| Richard Thompson – Beeswing Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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Good comments so far. All I have to add is that sleeping rough is slang for sleeping outside with the connotation of homelessness. The juxtaposition of images of her as a young woman and her as an older woman (middle aged, perhaps) interweave. As a young woman: "Brown hair zig-zag round her face And a look of half-surprise Like a fox caught in the headlights There was an animal in her eyes" She was working in a steam laundry and high humidity really makes naturally curly hair go wild. The narrator compares her to a fox, which contrasts with: "Last I hear she's sleeping out Back on Derby beat White Horse in her hip pocket And a wolfhound at her feet" White Horse is a whisky but there's lots of choices of whisky--I think the intention was also to refer to the popular image of a knight/saviour on a shining white steed riding to save the one he loves. She's keeping that image in her hip pocket which underlines that she both has a means of something that 'saves' her and that the only aid she'll use is one that only she controls. Someone else implied it means she is an alcoholic and that may well be. I think it could also be a reference to continuing the hard drinking habits of her youth. And if I had to sleep rough, I'd need some sort of chemical aid to get me through the day--so it may be that for her, the alcohol isn't the cause of her homelessness but a result of it. The wolfhound is an interesting image to me as a dog fancier. There are Borzoi (also called Russian wolfhounds) and Irish wolfhounds, two very different breeds. I suspect she's got an Irish wolfhound, a breed with a shaggy, wiry coat. That contrasts with the fox of her youth, which brings to mind a sleekness and elegance or refinement of line. Irish wolfhounds are more of a blocky, craggy sort of build. Someone above wrote that the wolfhound might be a reference to a pimp but I just can't see this woman owned by a pimp. She couldn't tolerate life with two different men she loved, so why would she accept being dominated by a pimp? She really is the sort that would chew her own foot off (kill herself) if that was the only way she could be free. I think the narrator, with more life experience, can see that she was honest to the core and some part of him regrets that he did not realise it at the time. She said she would only stay without ties (ownership) and her life demonstrates that she really meant it. Freedom was more important to her than security (staying until the frost because the work is good in the area) or comfort. If she has turned to prostitution, she's still living by her core value: when there is a price on love (prostitution), she doesn't stay. |
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| Richard Thompson – Beeswing Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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@[Atman:32162], an excellent answer! |
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