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Post by Lori on Jul 31, 2003 23:34:51 GMT
Oh big stripey lie moving
Like a wavy line
Coming up behind
All young gentle dreams drowning
In life's grief
Can you hang on me?
Don't want to hurt you baby
I only want to help you
I could be good for you
Your name is being called by sacred things
That are not addressed nor listened to
Sometimes they blow trumpets
Only want to help you
Never want to hurt you
I know I could be good for you
Oh my God it's a jungle in here
You've got wild animals loose in here
Want to help you
Never hurt you
Good for you
Hey all you little waves run away
Mmm run away
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LilyWhite
Breathing
Help this blackbird! There's a stone around my leg.
Posts: 93
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Post by LilyWhite on Sept 10, 2005 19:34:13 GMT
This song is so interesting, even by Kate's standards. How hard it is to keep relations...the jungle noises are fantastic! Not to mention this is the only song with Kate on guitar! Very experimental on many levels for Kate I think.
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Post by matanchik on Sept 10, 2005 20:49:19 GMT
i also think it's a great song, very experiemental and even industrial, you can hear she was influenced by Nine inch nails and the industrial music in this song
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Post by tannis on Dec 1, 2007 16:01:10 GMT
Big Stripey Lie might suggest crisis, betrayal, fear, delusion or a depression that shakes ontological foundations. Though the title can bring to mind Aliester Crowley's "The Book of Lies", Big Stripey Lie also suggests The American Flag and The American Dream drowning in life's grief...Oh big stripey lie moving
Like a wavy line
Coming up behind...They say that the Devil is a charming man
And just like you I bet he can dance
And he's coming up behind... A treacherous wavefront is coming up like a Tsunami... A Ninth Wave... (It's behind you! ... "It's in the trees! It's coming!") ... The lie (or delusion) is big, like it's social, political, conspiratorial... Vietnam. Loose Change. War... Maybe life & love are the line; they promise so much that is phoney... [Can you hang on me? brings to mind The Catcher in the Rye] ...The betrayal (or delusion) unleashes wild-animal confusion as the 'cage' (the stable personality/ideological/paradigmatic structure) is threatened, undermined or demolished... Cognitive Dissonance... Despair is met with KaTe's histrionic reassurance... and maybe the idea of a mute Sacred Destiny can still the mind or restore humor and Consonance..."The Catcher in the Rye”'Holden imagines a field of rye perched high on a cliff, full of children romping and playing. He says he would like to protect the children from falling off the edge of the cliff by “catching” them if they were on the verge of tumbling over. As Phoebe points out, Holden has misheard the lyric. He thinks the line is “If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye,” but the actual lyric is “If a body meet a body, coming through the rye.” The song “Comin’ Thro’ the Rye” asks if it is wrong for two people to have a romantic encounter out in the fields, away from the public eye, even if they don’t plan to have a commitment to one another ['Wuthering Heights'; 'Under the Ivy'; etc]. It is highly ironic that the word “meet” refers to an encounter that leads to recreational sex, because the word that Holden substitutes—“catch”—takes on the exact opposite meaning in his mind. Holden wants to catch children before they fall out of innocence into knowledge of the adult world, including knowledge of sex' www.sparknotes.com/lit/catcher/themes.htmlEDIT:The tulips should be behind bars like dangerous animals;
They are opening like the mouth of some great African cat...
Tulips
by Sylvia Plath, 1965I wonder if KB is referring to Sylvia Plath's Tulips in BSL... ?Oh my God it's a jungle in here
You've got wild animals loose in here...The 'wild animals' could represent a jungle of flowers, their gaping petals stretched out, opening like the mouth of some great African cat... Indeed, maybe the song has a clinical setting, like visiting a patient in an acute psychiatric unit... A Black-eyed Susan and A Black-eyed dog of depression...
The 'big stripey lie moving Like a wavy line' could even refer to an electrocardiogram... The 'Don't want to hurt you' could represent the concern of a friend, relative or psychiatric nurse. It sounds desperate and frightening in the song because it is being heard by a desperate and frightened patient.
Psychotic, Paranoid and Sunburnt...Kate's Interpretations
KB: "Big Stripey Lie is a law unto itself and nearly didn't make it onto the album. It was originally a very early song which I'd written to a drum sequence of Del's and I suddenly decided I was going to play guitar all over it – I'd only had one lesson and couldn't get the chords together that I'd been taught so I put up the backing track and thrashed. I had a fantastic time – completely indulgent but I loved every minute. Because the guitar was so wild, the song took on the shape of wandering into someone's emotional world which is jungle-like and "wild". It was very experimental but people seemed to like it. It was lovely to work with Nigel Kennedy again – interesting that he didn't need to ask what the track was about. Takes one to know one ..." www.livinginthepast.demon.co.uk/red_shoesa.htmlOne Flew East and One Flew West
And One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest...
