‘Life is sad and so is love…’
The Red Shoes is a sad album, but the central message is love… ‘Live your life for love…’
Top Of The City is one of the sad songs, and I tend to regard it literally…
To me, the song is about a cry-for-help suicide attempt… The girl has given too much of herself to a failed relationship…
She is (or imagines) climbing up onto the highest point of a church or cathedral… (see the angel on the steeple of Guildford Cathedral…) She tells herself, ‘One more step…’
She feels terribly alienated from ‘the city’ (metaphor for life) … It no longer feels good for her…
She is momentarily distracted by the cityscape. But…
‘I don't know if you'll love me for it [jumping]
But I don't think we should suffer this
There's just one thing we can do about it…’
…The suicide attempt is an act of punishing him?
Midway through the song, she appeals to him: Look, I’m here with the ladder to a more fulfilling relationship, and he can take her to a better ‘top of the city/angel’s shoulders’ … and restore her sense of meaning/purpose/fulfilment etc… In the ‘Mmm yes!’, I see her climbing back down and maybe giving him a call…
‘Life is sad and so is love…’ The Red Shoes is a sad album, but the central message is love… ‘Live your life for love…’
Top Of The City is one of the sad songs, and I tend to regard it literally…
To me, the song is about a cry-for-help suicide attempt… The girl has given too much of herself to a failed relationship… She is (or imagines) climbing up onto the highest point of a church or cathedral… (see the angel on the steeple of Guildford Cathedral…) She tells herself, ‘One more step…’ She feels terribly alienated from ‘the city’ (metaphor for life) … It no longer feels good for her…
She is momentarily distracted by the cityscape. But…
‘I don't know if you'll love me for it [jumping] But I don't think we should suffer this There's just one thing we can do about it…’ …The suicide attempt is an act of punishing him?
Midway through the song, she appeals to him: Look, I’m here with the ladder to a more fulfilling relationship, and he can take her to a better ‘top of the city/angel’s shoulders’ … and restore her sense of meaning/purpose/fulfilment etc… In the ‘Mmm yes!’, I see her climbing back down and maybe giving him a call…