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Post by Lori on Jul 30, 2003 23:39:40 GMT
The night doesn't like it Looks just like your face on the moon, to me And I won't let you do What you want to do
It's funny how, even now You're laughing
I won't let you do it
If you go, I'll let the law know And they'll head you off when you touch the ground Ooh, please, don't go through with this I don't like the sound of it
It's funny how, even now You're miles away
I won't let you do it I won't let you do it I won't let you go through with it
"Meet them over at Dover I'll just pilot the motor Take them over the water
"With a hired plane And no names mentioned Tonight's the night of the flight Before you know I'll be over the water Like a swallow There's no risk I'll whisk them up in no moonlight And though pigs can fly They'll never find us Posing as the night And I'm home before the morning"
In Malta, catch a swallow For all of the guilty-to set them free Wings fill the window And they beat and bleed They hold the sky on the other side Of borderlines
I won't let you do it I won't let you do it I won't let you go through with it
"Meet them over at Dover I'll just pilot the motor Take them over the water Like a swallow flying to Malta
"With a hired plane And no names mentioned Tonight's the night of the flight Before you know I'll be over the water Like a swallow
"There's no risk I'll whisk them up in no moonlight And though pigs can fly They'll never find us Posing as the night And I'm home before the morning
"Give me a break! Ooh, let me try! Give me something to show For my miserable life! Give me something to take! Would you break even my wings Just like a swallow?
"Let me-let me go With a hired plane And no names mentioned Tonight's the night of the flight Before you know I'll be over the water Like a swallow
("Let me-let me go!") "There's no risk I'll whisk them up in no moonlight And though pigs can fly They'll never find us Posing as the night And I'm home before the morning
("Let me-let me go!") "With a hired plane And no names mentioned Tonight's the night of the flight Before you know I'll be over the water Like a swallow
("Let me-let me go!") "There's no risk I'll whisk them up in no moonlight And though pigs can fly They'll never find us Posing as the night And I'm home before the morning"
But you're not a swallow!
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Post by brillo69 on Jun 12, 2004 21:08:56 GMT
The night doesn't like it. Looks just like your face on the moon, to me. And I won't let you do What you want to do.
It's funny how, even now, You're laughing.
I won't let you do it.
If you go, I'll let the law know, And they'll head you off when you touch the ground. Ooh, please, don't go through with this. I don't like the sound of it.
It's funny how, even now, You're miles away.
I won't let you do it. I won't let you do it. I won't let you go through with it.
"Meet them over at Dover. I'll just pilot the motor, Take them over the water
"With a hired plane, And no names mentioned. Tonight's the night of the flight. Before you know, I'll be over the water
"Like a swallow. There's no risk. I'll whisk them up in no moonlight. And though pigs can fly, They'll never find us Posing as the night, And I'm home before the morning."
In Malta, catch a swallow, For all of the guilty--to set them free. Wings fill the window, And they beat and bleed.
They hold the sky on the other side Of BORDERlines.
"Meet them over at Dover. I'll just pilot the motor, Take them over the water, Like a swallow flying to Malta,
"With a hired plane, And no names mentioned. Tonight's the night of the flight. Before you know, I'll be over the water Like a swallow.
"There's no risk. I'll whisk them up in no moonlight. And though pigs can fly, They'll never find us Posing as the night, And I'm home before the morning.
"Give me a break! Ooh, let me try! Give me something to show For my miserable life! Give me something to take! Would you break even my wings, Just like a swallow?
"Let me--let me go With a hired plane, And no names mentioned. Tonight's the night of the flight. Before you know, I'll be over the water Like a swallow.
("Let me--let me go!") "There's no risk. I'll whisk them up in no moonlight. And though pigs can fly, They'll never find us Posing as the night, And I'm home before the morning.
("Let me--let me go!") "With a hired plane, And no names mentioned. Tonight's the night of the flight. Before you know, I'll be over the water Like a swallow.
("Let me--let me go!") "There's no risk. I'll whisk them up in no moonlight. And though pigs can fly, They'll never find us Posing as the night, And I'm home before the morning--"
But you're not a swallow!
