tristan and Isolde... modern love... Romeo to Juliet, and Cathy to Heathcliff, and Quint to.... the confident hold on the stick. For me it is a pleasing photograph because I remember that it came....
("Cathy", 1986)
home.att.net/~james51453/
"Every so often someone professes that Kate Bush is God. A colleague announced one time in seminar that that's what I think. I said he was wrong; she is God's sister."
gaffa.org/dreaming/tww_box.html
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 86 01:32:50 EST
Three books of photographs of Kate taken by John Bush are due for publication within the next few months. These are of Kate as a child, a teenager, and as a famous person, and will contain 'biographical' captions.gaffa.org/dreaming/hol_hist.htmlKate's brother John Carder Bush/Kindlight put together a limited edition book, "Cathy: The child with the woman in her eyes..."
Wiki gives a link to the online exhibition of this book:
en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Carder_Bush
home.att.net/~james51453/
Here is the text of John's advertisement for "Cathy":
gaffa.org/garden/jcb5.html
nb. "Cathy" was to be the first of a planned series of three books featuring photographs of Kate Bush taken by John Carder Bush. But Kate cancelled the remaining project. But, when KaTe makes eyes to the camera, mostly JCB/Kindlight is behind the lens.
John's daughter Kathleen has recorded a song that was published on an album called "Canciones De La Inocencia", a project to raise funds for Unicef in 1999 (see 'Infant Joy', Katleen Bush; Sobrina De Kate Bush).Kate on John: "I'm very close to him. He is an inspiration. Being my brother he is someone I can always talk to... what worries me is that sometimes Jay is portrayed as a Svengali who is black and evil. And he's not at all. He's very beautiful and sensitive and I love him very much."
gaffa.org/cloud/subjects/john_carter_bush.html
John on Kate: "Sufi stories, Zen stories, Greek myths all have this spiralling mult-interpretation power, as do all the great written works of religion. You can keep coming back to them and finding the next level confirmed as you grow. So I am sure you are right when you find these meanings in Kate's music, but whether it was conscious or unconscious is not important if you accept that she is a vehicle for the Great Rhymer."
gaffa.org/dreaming/hol_gen.html
home.att.net/~james51453/cathy23.htm
"What pulls me into this photograph is the uncontrived lighting from the Autumn sun and the confident hold on the stick. For me it is a pleasing photograph because I remember that it came out as I had seen it and the observation is held for ever. The touch of tweed and the goat wool make her a Celtic shaman from some lost land beyond the Isle of Man" ~ (Cathy, 1986).The cover of Never For Ever: A cornucopia of fantastic and real, beautiful and vile creatures -- the products of her imagination -- is shown swirling out from beneath her skirt. At the time, thinking about this and the steamy, masturbatory atmosphere of many of the songs she wrote in her teens such as The Man With The Child In His Eyes and Saxophone Song, she said: "It's not such an open thing for women to be physically attracted to the male body and fantasise about it. I can't understand that because to me the male body is absolutely beautiful. Physical masturbation, it's a feeling so bottled up you have to relieve it, as if you were crying."
Q, "Iron Maiden", November 1989 gaffa.org/reaching/i89_q3.html“...my love for Cathy resembles the eternal rocks beneath - a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Cathy! - She's always, always in my mind - not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself - but, as my own being...”
- from Wuthering Frights! see more:SNATCHED: Through the Looking-Glass, and What Cathy Found There...[/color] katebush.proboards6.com/index.cgi....ead=2516&page=2
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