In the French folktale, Bluebeard is an old aristocrat who's past six wives had all disappeared and who is feared by the local women and girls for his enigmatic and concealing blue beard. He remarries, telling his new wife never to enter one of the rooms in his castle. She disobeys, and discovers the bodies of Bluebeard's murdered wives.
Jeff uses Bluebeard as a metaphor to express how he may not be what he seems based on his physical appearance, "Your Bluebeard's young and handsome", how the women who fall for him don't realize or recognize that he has (hidden) inner demons, "Beware the bottled thoughts of angry young men..." "Don't know what you asked for", and that he has had many lovers in the past who he has had to "drown" or lose, but has not forgotten, and this haunts him, hence the lines, "I've loved so many times..." and "...they'll rise up when darkness falls".
This is an extremely dark and conflicted song, and in MY opinion, demonstrates Jeff's mental and emotional instability at the time. I believe he may have been having nightmares, specifically of a subconscious nature, due to the line "nightmares blind my mind's eye", that were revealing, and perhaps causing, all of this turmoil. Drowning, and water in general, is symbolic of overwhelming emotion and vulnerability, which accounts for the title and general underlying theme and mood of the song. Jeff was very much an Ondine, even astrologically. Quite haunting indeed...
I agree with most of your post but for one thing: according to jeff's journals it's not 'bluebeard' it's 'rube' which jeff definitely was when he first came to NYC
I agree with most of your post but for one thing: according to jeff's journals it's not 'bluebeard' it's 'rube' which jeff definitely was when he first came to NYC
@lilynymph All of this. I have one more thing to add: I think it is also a reference to his parents, who had a shotgun wedding, and spent their wedding night sleeping on the floor.
@lilynymph All of this. I have one more thing to add: I think it is also a reference to his parents, who had a shotgun wedding, and spent their wedding night sleeping on the floor.
In the French folktale, Bluebeard is an old aristocrat who's past six wives had all disappeared and who is feared by the local women and girls for his enigmatic and concealing blue beard. He remarries, telling his new wife never to enter one of the rooms in his castle. She disobeys, and discovers the bodies of Bluebeard's murdered wives.
Jeff uses Bluebeard as a metaphor to express how he may not be what he seems based on his physical appearance, "Your Bluebeard's young and handsome", how the women who fall for him don't realize or recognize that he has (hidden) inner demons, "Beware the bottled thoughts of angry young men..." "Don't know what you asked for", and that he has had many lovers in the past who he has had to "drown" or lose, but has not forgotten, and this haunts him, hence the lines, "I've loved so many times..." and "...they'll rise up when darkness falls".
This is an extremely dark and conflicted song, and in MY opinion, demonstrates Jeff's mental and emotional instability at the time. I believe he may have been having nightmares, specifically of a subconscious nature, due to the line "nightmares blind my mind's eye", that were revealing, and perhaps causing, all of this turmoil. Drowning, and water in general, is symbolic of overwhelming emotion and vulnerability, which accounts for the title and general underlying theme and mood of the song. Jeff was very much an Ondine, even astrologically. Quite haunting indeed...
I agree with most of your post but for one thing: according to jeff's journals it's not 'bluebeard' it's 'rube' which jeff definitely was when he first came to NYC
I agree with most of your post but for one thing: according to jeff's journals it's not 'bluebeard' it's 'rube' which jeff definitely was when he first came to NYC
I think you've hit it on the head there
I think you've hit it on the head there
@lilynymph All of this. I have one more thing to add: I think it is also a reference to his parents, who had a shotgun wedding, and spent their wedding night sleeping on the floor.
@lilynymph All of this. I have one more thing to add: I think it is also a reference to his parents, who had a shotgun wedding, and spent their wedding night sleeping on the floor.