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stev0
Moving
He's an utter creep and he drives me 'round the bend
Posts: 517
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Post by stev0 on Jun 30, 2005 12:48:52 GMT
One of my all time-favorite Kate songs. But you know what annoys me (why are you looking at me like that? OF COURSE something annoys me!)? When I listen to The Dreaming on my iPod, that wonderful intro with the uilleann pipes comes in, and then there's a short pause because whoever set the tracks put it as part of the song The Dreaming! iPods have an annoying "feature" that has a split-second pause between tracks. Just enough to be annoying when two songs blend together like this.
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Post by ragnar on Dec 14, 2005 17:24:29 GMT
I have the same problem Anyway...this is a fantastic song ! Very good chorus.
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Post by tannis on Nov 26, 2007 16:54:12 GMT
A Great Song Story! ... 'The Night doesn't like it' ... The opening evokes divination, ill omen, witchcraft, spells... an appeal to the Moon Goddess... An inauspicious moon... a feeling of foreboding... Swallows are excellent fliers, using their skill to attract a mate and defend territory... The SWALLOW represents the idea of coming back, of returning home, of resurrection, hope, loyalty, freedom... a hardship survived, a victory gained... The SWALLOW can also represent the relationship between an older and younger brother... "But you're not a swallow" (heard right at the end of the track)... The dreadful foresight of one sees the doom of the other... The other seems lost to the scheme, heedless; deaf to appeal and blind to the seriousness of events... Hubris... Too heroically ambitious, arrogant and foolish... Too driven to make a stand, to give it meaning... The song captures the inner struggle between caution and desire, and the human struggle of one who really cares... The mission is dangerous... Maybe IRA, maybe drugs, etc... The crooks need a plane/pilot, so hire and flatter him as The Swallow... He believes the crooks when they say that, as anonymous hired pilot, his role will be quick, easy and less involved... He is recklessly excited... "I'm home before the morning" ... However, she does not trust the situation and thinks he has been set up, or is too gullible, naive and weak... She appeals to him, adding the empty threat of letting the law know... But he is recklessly determined... Maybe at the end of the song, she is crying out to him, "Let me go (in your place!)"? ... to swap places (à la Running Up That Hill)... She is so anxious for him that she is prepared to put herself in his place because she thinks she is stronger and more capable... and he is not a swallow... ----- Swallow - Hope, Fertility, Renewal of Life, Resurrection. Like most birds, it also represents light. In ancient Egypt, it symbolized motherhood. In ancient Greece and Rome, it was a bad omen to kill a swallow because it held the spirits of dead children. In Swedish legend, a swallow was present at Christ's crucifixion, where it called for consolation. In China, it represents daring, danger, and a good change in fortune and in Japan it can mean unfaithfulness and maternal care. In Islam, the swallow makes an annual pilgrimage to Mecca and so is revered. In African cultures it represents purity. These birds are often symbols of illumination and good luck. ----- Night of the Swallow...On the Swallow Tattoo - the swallow and bluebird tattoos are designs that show the enduring popularity of nautical themed tattoo art. Traditionally the swallow is a tattoo that a sailor gets after traveling 5000 nautical miles at sea. Often a swallow is the "first sign that land is near". To a sailor the swallow means a "safe return home". Swallows are known to travel far distances out to sea during migration and would rest on boats close to shore which gave early mariners the first sign that land was close by. Swallows also return home every year, no matter where they are, a source of comfort for sailors far from home. Swallow tattoos are also associated with loyalty and fidelity - swallows choose a mate for life, and will only nest with that bird and no other... ...But you're not a swallow!
