The Quickening

First off, the lyrics as printed above are wrong in more than one place. Latchkey Kid got one. "Madness on the way" ...doesn't even rhyme. Try "madness on the wing". "oh lost and by the wind grieved coast"? Come on now, this isn't the first reference to Thomas Wolfe's (the original, not the contemporary Wolfe) work (see "Stranger than Fiction"). The line is "Oh lost, and by the wind grieved ghost, Please come back to me again", a direct quote from Wolfe's "Look Homeward, Angel". It's not "for science...", but "Poor science in the service of a faith". StarryStarrySkies hit the nail on the head with the sacred and profane concept developed by Durkheim, which was further expanded on in a book by Mircea Eliade, titled (surprisingly), "The Sacred and Profane".

All of that said, I have to agree with the first part of presidentwax's post. Abortion. Not the first time BR has covered this topic (see "Operation Rescue" and maaaybe, "Tiny Voices") and it seems to be a no brainer when you consider the agreed understanding of the term the "quickening" coupled with the question posed in the last line, "Who will bear the mark of Cain?" If you don't already know, part of God's punishment for murdering his brother was that Cain would be marked so that all would know he was a murderer. Not a stretch to imagine the song is about abortion when these things are considered together.

I wonder if this has any relation to the Art Bell book...nah, doubt it.

http://www.freewebs.com/thejakesite

"He’ll sit alone when he reads" It's supposed to be: 'Is in the law that he reads'. The last bit is definitely about using scientific means to save lives. It's the whole playing God deal.

The quickening is "the earliest perception of fetal movement by a mother during pregnancy." In former times, before quickening it was permissible to abort the pregnancy.

So I assume the song is at least partly about the "when does life begin?" debate and how it's somewhat pointless assigning an exact moment.

I'd say that there is no doubt that this is a song about child birth. What is the definition of life? Is a fetus developing in the womb alive? What about the Egg infused with a sperm in conception? What about a quadrapalegic that is responsive to nothing? Fantastic lyrics.

I don't think this is necessarily about childbirth but definitely about birth in some way. He's asking what does it mean to come alive - truly, for the first time? not necessarily as a baby but a spiritual birth? An awakening by some sort of epiphanic revelation, possibly an awakening that forces some sort of negative consequence - the mark of cain, pain, madness.

I think it's about the Highlander quickenings "Like catching lightning in a jar"

i thought it was about growing up. but its probly the conception thing

its the first time the mother feels the baby move.. like kick or whatnot

hes gonna be a soccer player

he is..

he issss.....