"Althea" is a playful but realistic scenario of two flawed and suspicious people looking for love. This song is told in narrator form and he's trying to tell her whats bothering him and she always has the perfect comeback. Commintment, free spirtedness, and staunch bacherlorhood are some of the themes delt with here, complemented with a warm score that gave the Dead room for volcanic instramental expression.
The line " you may be a clown on the burying ground or just another pretty face/ you may meet the fate of Ophelia to sleep and perchance to dream" directly links with a scene from ~Hamlet, one of Shakespears darkest plays. After Ophelia has commited sucicide in this tragedy, two clowns dig her grave. They unearth the skull, which Hamlet holds during his "Alas, poor Yorick" solilouy. Earlier, before the suicide , Hamlet himself questioned, "To be or not to be" and mused about hereafter: " To die , to sleep-to sleep-perchance to dream" concluding that "dread of something after death" made people unwilling to flee the burdens of life.
"You may be saterdays child all grown old" refers to the famous proverbial nursery rhyme regarding the atributes an individual acquires according to the day of the week on which they were born. Hunter may have also been influenced by "To Althea from Prison," by Richard Lovelace, a seventeenth-century poem which deals with unrequited love.
When love with unconfined wings
Hovers within my gates,
And my divine Althea brings
To whisper at the grates;
When I lie tangled in her hair,
And fettered to her eye,
The birds that wanton in the air
Know no such liberty.
When flowing cups run swiftly round
With no allaying Thames,
Our careless heads with roses bound,
Our hearts with loyal flames;
When thirsty grief in wine we steep,
When healths and draughts go free,
Fishes that tipple in the deep
Know no such liberty.
When, like committed linnets, I
With shriller throat shall sing
The sweetness, mercy, majesty,
And glories of my King;
When I shall voice aloud how good
He is, how great should be,
Enlarged winds that curl the flood
Know no such liberty.
Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.
Thanks Sugaree for that great insight. The Hamlet references have always stuck out most notably to me although, I've always thought it was Ophelia who mused about death before her own suicide and used the phrase, "To sleep, perchance to dream". I'm gonna guess you're right about that, but but it would jive with the line from the song. "It may be the fate of Ophelia, Sleeping and perchance to dream..."
Thanks Sugaree for that great insight. The Hamlet references have always stuck out most notably to me although, I've always thought it was Ophelia who mused about death before her own suicide and used the phrase, "To sleep, perchance to dream". I'm gonna guess you're right about that, but but it would jive with the line from the song. "It may be the fate of Ophelia, Sleeping and perchance to dream..."
I've been a fan of the dead for years and this has always been one of the songs that moves me the most.
I've been a fan of the dead for years and this has always been one of the songs that moves me the most.
I think...
I think the song is ultimately about love that never really got started and then just slipped away due to one or both participants being to self-focused and non-comittal to make anything happen. The song speaks to me though, anywhere there is something that I desperately want but don't reach out and grab, usually because I'm too busy staring at my navel.
mighty fine analysis and gorgeous poem there sugaree. I think you nailed the general story line, themes and shakespeare of course. For me the song was also about all of that good intense stuff nobody ever really talked about, mass mind and all, at the risk of being honest to the point of recklessness or loose with the truth. That was an intense brand of fun though, right? Columbia by any chance?
mighty fine analysis and gorgeous poem there sugaree. I think you nailed the general story line, themes and shakespeare of course. For me the song was also about all of that good intense stuff nobody ever really talked about, mass mind and all, at the risk of being honest to the point of recklessness or loose with the truth. That was an intense brand of fun though, right? Columbia by any chance?
Thank you Sugaree !, That was my favorite dead song 95-99, and I never even realized how much it actually applied to my life. I just love the base line. It may be my fav this Spring for the meaning of the lyrics.....and the base line! ...Now when you get a chance, Could you explain to me the first few lines of eyes ? I am at a loss !
Thank you Sugaree !, That was my favorite dead song 95-99, and I never even realized how much it actually applied to my life. I just love the base line. It may be my fav this Spring for the meaning of the lyrics.....and the base line! ...Now when you get a chance, Could you explain to me the first few lines of eyes ? I am at a loss !