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Post by rosabelbelieve on Feb 1, 2008 4:03:59 GMT
An incredible song! Surprisingly little talk about it here, though... but I can change that! ;DThe Dreaming marked the advent of a possible new path, a new vision, something unknown and magnetic. To me, Night of the Swallow is the the inner conflict which arises when X must choose whether she will follow this new path. It is the tension between wanderlust and the comfort of the hearth, between stillness and change, between calm silence and a startling melody. I really don't know much at all about Greek mythology, but I've had an idea that this is the tension between Hestia and Hermes, in a funny way. Hestia represents to me the hearth, the centre, a peaceful state of wisdom as it is and completeness within oneself... wholeness, and holiness, quiet sacrament and balance, steadiness and stasis. Hermes represents the quicksilver, the mercurius so essential to making the lapis, ever-restless and full of change, full of searching for that most exalted treasure. He is the magician, the alchemist, the wandering seeker, burning with dreams and ambition and energy. He yearns for the highest, most ecstatic thing-- she tends the hearth fire and he longs for the ineffable conflagration of the sun; she is content with her knowledge and he aches for the glory of universal truth; she is at peace with her craft and he desires the revelation of intense, magnificent inspiration. I think both of these qualities are essential to balance in a person's psyche and life. Inspiration and embodiment, action and meditation, solitude and communion... are all qualities integral to the harmony of life, and being the paradoxical person I am I see them as interlacing webs which feed off each other in a kind of circulation. As far as the literal situation that gives rise to this conflict, it seems to me that a stranger has arrived at X's doorstep- maybe some wayward traveler lost in his search for "the treasure hardest to attain." He tells his story to X, and she finds herself awakening to the element of her own mind that would set out for that immeasurable shimmering goal, leaving all wisdom and knowledge she has already found in hopes of finding that vision which swallows and transcends all others, that mystical inspiration which sweeps all smaller things into it's cosmical grandeur. She is afraid of this new feeling at first, and tries to stifle it. But it seems to me she begins to care for her visitor- something very alien to the steely solitude she held up against the world in LIO. And when it comes time for him to leave, she is thrown into a very difficult choice. X tries to stop him from leaving- "The night doesn't like it! Looks just like your face on the moon, to me..." The stillness and darkness of her little world don't like his leaving. "If you go, I'll let the law know..." his departure is not in harmony with the greater authority. I wonder if the moon could be a metaphor for someone perpetually condemned to wander, always longing for something intrinsically impossible. Always turning ones face to the sun, insatiable, hungry for light and glory yet never able to sustain any light of one's own. She warns him against this state. It does seem a fair accusation. The Magician, Hermes, does seek the impossible, the mysterious, the sacred and miraculous. It is in a way an essentially doomed search. The search the artist, both adoring and reviling the bindings of fate, seeking the creation of and incredible beauty, a radiant and miraculous reality of art. The search of the mystic to transcend the finitude of this world. The search of the philosopher towards a boundless, all-embracing truth. If I may add some of my own personal observations here, I would say that. as a writer, it has occurred to me that my most complete and beautiful work is the one I will never finish. The story that is closest to my heart and fullest of my life can never stop its mercurial shapeshifting and spiraling. If it did it would no longer be the closest story to my heart, if that makes any sense. The lapis is in essence unattainable- and yet it is present in everything. The mundane and the transcendent are one- but we can never catch them. We cannot pin the most beautiful truth up on the wall like a specimen of butterfly. If we did, it would be dead. The cyclic search, the spiraling into and out from the centre of the mandala, the circle of reincarnation- is the best we can do. And it is also astonishingly beautiful! Okay, I know this probably doesn't seem related to NOTS in the slightest, by now, but in a wider sense this really is what this song expresses to me. The eternal and essential tension between stillness and change, between spirit and matter, between so many irreconciliable opposites- the impossibility of their unity and also it's existence. The magic that governs the their violent, dancing, chaotic, harmonious movements. In the end, Hermes and Hestia are two sides of the same coin. I guess, as a whole, this is the focus of The Dreaming for me. The conflict between earthly fate, that spindling, wise, hateful spider, that binding so awful and yet so neccesary, and the wild, incredible hope of the ecstasy of the ever elusive "having it all." In the end of NOTS, I think the Hestia/X figure is left alone, left suspended without the part of herself still beguiled by the journey. She is experiencing directly the tension I described earlier. She cannot completely stay, and she cannot completely leave. (But you're not a swallow..) It is tension that I believe she does not come to terms with until Houdini, and, in a way, I think it's ultimate resolution is Aerial. But it is an essential and creative tension, and it continues in All The Love... My God, I can't seem to shut up, can I? I'll probably edit this later... but for now I'll just be incredibly surprised if anyone attempts to read it. ;D
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Post by rosabelbelieve on Feb 2, 2008 2:00:46 GMT
Also, an afterthought- it seems to me a good deal of time has passed between The Dreaming and NOTS. Enough time for X to create a strong and important relationship with her visitor, and for her to change spiritually into a much more loving and balanced person. She has begun to think she has maybe even found that treasure she looked for so long. But NOTS awakens long dormant dreams of glory and transcendence. It shakes up a conflict between what she has found and what she could find.
