@[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.
Have mercy on me, sir
Allow me to impose on you
I have no place to stay
And my bones are cold right through
I will tell you a story
Of a man and his family
And I swear that it is true
Ten years ago I met a girl named Joy
She was a sweet and happy thing
Her eyes were bright blue jewels
And we were married in the spring
I had no idea what happiness a little love could bring
Or what life had in store
But all things move toward their end
All things move toward their end
On that you can be sure
(Hit it)
Then one morning I awoke to find her weeping
And for many days to follow
She grew so sad and lonely
Became Joy in name only
Within her breast there launched an unnamed sorrow
And a dark and grim force set sail
Farewell happy fields
Where joy forever dwells
Hail horrors hail
Was it an act of contrition or some awful premonition
As if she saw into the heart of her final blood-soaked night
Those lunatic eyes, that hungry kitchen knife
Ah, I see sir, that I have your attention!
Well, could it be?
How often have I asked that question
Well, then in quick succession
We had babies, one, two, three
We called them Hilda, Hattie and Holly
They were their mother's children
Their eyes were bright blue jewels
And they were quiet as a mouse
There was no laughter in the house
No, not for Hilda, Hattie or Holly
"No wonder", people said, "Poor mother Joy's so melancholy"
Well, one night there came a visitor to our little home
I was visiting a sick friend
I was a doctor then
Joy and the girls were on their own, yeah
Joy had been bound with electrical tape
In her mouth a gag
She'd been stabbed repeatedly
And stuffed into a sleeping bag
In their very cots my girls were robbed of their lives
Method of murder much the same as my wife's
Method of murder much the same as my wife's
It was midnight when I arrived home
Said to the police on the telephone
Someone's taken four innocent lives
They never caught the man
He's still on the loose
It seems he has done many, many more
Quotes John Milton on the walls in the victim's blood
The police are investigating at tremendous cost
In my house he wrote "His red right hand"
That, I'm told is from Paradise Lost
The wind round here gets wicked cold
But my story is nearly told
I fear the morning will bring quite a frost
So I've left my home
I drift from land to land
I am upon your step and you are a family man
Outside the vultures wheel
The wolves howl, the serpents hiss
And to extend this small favor, friend
Would be the sum of earthly bliss
Do you reckon me a friend?
The sun to me is dark
And silent as the moon
Do you, sir, have a room?
Are you beckoning me in? (Hit it)
Allow me to impose on you
I have no place to stay
And my bones are cold right through
I will tell you a story
Of a man and his family
And I swear that it is true
Ten years ago I met a girl named Joy
She was a sweet and happy thing
Her eyes were bright blue jewels
And we were married in the spring
I had no idea what happiness a little love could bring
Or what life had in store
But all things move toward their end
All things move toward their end
On that you can be sure
(Hit it)
Then one morning I awoke to find her weeping
And for many days to follow
She grew so sad and lonely
Became Joy in name only
Within her breast there launched an unnamed sorrow
And a dark and grim force set sail
Farewell happy fields
Where joy forever dwells
Hail horrors hail
Was it an act of contrition or some awful premonition
As if she saw into the heart of her final blood-soaked night
Those lunatic eyes, that hungry kitchen knife
Ah, I see sir, that I have your attention!
Well, could it be?
How often have I asked that question
Well, then in quick succession
We had babies, one, two, three
We called them Hilda, Hattie and Holly
They were their mother's children
Their eyes were bright blue jewels
And they were quiet as a mouse
There was no laughter in the house
No, not for Hilda, Hattie or Holly
"No wonder", people said, "Poor mother Joy's so melancholy"
Well, one night there came a visitor to our little home
I was visiting a sick friend
I was a doctor then
Joy and the girls were on their own, yeah
Joy had been bound with electrical tape
In her mouth a gag
She'd been stabbed repeatedly
And stuffed into a sleeping bag
In their very cots my girls were robbed of their lives
Method of murder much the same as my wife's
Method of murder much the same as my wife's
It was midnight when I arrived home
Said to the police on the telephone
Someone's taken four innocent lives
They never caught the man
He's still on the loose
It seems he has done many, many more
Quotes John Milton on the walls in the victim's blood
The police are investigating at tremendous cost
In my house he wrote "His red right hand"
That, I'm told is from Paradise Lost
The wind round here gets wicked cold
But my story is nearly told
I fear the morning will bring quite a frost
So I've left my home
I drift from land to land
I am upon your step and you are a family man
Outside the vultures wheel
The wolves howl, the serpents hiss
And to extend this small favor, friend
Would be the sum of earthly bliss
Do you reckon me a friend?
The sun to me is dark
And silent as the moon
Do you, sir, have a room?
Are you beckoning me in? (Hit it)
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The singer is the killer, thats what makes the song so scary. He says the killer quotes John Milton on the walls, the singer claiming that the cops told him this, yet he himself quotes paradise lost: "Farewell happy fields Where joy forever dwells ". The last part is what freaked me out the most when I first heard it. No matter how often I've heard it since, its still good for a chill.
