Incredible song with many possible interpretations. For the longest time I thought it stated the main thesis of Hedwig and the Angry Inch as being about being split from your soulmate -- another person somewhere out there in the world. But last night I saw a stage version of the story and it dawned on me that Hedwig is confused. The thing he's been separated from is not his soulmate, but the other half of his own soul.
The lyrics say:
And if we don't behave
They'll cut us down again
And we'll be hopping round on one foot
And looking through one eye.
We think that hasn't happened yet, but as the story unfolds, we realize that indeed has happened metaphorically to Hedwig. He's been cleaved in two by his traumatic past.
Last time I saw you
We had just split in two.
You were looking at me.
I was looking at you.
You had a way so familiar,
But I could not recognize,
Cause you had blood on your face;
I had blood in my eyes.
His other looks familiar because he IS HIMSELF. But he can't recognize him because he is so filled with self-hate. Half of him hates his other half. The story isn't about him reconciling with Tommy or Yitzhak, but with himself.
Incredible song with many possible interpretations. For the longest time I thought it stated the main thesis of Hedwig and the Angry Inch as being about being split from your soulmate -- another person somewhere out there in the world. But last night I saw a stage version of the story and it dawned on me that Hedwig is confused. The thing he's been separated from is not his soulmate, but the other half of his own soul.
The lyrics say:
And if we don't behave They'll cut us down again And we'll be hopping round on one foot And looking through one eye.
We think that hasn't happened yet, but as the story unfolds, we realize that indeed has happened metaphorically to Hedwig. He's been cleaved in two by his traumatic past.
Last time I saw you We had just split in two. You were looking at me. I was looking at you. You had a way so familiar, But I could not recognize, Cause you had blood on your face; I had blood in my eyes.
His other looks familiar because he IS HIMSELF. But he can't recognize him because he is so filled with self-hate. Half of him hates his other half. The story isn't about him reconciling with Tommy or Yitzhak, but with himself.