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

[Henry Gambill <hgambill@pepperdine.edu>]

Bravo.  I hope I wasn't implying that "Athena" is anything short of being,
ultimately, ambiguous -- which it certainly is.  My best, Henry

On Tue, 4 Jun 1996, B. Gramlich wrote:

> 
> 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