@Beltane Shut the fuck up, you abnormally large nerd
The narrator was definitely the killer, and as far as I can see there's three clear indications of that provided: firstly, the echo of the early reference to his tale of murder befalling "a man and his family" in the question "are you a family man?" Secondly, there's the fact that the narrator quotes Milton, as others have pointed out, fitting the killer's MO, and finally and most eeriely there's the narrator's subtly but distinctly too-knowing description of the details of the murder ("those lunatic eyes, the hungry kitchen-knife").
Brilliant song, gives you a crawling sense of terror and foreboding without ever hammering it's point home clearly.
This song for me centres around the ambiguity of weather the narrator is the killer and the irony of his wife being named Joy .
gloom, that's an interesting idea i hadn't thought of the inclusion of "Red Right Hand" in the song in quite those terms before...
Girgo, I don't think that the character in Red right Hand can possibly be the same as the character in Song of Joy simply for me the character in Red Right Hand is God. the quote from Milton itself refers to the possibility of God's vengeance on the rebels.
en.wikisource.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost/Book_I
Farewell, happy fields, Where joy for ever dwells! Hail, horrors! hail,
Doesn't the fact that he quotes paradise lost, almost abscent-mindedly during the recounting of the tale of his children's and wife's murder clarly point to him as being the murderer? He appears to be further implicated when he claims that the killer "In my house he wrote "his red right hand" That, I'm told is from Paradise Lost".
The fact that the narrator first quotes Paradise Lost in conversation and then claims to have no knowledge of it, for me seals the case that he is the killer.
affe, I don't see any evidence of the killer suffering from a split personailty or of this song being a kind of retelling of Jekyl and Hyde.
I think this song is about a family man and doctor whose wife became depressed and he grew bored of her and in revenge (the quotation of Milton "His Red Right Hand" supports the theme of vengeanvce if you look at it in it's original context) he murdered them and took up the life of a vagrant to kill others.
GravityAlwaysWins I think that it is the latter. I think the quotation from paradise lost
Farewell, happy fields, Where joy for ever dwells! Hail, horrors! hail,
summarises not only the oncoming of Joy's depression but of the narrator's desire to murder his family.
Absolute terror!! The whole song. The perfect combination of music, voice, lyrics makes you shover as hell. One of the few songs in the world that awake a very strong emotion in my: FEAR!!
A real masterpiece.
Yeah, I think he was the killer he was talking about, who now just wonders possibly looking to just recreate his crimes. 'In my house he wrote "his red right hand" ' is a line that strongly suggests it was the story teller himself (Cave, in a fantasy role of an insane Cave) who did it.
You are right about narrator/killer being the ame. The absolute worst part isn't the past, but it is what happens after the story ends. These lines are building something up:
"It seems he has done many many more "
"I am upon your step and you are a family man "
"Do you, sir, have a room? Are you beckoning me in? "
@JASGripen I always thought there was some kind of "warning" or "intimidation". In a way he told the story to induce pity in the "family man" so that he can be hosted. In another way, he's intimidating him, if you let me in you're beckoning the murderer in your house. It seems like a riddle in a cold night, and he gives the warning when he says:<br /> "Well, one night there came a visitor to our little home"<br /> I always thought it was strange, I know he's the assassin, but why instill a doubt in his host?
i know that the narrator is the killer, but the other day a question was brought up that i'd never thought about:
was his insanity the cause of joy's depression, or was her depression the cause of his insanity? if the latter...what was wrong with her? and even with the children?
maybe they just needed killin'
might i also point out that the line "all things move toward their end" was also in "Do You Love Me?" (pt 1)... if there is a connection, it might be the same men in both songs.. although "Do You Love Me?" (pt 2) speaks of paedophilia, so i kind of doubt it.
Definitely the killer - that's what makes the song. Without it, it's just some guy telling the tale of his dead family to some other guy in the woods......who cares? It also would remove any tension or suspense this song had if he was NOT the killer.
And surprising to me, the thing that proved this to me initially was the one Milton quote no ones mentioned.
" 'The sun to me is dark, and silent as the moon'.....do you sir have a room,....are ya beckoning me in?"
Or, basically, "here's a John Milton quote Mr. Family man, are you well read, do you understand that i'm admitting to you that i killed my own family? How bout that spare room? You inviting me in here or what?
Phenomenal song.
'The sun to me is dark, and silent as the Moon,when she deserts the night, hid in her vacant interlunar cave.' from Samson Agonistes. In the context of the original poem, the lines equate darkness with death and light with life. Also, note the personification of the sun as feminine, and the use of the verb deserts, which in the poem reflects Dalila's betrayal of Samson. This imagery might be used to mirror Dalila's betrayal of Samson with how the narrator feels toward his wife and by extension children, i.e. she betrayed him by turning melancholy.
I think Dressed2Depress had it right, in that the narrator resented Joy's depression, since it robbed him of his own happiness. The narrator hints that Joy was guilty in some way when he asks if it was "an act of contrition" that caused her sorrow, suggesting that she deserved it (in his own mind). Also, he makes sure to point out that the daughters were "their mother's children," which could only add to his sense of loss and feelings of resentment.