I've always thought of this song as Lewis Carroll thinking about Alice Liddel. It's part of a musical Tom Waits wrote about Alice in Wonderland, I think, and it makes some sense. The "arithmetic" part could be a reference to Dogdson's career as a mathematician. Later on the CD, Alice replies in "I'm Still Here." A lot of the images are the same. The frozen pond and the broken watch, for example.
I remember reading somewhere that Alice Liddell gave a speech on Lewis Carroll and in it she mentioned that he would go ice skating with her and one time he fell and broke his watch. Makes sense when you look at the pair of songs, and the "arithmetok" thing. There seems to be a fascination with time, maybe because of the age difference. And "Wait for me" sounds like something a lover would say. As in "Wait until you're old enough."
I don't know if this makes sense or not. But the song really feels a lot like Charles' Dogdson's obsession with Alice. It's a wonderful song.
I've always thought of this song as Lewis Carroll thinking about Alice Liddel. It's part of a musical Tom Waits wrote about Alice in Wonderland, I think, and it makes some sense. The "arithmetic" part could be a reference to Dogdson's career as a mathematician. Later on the CD, Alice replies in "I'm Still Here." A lot of the images are the same. The frozen pond and the broken watch, for example.
I remember reading somewhere that Alice Liddell gave a speech on Lewis Carroll and in it she mentioned that he would go ice skating with her and one time he fell and broke his watch. Makes sense when you look at the pair of songs, and the "arithmetok" thing. There seems to be a fascination with time, maybe because of the age difference. And "Wait for me" sounds like something a lover would say. As in "Wait until you're old enough."
I don't know if this makes sense or not. But the song really feels a lot like Charles' Dogdson's obsession with Alice. It's a wonderful song.