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Post by Barry SR Gowing on Apr 4, 2008 9:42:37 GMT
Yes, it's curious that so little is said about this song, reputedly THE fan favourite of all KB songs. So ... we start with some dramatic piano chords followed by Kate's awesome vocal entrance (musically the song pivots between the keys of B and G major, which is a fairly unusual gambit and contributes to the dramatic effect). The story details a woman who won't let her man "do it". But what he wants to "do" is presumably some kind of spy mission or something equally dramatic, perhaps a daring international heist. He is possibly codenamed (or nicknamed) "The Swallow" I guess. He certainly likens himself to a swallow - his swiftness and elusiveness are going to get him home safely he says, but she objects: "You're not a swallow!" I suppose one reason why this song doesn't excite a lot of analysis is because it's fairly straightforward. We don't know exactly what his plan is, but it's clearly bold, risky, probably highly illegal, and she doesn't like it. No mystery there. But there are unanswered questions. Such as: What kind of swallow? African or European? --Paul--
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Post by Barry SR Gowing on Apr 13, 2008 2:49:41 GMT
Since Kate is very influenced by film, I've wondered whether there is a film, or films, that served as inspiration for this rather cinematic song. I thought at first about the title, but film titles starting with the words "Night of the..." are usually horror films, like Night of the Living Dead or the unintentionally laughable Night of the Lupus (a film about giant mutant killer bunnies that presumably served as inspiration for a scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail). Of course, we all know that Night of the Demon is one of Kate's favourite films. But I think this is one KB song where a horror film, for once, is not an appropriate source of inspiration! Then I remembered Night of the Hunter which I've heard of, but not seen, so I looked it up and it was made in 1956 and stars Robert Mitchum and Shelley Winters. It's about a man, a phony preacher, who is hiding an extremely sinister and gruesome secret while all the time pretending to be a man of god. A widowed woman decides he'd make a good husband for her children, who she thinks need a strong father figure, and so she agrees to marry him. As expected, things go very badly for her, as she has made a terrible mistake in choosing him. Certainly sounds like fertile territory for our Kate! One of the reviews of the film says: What I was able to get out of this film is that there is nothing else remotely like it in the history of cinema. I suppose that Neil Jordan's The Company of Wolves rates up with it on sheer weirdness and the similar themes of nightmarish journeys into mature fairy tales. Other than that, I can't think of another film that so deftly established that what you were watching inhabited the space between waking and dreaming. goatdog.com/moviePage.php?movieID=198 "The space between waking and dreaming" - wow, that made me sit up and take notice! The plot of Night of the Hunter doesn't seem to bear much resemblance to Night of the Swallow but the tone of the film does seem like something that could have influenced Kate in general. It certainly a more likely source of inspiration than, say, Tennessee Williams' Night of the Iguana! I'm wondering though whether there is another film, perhaps with an unrelated title, that might feature a plot, or at least scene, reminiscent of Kate's song? --Paul--
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Post by Barry SR Gowing on Apr 20, 2008 15:58:45 GMT
"But you're not a swallow" (heard right at the end of the track)... The dreadful foresight of one sees the doom of the other... Because we can only faintly hear the line "but you're not a swallow" I assume that's because she either realises that all further argument is futile and says this last point faintly, almost just to herself, or else because he's already on his way and can barely hear her in the distance. Either way he's off the meet his reckless fate --Paul--
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Post by rosabelbelieve on Apr 20, 2008 16:16:58 GMT
Yes, that's always been my perception too. It actually took a while before I heard the "But you're not a swallow..." and I think it's quite a brilliant part of the song, isn't it?
