Catherine liked high places
High up on the hills
A place for making noises
Noises like the Whales
Here she built a chapel with
Her image on the wall
A place where she could rest and
A place where she could wash
and listen to the wind blow
She dreamt of children's voices
And torture on the wheel
Patron-Saint of nothing
A woman of the hills
She once was a lady
Of pleasure, and high-born
A lady of the city
But now she sits and moans
and listens to the wind blow
I see her in her chapel
High up on a hill
She must be so lonely
Oh Mother, can't we give
A husband to our Catherine?
A handsome one, a dear
A rich one for the lady
Someone to listen with
Here's some more information: st-catherine.org.uk/harvey1.htm
"The chapel in Abbotsbury is often visited by women who are looking for husbands. There is a prayer for them to say:
A husband, St Catherine A handsome one, St Catherine A rich one, St Catherine A nice one, St Catherine And soon, St Catherine."
Sound familiar? ;)
i adore this song.
I, for some reason, think that this song is a sort of .... answer to Led Zep's "Stairway To Heaven", which has the line "dear Lady, can you hear the wind blow/and did you know/your Stairway lies on the whispering wind. In "The Wind" Catherine listens to the wind blow all the time, as if looking for something. See where I'm going? But I'm not totally sure on that count. Might be a coincidence.
Astute observation.
"And torture on the wheel" That's supposed to be the miracle St. Catherine performed - she was supposed to be tortured on the wheel, and somehow it exploded (and the splinters killed people all around) and she was saved. anyway, that's what was said in the movie "Millions".. (I'm allowed not to know anything about saints, I'm Jewish (: )
Another literary reference, in my opinion. The torture and images of the children's voices and the chapel call to mind Brönte's "Wuthering Heights" and the tumultuous relationship between Catherine Earnshaw (or Linton) and Heathcliff, not as straightforwardly as Kate Bush's song of the same name, but it calls to mind the same story. I like the idea of St. Catherine as well, but I feel like the imagery of the woman in a chapel and on a hill is also reminiscent of Brönte's story and is one of a number of literary references in this album (notably Hawthorne, Salinger and the Bible and other more obscure ones I'm sure I've yet to notice).
my name is Katherine