First off, it's not "the nine" it's "born 'a' nine, cursed repeatedly". Novim obviously comes from the Latin Novem, for nine. What you have to understand is that "Numbers", the album this song is on, was made while Cat Stevens was studying Numerology.
Subtitled "A Pythagorean Theory Tale", "Numbers" is a concept album based on a fictional planet called Polygor in a far-off galaxy, and the "Polygons" who inhabited its palace. The album includes a booklet with excerpts from the book of the same name, written by Chris Bryant and Allan Scott.
In the booklet, it explains: "Novim was silent and old. He spent much of his time reading and thinking about everything deeply."
I can only guess at the meaning of most of the song, but I'm willing to bet that it would be more clear if you had the book by Bryant and Scott.
The song's references to death and tombs could simply be due to Novim being old and thinking about death, however it is more likely that it is explained in the book, since the booklet that accompanies the album says, right after introducing Novim: "The nine Polygons followed a life of routine that had existed for as long as any could remember. They did not seem to age, nor did they seem to change. It was, therefore, all the more shocking when on an ordinary day things first started to go wrong."
Possibly the song could also be explained by meanings attached to the number nine by Numerology, which I am unfamiliar with.
First off, it's not "the nine" it's "born 'a' nine, cursed repeatedly". Novim obviously comes from the Latin Novem, for nine. What you have to understand is that "Numbers", the album this song is on, was made while Cat Stevens was studying Numerology.
Subtitled "A Pythagorean Theory Tale", "Numbers" is a concept album based on a fictional planet called Polygor in a far-off galaxy, and the "Polygons" who inhabited its palace. The album includes a booklet with excerpts from the book of the same name, written by Chris Bryant and Allan Scott.
In the booklet, it explains: "Novim was silent and old. He spent much of his time reading and thinking about everything deeply."
I can only guess at the meaning of most of the song, but I'm willing to bet that it would be more clear if you had the book by Bryant and Scott.
The song's references to death and tombs could simply be due to Novim being old and thinking about death, however it is more likely that it is explained in the book, since the booklet that accompanies the album says, right after introducing Novim: "The nine Polygons followed a life of routine that had existed for as long as any could remember. They did not seem to age, nor did they seem to change. It was, therefore, all the more shocking when on an ordinary day things first started to go wrong."
Possibly the song could also be explained by meanings attached to the number nine by Numerology, which I am unfamiliar with.