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Adena
Moving
This time around we dance - we're chosen ones
Posts: 611
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Post by Adena on Jun 29, 2008 2:06:13 GMT
I am listening to this for the first time and want to grab my thought train here.
This is a really captivating song, and reminds me in ways of Sheila Chandra's Village Girl.
One person is saying 'tonight is our night to go, they'll never find us', and their companion is trying to pull them back, saying 'I won't let you do it'. The fugitive is running, with the dove by his side, the pure sky queen trying to pull back the little swallow...
The fugitive, by posing themselves as a swallow, is setting the guilt free. Yet the dove follows the swallow to pull him down... Perhaps the swallow is not a fugitive, but running from themselves? The law as the law of the life? The thing that the swallow must show for his life is the courage to look death in the face, and the dove is passing the olive branch to the swallow to save him... The 'us' being the arraignment of guilt and goodness in one heart, the dove and swallow in one bird... and there is the water of new life...
But you're not a swallow... you cannot fly from yourself...
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Post by rosabelbelieve on Jun 30, 2008 0:34:04 GMT
I am listening to this for the first time and want to grab my thought train here. This is a really captivating song, and reminds me in ways of Sheila Chandra's Village Girl. One person is saying 'tonight is our night to go, they'll never find us', and their companion is trying to pull them back, saying 'I won't let you do it'. The fugitive is running, with the dove by his side, the pure sky queen trying to pull back the little swallow... The fugitive, by posing themselves as a swallow, is setting the guilt free. Yet the dove follows the swallow to pull him down... Perhaps the swallow is not a fugitive, but running from themselves? The law as the law of the life? The thing that the swallow must show for his life is the courage to look death in the face, and the dove is passing the olive branch to the swallow to save him... The 'us' being the arraignment of guilt and goodness in one heart, the dove and swallow in one bird... and there is the water of new life...But you're not a swallow... you cannot fly from yourself... I think your interpretation that the swallow is running from themself is very apt. Maybe also the swallow is running from fate, or destiny - trying to escape the boundaries and borderlines of life and death, the law as in the natural and universal law that everything must follow... and I like the idea of the dove being the pure sky queen trying to save the too-adventurous swallow from his own risktaking flight, and the two of them being present in only one person.
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Adena
Moving
This time around we dance - we're chosen ones
Posts: 611
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Post by Adena on Jun 30, 2008 10:39:46 GMT
This song reminds me of a suicide song - laughing to cover up apprehension at the next turn, but miles away. The pure heart battles with the demon to save itself.
The third entity to be considered is the night, the earth. Does the earth like losing its creations to themselves?