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Post by tannis on May 10, 2008 18:35:58 GMT
Your name is being called by sacred things
That are not addressed nor listened to
Sometimes they blow trumpets...Big Stripey Lie reads like a prophetic oracular utterance. Waterhouse, Consulting the Oracle (1884)upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/John_William_Waterhouse_oracle_1884.pngWaterhouse depicts a semicircle of women seeking the prophecies of the Teraph (a human skull), and the figure of the priestess as she 'interprets its decree with terror'.The song also suggests a woman's descent into "mysterious devotions", the unsettling "black cards" of crystal gazing Rose:She's gotten to mysterious devotions
She's gotten to the zodiac and Zen
She's gotten into tarot cards and potions
She's laying her religion on her friends
On her friends, on her friends
Friends who come to ask her for their future
Friends who come to find they can't be friends
Because of signs and seasons that don't suit her
She'll prophesy your death, she won't say when
Won't say when, won't say when
When all the black cards come you cannot barter
No, when all your stars are stacked you cannot win
She'll shake her head and treat you like a martyr
It is her blackest spell she puts you in
Puts you in, puts you in
ROSES BLUE, by Joni Mitchell (1969)[/b]
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Post by rosabelbelieve on May 11, 2008 0:14:43 GMT
This is a very interesting song... the lyrics do indeed suggest a prophetic utterance, or the conflict between the voice of 'sacred things blowing trumpets' and the utterly desperate and confused part of the self that has been badly hurt and disoriented. It's a song full of distress and chaos, the overpowering jungle of 'wild animals loose in here, ' but also, I think, the strong will to heal and act positively (don't want to hurt you..) and the sense of a divine calling that persists even when one is drowning in life's grief, and that must be followed, no matter what the cost. I find it a very emotionally powerful song, as well. Interesting connections with the Waterhouse painting and the Joni Mitchell lyrics.  |
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Post by tannis on May 11, 2008 6:18:25 GMT
Yes, Rosa, the references to Roses Blue and Consulting the Oracle do bring out the oracular side to 'Big Stripey Lie'. As with other KaTe songs, you can really imagine the lyrics forming as she stares into the vacuum, a crystal, a mirror, or a tarot card... Oh big stripey lie moving
Like a wavy line
Coming up behind...They say that the Devil is a charming man
And just like you I bet he can dance
And he's coming up behind... The "big stripey lie moving, coming up behind" seems ominous and threatening. It is like a cryptic tidal warning, or a flag waving to war. It moves like a snake or the Serpent of Evil.
And like a wavy line, "the song took on the shape of wandering into someone's emotional world which is jungle-like and 'wild'" (KB). But KB won't elaborate on what the track's about: "It was lovely to work with Nigel Kennedy again – interesting that he didn't need to ask what the track was about. Takes one to know one..." (KB).The Dream Line The person taking the wavy line, the curvy path in life, is exploring all the options. They are enjoying each day for what it brings, enjoying the side trips, relishing the changing of the seasons and the turning of the days. Yes, they might not reach their goal as quickly. But to the wavy line person, the journey IS the goal - to have a journey worth taking, to make decisions on that trip which are worth treasuring. A wavy line can signify the inseparability of two wisdoms. A line also represents limits and boundaries. To see a line in your dream, symbolizes duality. It also relates to movement or non-movement. And thus to dream that you cross a line, suggest that you are overstepping your boundaries or that you are moving beyond any limits... the cross the line & the curve...All young gentle dreams drowning
In life's grief
Can you hang on me?Does "all young gentle dreams" refer to all young, gentle dreamers? Sometimes, the lunchtime screaming noise from a school playground sounds like all the children are drowning in playground's grief!Or does "all young gentle dreams" refer to self-pitying thoughts concerning the loss of one's youthful outlook, hopes and illusions? Is "All young gentle dreams drowning In life's grief" a prophetic statement about the inevitability of disillusionment? Or is it about the end of hippy, peace-loving gentleness?The use of 'drowning' suggests struggle, loss, trauma. KB: "[Lindsay Kemp] taught me that you can express with your body--and when your body is awake so is your mind. He'd put you into emotional situations, some of them very heavy. Like he'd say, 'Right, you're all now going to become sailors drowning, and there are waves curling up around you.' And everyone would just start screaming... Or maybe he'd turn you into a little piece of flame..." gaffa.org/reaching/i78_nme.htmlAnd Jesus was a sailor
When he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching
From his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain
Only drowning men could see him
He said "All men will be sailors then
Until the sea shall free them."
