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Jig of Life Lyrics
Hello, old lady.
I know your face well.
I know it well.
She says,
"Oh!
I'll be sitting in your mirror.
Now is the place where the crossroads meet.
Will you look into the future?
"Never, never say goodbye
To my part of your life.
No, no, no, no, no!
Oh, oh, oh,
"Let me live!"
She said.
"C'mon and let me live, girl!"
She said,
"C'mon and let me live, girl!"
("C'mon and let me live!")
"This moment in time,"
(She said.)
It doesn't belong to you,"
(She said,)
It belongs to me,
"And to your little boy and to your little girl,
And the one hand clapping:
Where on your palm is my little line,
When you're written in mine
As an old memory?
Oh
"Never, never say goodbye
To my part of your life.
Oh no, no, no, no, no!
Never, never, never!
Never, never let me go!"
She said,
"C'mon and let me live, girl!'
("C'mon and let me live!")
She said,
"C'mon and let me live, girl!"
("C'mon and let me live!")
I put this
Moment here.
I put this moment here.
I put this moment
"Over here!
"Over here!
Can't you see where memories are kept bright?
Tripping on the water like a laughing girl.
Time in her eyes is spawning past life,
One with the ocean and the woman unfurled,
Holding all the love that waits for you here.
Catch us now for I am your future.
A kiss on the wind and we'll make the land.
Come over here to where When lingers,
Waiting in this empty world,
Waiting for Then, when the lifespray cools.
For Now does ride in on the curl of the wave,
And you will dance with me in the sunlit pools.
We are of the going water and the gone.
We are of water in the holy land of water
And all that's to come runs in
With the thrust on the strand."
I know your face well.
I know it well.
"Oh!
I'll be sitting in your mirror.
Now is the place where the crossroads meet.
Will you look into the future?
To my part of your life.
No, no, no, no, no!
Oh, oh, oh,
She said.
"C'mon and let me live, girl!"
She said,
"C'mon and let me live, girl!"
("C'mon and let me live!")
(She said.)
It doesn't belong to you,"
(She said,)
It belongs to me,
And the one hand clapping:
Where on your palm is my little line,
When you're written in mine
As an old memory?
Oh
To my part of your life.
Oh no, no, no, no, no!
Never, never, never!
Never, never let me go!"
"C'mon and let me live, girl!'
("C'mon and let me live!")
She said,
"C'mon and let me live, girl!"
("C'mon and let me live!")
Moment here.
I put this moment here.
I put this moment
"Over here!
Tripping on the water like a laughing girl.
Time in her eyes is spawning past life,
One with the ocean and the woman unfurled,
Holding all the love that waits for you here.
Catch us now for I am your future.
Come over here to where When lingers,
Waiting in this empty world,
Waiting for Then, when the lifespray cools.
For Now does ride in on the curl of the wave,
And you will dance with me in the sunlit pools.
We are of water in the holy land of water
And all that's to come runs in
With the thrust on the strand."
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Reaching out from the darkness comes this awesome, life-affirming ‘pull and push’ (Homeric) visitation… Our heroine has survived the trial of the past, the weight of the present; and now her unconscious mind employs her sense of future self in an attempt to buoy herself up and restore focus…
Her ‘Old Lady’ cries: “Live for us both! Don’t give up! You cannot let me drown! ... Don't die! Stay alive for our children!"
‘mirror… crossroads… future… palm…’ - The Old Lady gives our heroine no right to drown! It is not her Destiny! She cannot allow it to happen!
"Jig of Life" encourages the unsinkable, the heroic, the human potential…
‘Over here’ - The Future’s bright, the Future’s orange…
THE SOUND OF ONE HAND
Two hands clap and there is a sound. What is the sound of one hand? ~ Hakuin Ekaku
A koan is a story, dialogue, question, or statement in the history and lore of Chan (Zen) Buddhism, generally containing aspects that are inaccessible to rational understanding, yet may be accessible to intuition. A famous koan is: "Two hands clap and there is a sound; what is the sound of one hand?" (ignoring the fact that by folding your hand you can clap with one hand.) (oral tradition, attributed to Hakuin Ekaku, 1686-1769, considered a reviver of the koan tradition in Japan).
One Hand Clapping (1974) (film) is a television special featuring Paul McCartney and Wings.
One Hand Clapping (1961) (book) is a work by Anthony Burgess published originally under the pseudonym Joseph Kell. The line, "Two hands clap and there is a sound; what is the sound of one hand?" is a traditional Zen koan, and the novel takes its title from this. Burgess justified the title as follows: "The clasped hands of marriage have been reduced [by the novel's end] to a single hand. Yet it claps."
Thanks :)
Thanks :)
“Jig of Life introduces the first note of "hope" into The Ninth Wave, by telling the story of the heroine's encounter with her own future self. The old woman is the heroine scolding the girl in the water, and admonishing her not to die because she still has to get married and have children, etc…” - http://gaffa.org/dreaming/tnw_gen.html
The old woman made it, the girl didn't drown. If she did, there would be no old woman in the mirror :) I argued with my sister what was the meaning of "one hand clapping" and just couldn't get it. Does anyone have any ideas?
@mullala The one hand clapping? The best explanation I've heard is this: Clap your hands together - listen to the sound made. Clap your hands together again - really listen to the sound made. Again, clap your hands together - really listen to the sound not made - hear what is missing.
@mullala The one hand clapping? The best explanation I've heard is this: Clap your hands together - listen to the sound made. Clap your hands together again - really listen to the sound made. Again, clap your hands together - really listen to the sound not made - hear what is missing.
The illusion is that you perceive it all.
The illusion is that you perceive it all.
I put this moment..............................................here. I put this moment.........................here.
I put this moment-- "Over here!
"Over here! Can't you see where memories are kept bright? Tripping on the water like a laughing girl. Time in her eyes is spawning past life, One with the ocean and the woman unfurled, Holding all the love that waits for you here. Catch us now for I am your future. A kiss on the wind and we'll make the land. Come over here to where When lingers, Waiting in this empty world, Waiting for Then, when the lifespray cools. For Now does ride in on the curl of the wave, And you will dance with me in the sunlit pools. We are of the going water and the gone. We are of water in the holy land of water And all that's to come runs in With the thrust on the strand."
So, did she make the land? Or did she drown?
"This moment in time," (She said.) It doesn't belong to you," (She said.)
“She said”: Listen to the track. These two repeats are sung by another voice. They suggest a sense of the past, even sadness, like the Old Woman tried but didn’t make it?
Haunting… Changing the tone of the song to one of anger?
Memories and aging is what I get from this one. After death memories might not be linear and jump back and forth in a jumble. Youth denying age but the old demanding it's place to because those memories are just as important; seeing children grow and such. One face not wanting to remember the latter.
Regarding the "one hand clapping", the way I understand it, it pertains to the Zen belief that nothing can exist by itself, like one hand can't clap, or a tree falling in the woods with no one there to hear it makes no sound, so the singer has to live not just for herself, but for her future self and her future children, etc.
The song invokes the future. The 'one hand clapping' is the (future) hand clapping away to song and dance, and enjoying some Irish craic, fun, and enjoyment! Maybe in Doolin, Dublin, or Dingle... :)
I was just listening to this after watching the latest Doctor Who 'The Girl who Waited' and noticed that the lyrics match the story really well!