@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
How often she has gazed from castle windows o'er,
And watched the daylight passing within her captive wall,
With no-one to heed her call.
The evening hour is fading within the dwindling sun,
And in a lonely moment those embers will be gone
And the last of all the young birds flown.
Her days of precious freedom, forfeited long before,
To live such fruitless years behind a guarded door,
But those days will last no more.
Tomorrow at this hour she will be far away,
Much farther than these islands,
Or the lonely Fotheringay
And watched the daylight passing within her captive wall,
With no-one to heed her call.
The evening hour is fading within the dwindling sun,
And in a lonely moment those embers will be gone
And the last of all the young birds flown.
Her days of precious freedom, forfeited long before,
To live such fruitless years behind a guarded door,
But those days will last no more.
Tomorrow at this hour she will be far away,
Much farther than these islands,
Or the lonely Fotheringay
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On a literal level, this song is historical and about Mary Queen of Scots. However. I would like to suggest that this is only part of the story, and that here is a strong figurative meaning to the lyrics which gives them a much deeper resonance.
The main character represents the soul trapped and limited within the body, and the desire for transcendence which can only come through death.
The "captive wall" is the physical body, or the egoic mind, which we are enslaved to from birth through to death.
The longing in the song expresses the soul's desire to break free from the limits of the physical body and physical experience and transcend all of its limitations.
"The evening hour...fading within the dwindling sun" represents the approach of death which the soul longs for and welcomes, as they know it will set them free from the realm of matter to the realm of spirit.
"Tomorrow..this hour she will be far way" refers to the end of life, where the entrapped soul is finally liberated and escapes the confines of the material (the captive wall) to the realm of spirit.
Finally, free of the shackles of the physical body and the world of matter, the soul returns to its true home.
@hejira1984 <br /> <br /> Really good.<br /> <br /> Had only previously thought about the direct meaning- the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.<br /> <br /> Your explanation shows the underlying figurative meaning as expressed by the troubled soul of the brilliant Sandy Denny.<br /> <br /> BTW. The creation of the background echo castle chanting sound effects is a masterstroke.
The literal meaning is clear: death of Mary Queen of Scots.
But I think this was about Sandy Denny's inner self. She was a restless soul that felt trapped "To live such fruitless years behind a guarded door,"
When she had a child in 1977, it was not enough and a year later she was dead at 31.
"Tomorrow at this hour she will be far away, Much farther than these islands, Or the lonely Fotheringay"
free at last. Dear God I hope she is.
Mary Queen of Scots spent the last days of her life as a prisoner in Fotheringay Castle in Northamptonshire, and was executed in the castle's courtyard.
The song reflects on her years of imprisonment and impending death.