"It was long believed that the lyrics are a reference to the murder of John Lennon, although when asked about this in a 1995 interview, Oldfield responded:
'[It's] not really [about Lennon]... well, perhaps, when I look back on it, maybe it was. I actually arrived in New York that awful evening when he was shot and I was staying at the Virgin Records house in Perry Street, which was just a few blocks down the road from the Dakota Building where it happened, so it probably sank into my subconscious. It was originally inspired by a film I loved - Houdini, starring Tony Curtis, which was about attempts to contact Houdini after he'd died, through spiritualism... it was originally a song influenced by that, but a lot of other things must have crept in there without me realising it.'
—Mike Oldfield, http://tubular.net/articles/95_06.shtml
The Lennon story may have arisen as a consequence of the content of the promo video that accompanied the song, which juxtaposes footage of Oldfield and his band playing the song with a loose storyline in which Oldfield plays a man who gets killed in a pistol duel. It is worth noting that there are two versions of the video, the full-length original, and a shorter one which omits a verse (the reason for the shorter version being created is unknown), and the way both versions are edited suggests that Oldfield's touring guitarist "Ant" performed the second, rockier half of the memorable guitar solo, which is not the case.""
So I guess most of you were correct. John Lennon, a duel, it all seems to fit in. Still I find Mike Oldfield's explanation kind of.. sloppy. :)
Nevermind the "real" meaning, for me it is one of the greatest songs I ever heard, Maggie Reilly's voice is just amazing. I also love the guitar solo, wish it was longer/more elaborate. By the way, I prefer the short version, the extended version sounds kind of strange, even tough the additional lines give full "context".
What I gathered from wikipedia:
"It was long believed that the lyrics are a reference to the murder of John Lennon, although when asked about this in a 1995 interview, Oldfield responded:
'[It's] not really [about Lennon]... well, perhaps, when I look back on it, maybe it was. I actually arrived in New York that awful evening when he was shot and I was staying at the Virgin Records house in Perry Street, which was just a few blocks down the road from the Dakota Building where it happened, so it probably sank into my subconscious. It was originally inspired by a film I loved - Houdini, starring Tony Curtis, which was about attempts to contact Houdini after he'd died, through spiritualism... it was originally a song influenced by that, but a lot of other things must have crept in there without me realising it.' —Mike Oldfield, http://tubular.net/articles/95_06.shtml
The Lennon story may have arisen as a consequence of the content of the promo video that accompanied the song, which juxtaposes footage of Oldfield and his band playing the song with a loose storyline in which Oldfield plays a man who gets killed in a pistol duel. It is worth noting that there are two versions of the video, the full-length original, and a shorter one which omits a verse (the reason for the shorter version being created is unknown), and the way both versions are edited suggests that Oldfield's touring guitarist "Ant" performed the second, rockier half of the memorable guitar solo, which is not the case.""
So I guess most of you were correct. John Lennon, a duel, it all seems to fit in. Still I find Mike Oldfield's explanation kind of.. sloppy. :)
Nevermind the "real" meaning, for me it is one of the greatest songs I ever heard, Maggie Reilly's voice is just amazing. I also love the guitar solo, wish it was longer/more elaborate. By the way, I prefer the short version, the extended version sounds kind of strange, even tough the additional lines give full "context".
Have a nice night, best regards from Germany!