Most of the LP Swoon is cryptic, not least this song. Isaac is a leading Old Testament figure, maybe someone Paddy MacAloon admired when he was training to take Holy Orders, as he did before becoming a singer, and there are other references in this song to religion - Stella Mater is refers to a religious song, and Joan of Arc like Isaac was a martyr. It would seem that person Paddy is singing about (which may or may not be himself, this is not entirely clear, as at times he talks in the first person, at times the second or third) is a green (meaning inexperienced here - "wet behind the ears") martyr to his muse, which is singing and speaking or praying "straight from the heart". The stairway on which he goes up and down is presumably the stairway to heaven, maybe the ups and downs of being an artist. The feat of walking "backwards through the room" and not being seen might seem to imply that the person even has some supernatural powers!
I don't know much about Paddy MacAloon's life, but I think that this song is about an individual's relationship with the church.
I don't know much about Paddy MacAloon's life, but I think that this song is about an individual's relationship with the church.
"Stella Mater (star mother or as i read: heavenly mother) light is failing making such a fool of thee when you'd love the be someone. This is the time I've set aside/.../cul de sac pride."
"Stella Mater (star mother or as i read: heavenly mother) light is failing making such a fool of thee when you'd love the be someone. This is the time I've set aside/.../cul de sac pride."
The light of knowledge as we know it disgraces the image of god as he's come to know it through the church (he means this a bit ironically) and this is the token time i take out of my day...
The light of knowledge as we know it disgraces the image of god as he's come to know it through the church (he means this a bit ironically) and this is the token time i take out of my day to show my appreciation of you.
"I've learned today /.../ that you'd want to say"
he's expressing difficulty of relating to the community of the church because the language of divinity is to him an unspoken moment that he cant convey in this context
"Forget the style... wash and comb your hair"
which music is capable, on the other hand, of achieving, so it will serve as the vessel of my new faith
the "little green isaac youre gonna walk backwards through the room" part is reprimand by an authority figure of the boy's newfound faith meaning get out.... "does that mean i wont see you?" is the boys response, and the parents response is the equivalent of "just get outta my sight." I too suspect the Isaac reference is biblical, implying that the boy is talking with his parents who placed an expectation to have a certain kind of faith regardless of the personal cost. This sentiment is reflected in the Joan of Arc reference as he realizes the nature of his type of prayer and what it will cost him: being regarded as an occultist by the church.
The "up the stairway he rose" means his growing up on the christian path and "down the stairway" refers to walking away from the church along that very same path. I believe that this is also a reference to hegelian dialectics (whichP McA might be familiar with given the veryMarxist quality of the final track on this album which implies the inevitability of proletarian revolution) and he's relishing the irony of the truth provided in that way of thinking
Most of the LP Swoon is cryptic, not least this song. Isaac is a leading Old Testament figure, maybe someone Paddy MacAloon admired when he was training to take Holy Orders, as he did before becoming a singer, and there are other references in this song to religion - Stella Mater is refers to a religious song, and Joan of Arc like Isaac was a martyr. It would seem that person Paddy is singing about (which may or may not be himself, this is not entirely clear, as at times he talks in the first person, at times the second or third) is a green (meaning inexperienced here - "wet behind the ears") martyr to his muse, which is singing and speaking or praying "straight from the heart". The stairway on which he goes up and down is presumably the stairway to heaven, maybe the ups and downs of being an artist. The feat of walking "backwards through the room" and not being seen might seem to imply that the person even has some supernatural powers!
Thanks for posting your interpretation finnegan63 - I'd given up trying to find a meaning behind this one - shall listen in a new light now
Thanks for posting your interpretation finnegan63 - I'd given up trying to find a meaning behind this one - shall listen in a new light now
I don't know much about Paddy MacAloon's life, but I think that this song is about an individual's relationship with the church.
I don't know much about Paddy MacAloon's life, but I think that this song is about an individual's relationship with the church.
"Stella Mater (star mother or as i read: heavenly mother) light is failing making such a fool of thee when you'd love the be someone. This is the time I've set aside/.../cul de sac pride."
"Stella Mater (star mother or as i read: heavenly mother) light is failing making such a fool of thee when you'd love the be someone. This is the time I've set aside/.../cul de sac pride."
The light of knowledge as we know it disgraces the image of god as he's come to know it through the church (he means this a bit ironically) and this is the token time i take out of my day...
The light of knowledge as we know it disgraces the image of god as he's come to know it through the church (he means this a bit ironically) and this is the token time i take out of my day to show my appreciation of you.
"I've learned today /.../ that you'd want to say"
he's expressing difficulty of relating to the community of the church because the language of divinity is to him an unspoken moment that he cant convey in this context
"Forget the style... wash and comb your hair"
which music is capable, on the other hand, of achieving, so it will serve as the vessel of my new faith
the "little green isaac youre gonna walk backwards through the room" part is reprimand by an authority figure of the boy's newfound faith meaning get out.... "does that mean i wont see you?" is the boys response, and the parents response is the equivalent of "just get outta my sight." I too suspect the Isaac reference is biblical, implying that the boy is talking with his parents who placed an expectation to have a certain kind of faith regardless of the personal cost. This sentiment is reflected in the Joan of Arc reference as he realizes the nature of his type of prayer and what it will cost him: being regarded as an occultist by the church.
The "up the stairway he rose" means his growing up on the christian path and "down the stairway" refers to walking away from the church along that very same path. I believe that this is also a reference to hegelian dialectics (whichP McA might be familiar with given the veryMarxist quality of the final track on this album which implies the inevitability of proletarian revolution) and he's relishing the irony of the truth provided in that way of thinking