i love this song so much and had a vague knowledge of perkins's sad history, so i did a little stalking. as probably already known, this song is clearly an homage to his mother and father's passing. clarification for those who aren't familiar though:
"ash wednesday" must be, at least in part, a reference to the wednesday after 9/11, on which perkins' mother died. i'm sure perkins is evoking both the symbolic/religious connotations and the literal encompassing ashes of the day after. "fire" and "tear gas clouds," while symbolic, are also literaly references to this day, i'm thinking.
"on this day nine
suns away
from that sad sad saturday"
in a twist of the bizarre and the sad, perkins' mother passed away a day before the ninth anniversary of his father's death. his father, anthony perkins, passed away on saturday, sept. 12, 1992. so, logically, this song is written from the perspective of the day after his mother's passing, on the ninth anniversary of his father's passing....
"king and queen" and "bride and groom" and "yesterday and today" are all references to his mother and father, i suppose.
certainly, there are deeper connotations to everything in this song with heavy symbolism, but this is certainly the context i think.
crushing, isn't it. and to craft something so incredibly moving and potent and beautiful out of it all.
i love this song so much and had a vague knowledge of perkins's sad history, so i did a little stalking. as probably already known, this song is clearly an homage to his mother and father's passing. clarification for those who aren't familiar though:
"ash wednesday" must be, at least in part, a reference to the wednesday after 9/11, on which perkins' mother died. i'm sure perkins is evoking both the symbolic/religious connotations and the literal encompassing ashes of the day after. "fire" and "tear gas clouds," while symbolic, are also literaly references to this day, i'm thinking.
"on this day nine suns away from that sad sad saturday" in a twist of the bizarre and the sad, perkins' mother passed away a day before the ninth anniversary of his father's death. his father, anthony perkins, passed away on saturday, sept. 12, 1992. so, logically, this song is written from the perspective of the day after his mother's passing, on the ninth anniversary of his father's passing....
"king and queen" and "bride and groom" and "yesterday and today" are all references to his mother and father, i suppose.
certainly, there are deeper connotations to everything in this song with heavy symbolism, but this is certainly the context i think.
crushing, isn't it. and to craft something so incredibly moving and potent and beautiful out of it all.