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Post by tannis on Jul 1, 2008 22:32:09 GMT
FATHER: Did anyone see you there? Did anyone see your license plate? MOTHER: What about the other boys--What about the other boys--Do you think they'll go to the police? Jim: It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. MOTHER: Why should you be the only one involved? FATHER: Well, far be it from me to tell you what to do... MOTHER: Oh, are you going to preach? Do we have to listen to a sermon now? FATHER: Well, I'm only trying to tell him what you mean. You can't be idealistic all your life, Jim. Jim: Except to yourself. FATHER: Nobody thanks you for sticking your neck out. Jim: Except - except to yourself. FATHER: Wait a minute. Jim: Except to yourself. ~ Rebel Without a Cause (1955) The night doesn't like it...Yes, this does suggest "The law as the law of the life", a divine, universal or natural law being offended. Night is often associated with danger and evil, because bandits and dangerous animals can be concealed by darkness. The belief in magic often includes the idea that magic and magicians are more powerful at night. Similarly, mythical and folkloric creatures as vampires, and werewolves are thought to be more active at night. Ghosts are believed to wander around almost exclusively during night-time. In almost all cultures, there exist stories and legends warning of the dangers of night-time. In fact, the Saxons called the darkness of night the 'death mist'. NYX (Nox or Night personified) was the Greek goddess of the night. In Hesiod's Theogony, Night is born of Chaos; her offspring are many, and telling. With her brother Erebus, Night gives birth to Aether ("atmosphere") and Hemera ("day"). Later, on her own, Night gives birth to Momus "blame", Ponos "toil", Moros "fate", Thanatos "death", Hypnos "sleep", Charon, the Oneiroi "the tribe of dreams", the Hesperides, the Keres and Fates, Nemesis, Apate "deception", Philotes "friendship", Geras "age", and Eris "strife". Homer calls her the subduer of gods and men, and relates that Zeus himself stood in awe of her. So, if "The night doesn't like it", the action risks a crushing fate. And "If you go, I'll let the law know" becomes a formidable appeal. Looks just like your face on the moon, to me...The Man in the Moon is an imaginary figure resembling a human face, head or body, that observers from some cultural backgrounds typically perceive in the bright disc of the full Moon. A longstanding European tradition holds that the man was banished to the moon for some crime. Christian lore commonly held that he is the man caught gathering sticks on the sabbath and sentenced by God to death by stoning in the book of Numbers XV.32-36. Some Germanic cultures thought he was a man caught stealing from a neighbor's hedgerow to repair his own. There is a Roman legend that he is a sheep-thief. One tradition, both Christian and Jewish, claims him as Cain, the Wanderer, forever doomed to circle the Earth. So "Looks just like your face on the moon, to me" suggests crime, guilt, doom and capture. NOTS reads like a Sophoclean drama. The insight of one is pitted against the arrogance of the other. And, yes, laughter does indeed cover apprehension... It's funny how, even now You're laughing...KaTe's black humour: A finds it funny that B is laughing! ... But, of course, it is not funny-ha-ha. Rather, A is maddened by B's naive, suicidal optimism. Indeed, "If you go, I'll let the law know And they'll head you off when you touch the ground" suggests that A would rather B were in jail than risking his life. But B is miles away, lost to the scheme and deaf to appeal. "The pure heart battles with the demon to save itself..." And, yes, the song captures the inner, human struggle between caution and desire. "Give me a break! Ooh, let me try! Give me something to show For my miserable life! Give me something to take! Would you break even my wings..."B is heroically - or foolishly - driven. Maybe the mission is suicidal; but, either way, B sees it as giving his "miserable life" meaning and definition. But you're not a swallow! And, to quote Paul, "Because we can only faintly hear the line 'but you're not a swallow' I assume that's because she either realises that all further argument is futile and says this last point faintly, almost just to herself, or else because he's already on his way and can barely hear her in the distance. Either way he's off the meet his reckless fate.." Then again, maybe A is being overly maternal, neurotic, dramatic, anxious, and spoiling the enthusiasm and fun of others. And maybe B does get "home before the morning". But, Did anyone see B there? Did anyone see B's license plate? What about the other boys--Do you think they'll go to the police? KB on NOTS: "Yes, unfortunately a lot of men do begin to feel very trapped in their relationships and I think, in some situations, it is because the female is so scared, perhaps of her insecurity, that she needs to hang onto him completely. In this song she wants to control him and because he wants to do something that she doesn't want him to she feels that he is going away. It's almost on a parallel with the mother and son relationship where there is the same female feeling of not wanting the young child to move away from the nest. Of course, from the guys point of view, because she doesn't want him to go, the urge to go is even stronger. For him, it's not so much a job as a challenge; a chance to do something risky and exciting. But although that woman's very much a stereotype I think she still exists today." Melody Maker, "Dreamtime Is Over", Oct. 16, 1982. - gaffa.org/reaching/i82_mm.html
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