I kind of had to rush my post when I first commented, but I have more time now so I can elaborate on things.
Well my interpretation of the second verse kind of hit me out of the blue; I'm an autistic, and my personal experience of the world is that when I think about something I get a rush of different pictures and ideas that I associate with it - sometimes they're ideas that relate and overlap with it, sometimes they're contrasting or outrightly opposite ideas, often they're only related to the original concept by a tangent, but it's from this wide range of comparisons that I synthesise my feelings and interpretations.
The line about the pearl made me think of Fiona Apple's song Sullen Girl, which isn't about circumcision but about rape (whereas to Fiona the pearl represents the girl's liveliness and spark of joy, the image I have here is of the pearl representing the clitoris). I was also thinking about Otep's song Menocide, which she wrote after reading about circumcision. The british poet Carol Ann Duffy's poem "Oppenheim's Cup And Saucer" also swirled about in there (though this was pretty tangental; the poem is about a lesbian affair and refers to a piece by a swiss surrealist artist). As well as this, I brought to mind the various articles and reports I've read about circumcision, about both female genital mutilation in
africa and male circumcision in the western world.
I'm not sure I've ever come across any information about a marriage being sealed with a crown, Miss Lucy. Is there a specific society or time-period you have in mind?
As I was posting from the library and my time was running out, so I missed putting that in a lot of places that practice female circumcision (I'm thinking specifically about clitoridectomy, which I know a number of places in Africa practice) it's a prerequisite for marriage. If it hasn't been done, the girl gets overlooked when finding a husband.
I'll admit I'm basing a lot of my interpretations on what associations I have for the language used in the song, so it doesn't carry over to other people who haven't read or seen the same things I have. But I'm not claiming to have a definitive answer, just what this means to me.
PS I'm really enjoying reading everyone else's responses, so please keep replying! XX
I kind of had to rush my post when I first commented, but I have more time now so I can elaborate on things.
Well my interpretation of the second verse kind of hit me out of the blue; I'm an autistic, and my personal experience of the world is that when I think about something I get a rush of different pictures and ideas that I associate with it - sometimes they're ideas that relate and overlap with it, sometimes they're contrasting or outrightly opposite ideas, often they're only related to the original concept by a tangent, but it's from this wide range of comparisons that I synthesise my feelings and interpretations.
The line about the pearl made me think of Fiona Apple's song Sullen Girl, which isn't about circumcision but about rape (whereas to Fiona the pearl represents the girl's liveliness and spark of joy, the image I have here is of the pearl representing the clitoris). I was also thinking about Otep's song Menocide, which she wrote after reading about circumcision. The british poet Carol Ann Duffy's poem "Oppenheim's Cup And Saucer" also swirled about in there (though this was pretty tangental; the poem is about a lesbian affair and refers to a piece by a swiss surrealist artist). As well as this, I brought to mind the various articles and reports I've read about circumcision, about both female genital mutilation in africa and male circumcision in the western world.
I'm not sure I've ever come across any information about a marriage being sealed with a crown, Miss Lucy. Is there a specific society or time-period you have in mind?
As I was posting from the library and my time was running out, so I missed putting that in a lot of places that practice female circumcision (I'm thinking specifically about clitoridectomy, which I know a number of places in Africa practice) it's a prerequisite for marriage. If it hasn't been done, the girl gets overlooked when finding a husband.
I'll admit I'm basing a lot of my interpretations on what associations I have for the language used in the song, so it doesn't carry over to other people who haven't read or seen the same things I have. But I'm not claiming to have a definitive answer, just what this means to me.
PS I'm really enjoying reading everyone else's responses, so please keep replying! XX