-- Leonard Cohen, Suzanne (1967)On the Running Up That Hill dance video:Interviewer: I like the masks, I liked the scenes with the masks. How did you think those up? KB: "Well that was very much a coincidence, where the director was talking about these masks and I had a film on video that we'd taped that had a section where people were wearing these photographic masks. And we just felt that it was a really interesting idea, this crowd that would suddenly sorta rush in through the dance sequence. And the idea of the crowd being the force of either the man or the woman and so the faces change from the man to the woman. And then the idea of drowning in yourself..." gaffa.org/reaching/iv85_m1.htmlAnd the "Can you hang on to me?" suggests that the speaker is an observer, or medium, trying to throw in a life buoy. Or is perhaps channeling the Oceanic Force of Life itself. Indeed, 'Big Stripey Lie' seems like two voices addressing one Subject. There is the prophetic, clairvoyant, spiritual voice, and there is the histrionic, desperate voice...KB: "I think the first album I bought was Bridge Over Troubled Water. I liked the songs on that. I think again that's been a big attraction for me..." gaffa.org/reaching/iv85_m1.htmlSail on silver girl
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way
See how they shine
When you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
-- Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water (1970)
As the song ends, drums and piano build in a crescendo to an extraordinary climax. The last note, on a violin, is a long, drawn out E-flat that lasts ten seconds.The screeching voice on 'Big Stripey Lie' is distorted and distressed. It could reflect the Other's desperate state, trying to help but being met with resistance, as in Birdy (1984).Or maybe the Other is insightless and unaware that they are (part of) the problem. 'Is there so much hate for the ones we love?' ... Maybe the distorted chorus reflects the Subject's muffled hearing from under the bell jar..."wherever I sat - on the deck of a ship or at a street café in Paris or Bangkok - I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air."
Sylvia Plath, The Bell JarI guess you could say I've a call.
Sylvia Plath, Lady LazarusYour name is being called by sacred things
That are not addressed nor listened to
Sometimes they blow trumpetsAgain, the prophetic, clairvoyant, spiritual voice. It is reminiscent of Lily reciting the The Gayatri, one of the most sacred mantrams from the Rigveda:Oh thou, who givest sustenance to the universe
From whom all things proceed
To whom all things return
Unveil to us the face of the true spiritual sun
Hidden by a disc of golden light
That we may know the truth
And do our whole duty
As we journey to thy sacred feetsee: katebush.proboards6.com/index.cgi?board=theredshoes&action=display&thread=1749Sometimes they blow trumpets... A reference to Jericho, whose walls came tumbling down at the sound of trumpets... A sound that could kill someone... I wonder if KB is referring to Sylvia Plath's Tulips in Big Stripey Lie... ?The tulips should be behind bars like dangerous animals;
They are opening like the mouth of some great African cat...
Tulips
by Sylvia Plath, 1965Oh my God it's a jungle in here
You've got wild animals loose in here...The 'wild animals' could represent a jungle of flowers, their gaping petals stretched out, opening like the mouth of some great African cat... Indeed, maybe the song has a clinical setting, like visiting a patient in an acute psychiatric unit... A Black-eyed Susan and A Black-eyed dog of depression...
The 'big stripey lie moving Like a wavy line' could even refer to an electrocardiogram... The 'Don't want to hurt you' could represent the concern of a friend, relative or psychiatric nurse. It sounds desperate and frightening in the song because it is being heard by a desperate and frightened patient.
Psychotic, Paranoid and Sunburnt...KB: " took on the shape of wandering into someone's emotional world which is jungle-like and 'wild'."One Flew East and One Flew West
And One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest...It's a song full of distress and chaos, the overpowering jungle of 'wild animals loose in here, ' but also, I think, the strong will to heal and act positively (don't want to hurt you..) and the sense of a divine calling that persists even when one is drowning in life's grief, and that must be followed, no matter what the cost. I find it a very emotionally powerful song, as well.
And THETIS brings her calm... Hey all you little waves run away
Mmm run away...
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Post by tannis on Feb 19, 2009 6:27:49 GMT
Big Stripey Lie
This track is fascinating in that the bass and guitar sounds which seem typical of dub specialist Jah Wobble and quirky American indie rock bands are in fact all played by Kate herself, who picked up a guitar during the recording sessions and within a couple of weeks was asking for Marshall valve guitar amps to be delivered so she could create screaming guitar solos. "It's a sort of stocking-filler track, the last one to be written, and has a sort of Captain Beefheart impersonation on the bass and guitar."
The bass sound is intentionally overdriven on the mixing desk, but also partly results from Kate's style of playing it - her energetic style overloads the compression on the desk without actually creating distortion due to high volume. Chirpy keyboard sounds on a Yamaha DX7 and an unexpected violin part combine to make this one of the most absorbing tracks on the album, despite the fact that it's untypical in its overall recording method - "this one was done quite quickly by the old method of putting down one track at a time, so it's not representative of the band-orientated approach on the rest of the album."
Future Music interview with Del Palmer, "Well red", Nov. 1993www.gaffaweb.org/reaching/i93_fm.html
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Post by tannis on Mar 19, 2009 21:27:49 GMT
LIE LOW: "Snakes in the Grass..."   Oh big stripey lie moving
Like a wavy line
Coming up behind
Oh my God it's a jungle in here
You've got wild animals loose in here The Jungle Book - Kaa & Shere Khan
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T0I5UepXMA
From Disney's "The Jungle Book" (1967), with the voices of Sterling Holloway as Kaa and George Sanders as Shere Khan.
BIG STRIPEY CAT: George Sanders voiced Shere Khan the tiger, who wants to kill Mowgli. For this reason the Wolf Council votes to send Mowgli away.
BIG STRIPEY SNAKE: Sterling Holloway voiced Kaa the python. Kaa is determined to catch and eat Mowgli before Shere Khan does. |
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