Re: Athena-another defense (groan...)

[btm805@btrtx9.hrz.uni-bayreuth.de (B. Gramlich)]

Henry, Re:

> Actually, if you just look at this song lyrically, it's one of the 
> funniest satires that the Who ever did.  Remember it was written
> during the last hurrah of the Cold War when Reagan was increasing
> the military budget and talking about that "evil" empire.
> The scenario of the song, where warped nuclear scientists are 
> feeling an increasing sexual attraction to a bomb that they've 
> personified with the name "Athena" is wickedly funny.  
> 
> And then we get the bridge with Townshend singing "Look into the face of 
> a child...how long will children remain?"  Pete, in effect, is the
> voice of conscience -- his higher pitched, arguably "maternal" voice 
> contrasting with Daltrey's masculine, testosterone-charged growl.
> Does the scientist listen? You decide.

Hm, interesting thoughts.

Maybe you weren't yet on the list by that time, but we discussed the lyrics of
Athena just two months ago.  FYI, I'll try to summarize what were the results
of that discussion:

   - First interpretation (similar to yours):  The narrator is the leader of
   some military superpower.  He relies on nuclear weapons, but his affectation
   of the `bomb' soon turns into a sick desire for more and more nukes, an
   infatuation only to be compared with boundless sexual desire.  Some
   incident, however, - maybe actually having seen the destructive power of the
   bomb or simply having realized it - forces him to leave his fingers from
   nuclear weapons henceforth...
   
   - Second interpretation:  The narrator, an older man, falls in love with a
   much younger girl, possibly a prostitute, only to see that she doesn't take
   him seriously.  Though he knows how unreasonable and hopeless his
   infatuation is, he keeps longing for her again and again.  The girl is like
   a weapon (a `bomb') gradually destroying his life.  Some incident, however,
   - possibly the intervention of his wife - brings him back to his senses...
   
   - In both interpretations, Athena is not the name of the bomb or the girl,
   but a third person, a female authority, perhaps the narrator's wife, his
   (personified) conscience, or a supranatural being (Greek mythology: goddess
   of wisdom and warfare).  The narrator tries to justify himself and to
   explain his actions and feelings in a dialogue with Athena.
   
   - Maybe it was Pete's intention to allow both ways of interpretation.  This
   gives the song an interesting ambuiguity...
   
Your observation that Pete's vocal part might represent the narrator's
conscience is convincing, though I would rather say that it's Athena who's
speaking there...

In conclusion, I wouldn't claim that the song is funny, but it surely is some
kind of a satire.  And, yes:  Your `scientist' does listen to Athena's advice,
and he finally changes his mind...

Comments?

Bernd