"Althea" is a playful but realistic scenario of two flawed and suspicious people looking for love. This song is told in narrator form and he's trying to tell her whats bothering him and she always has the perfect comeback. Commintment, free spirtedness, and staunch bacherlorhood are some of the themes delt with here, complemented with a warm score that gave the Dead room for volcanic instramental expression. The line " you may be a clown on the burying ground or just another pretty face/ you may meet the fate of Ophelia to sleep and perchance to dream" directly links with a scene from ~Hamlet, one of Shakespears darkest plays. After Ophelia has commited sucicide in this tragedy, two clowns dig her grave. They unearth the skull, which Hamlet holds during his "Alas, poor Yorick" solilouy. Earlier, before the suicide , Hamlet himself questioned, "To be or not to be" and mused about hereafter: " To die , to sleep-to sleep-perchance to dream" concluding that "dread of something after death" made people unwilling to flee the burdens of life. "You may be saterdays child all grown old" refers to the famous proverbial nursery rhyme regarding the atributes an individual acquires according to the day of the week on which they were born. Hunter may have also been influenced by "To Althea from Prison," by Richard Lovelace, a seventeenth-century poem which deals with unrequited love. When love with unconfined wings Hovers within my gates, And my divine Althea brings To whisper at the grates; When I lie tangled in her hair, And fettered to her eye, The birds that wanton in the air Know no such liberty.
When flowing cups run swiftly round With no allaying Thames, Our careless heads with roses bound, Our hearts with loyal flames; When thirsty grief in wine we steep, When healths and draughts go free, Fishes that tipple in the deep Know no such liberty.
When, like committed linnets, I With shriller throat shall sing The sweetness, mercy, majesty, And glories of my King; When I shall voice aloud how good
He is, how great should be, Enlarged winds that curl the flood Know no such liberty.
Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage; Minds innocent and quiet take That for an hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love, And in my soul am free, Angels alone, that soar above, Enjoy such liberty.
~and thats my meaning for ya! :)
Thanks Sugaree for that great insight. The Hamlet references have always stuck out most notably to me although, I've always thought it was Ophelia who mused about death before her own suicide and used the phrase, "To sleep, perchance to dream". I'm gonna guess you're right about that, but but it would jive with the line from the song. "It may be the fate of Ophelia, Sleeping and perchance to dream..."
Thanks Sugaree for that great insight. The Hamlet references have always stuck out most notably to me although, I've always thought it was Ophelia who mused about death before her own suicide and used the phrase, "To sleep, perchance to dream". I'm gonna guess you're right about that, but but it would jive with the line from the song. "It may be the fate of Ophelia, Sleeping and perchance to dream..."
I've been a fan of the dead for years and this has always been one of the songs that moves me the most.
I've been a fan of the dead for years and this has always been one of the songs that moves me the most.
I think...
I think the song is ultimately about love that never really got started and then just slipped away due to one or both participants being to self-focused and non-comittal to make anything happen. The song speaks to me though, anywhere there is something that I desperately want but don't reach out and grab, usually because I'm too busy staring at my navel.
mighty fine analysis and gorgeous poem there sugaree. I think you nailed the general story line, themes and shakespeare of course. For me the song was also about all of that good intense stuff nobody ever really talked about, mass mind and all, at the risk of being honest to the point of recklessness or loose with the truth. That was an intense brand of fun though, right? Columbia by any chance?
mighty fine analysis and gorgeous poem there sugaree. I think you nailed the general story line, themes and shakespeare of course. For me the song was also about all of that good intense stuff nobody ever really talked about, mass mind and all, at the risk of being honest to the point of recklessness or loose with the truth. That was an intense brand of fun though, right? Columbia by any chance?
Thank you Sugaree !, That was my favorite dead song 95-99, and I never even realized how much it actually applied to my life. I just love the base line. It may be my fav this Spring for the meaning of the lyrics.....and the base line! ...Now when you get a chance, Could you explain to me the first few lines of eyes ? I am at a loss !
Thank you Sugaree !, That was my favorite dead song 95-99, and I never even realized how much it actually applied to my life. I just love the base line. It may be my fav this Spring for the meaning of the lyrics.....and the base line! ...Now when you get a chance, Could you explain to me the first few lines of eyes ? I am at a loss !