Drowned

[Ray Schweighardt <rainman@cybernex.net>]

>Date: Sat, 25 Apr 1998 05:36:16 PDT
>From: "Kathleen Pasquale" <klpasquale@hotmail.com>
>Subject: Fwd: Quad Tour 
>
>>Date: Sat, 25 Apr 1998 06:18:28 -0400
>
>>From: lewinski@icanon.com (Joe Lewinski)
>>Subject: Quad Tour "Drowned" not PC
>
>>
>   The versions of drowned
>>from Hyde Park and MSG, continue to haunt me.  They show Pete at his 
>very
>>best, lyrically, musically, and emotionally.   In the Philly and Camden
>>shows that I saw live, I was disappointed that he added the lyrics "... 
>but
>>I don't want to die.  I don't want do die..." during the chorus "I want 
>to
>>drown."  
>>
>>Was Pete advised to do this so that it is politically correct?   How 
>does
>>everyone feel about artists changing the lyrics to suit the times.
>>
>
>First; I don't believe that Pete can be advised to do anything.  I never 
>viewed Drowned as a suicide song; but ofcourse it all spins on the way 
>you perceive the ending of Quad. I always thought of Drowned as a love 
>song myself and the adlibs are what I go to the concerts for.  If I 
>wanted to hear note for note, word for word the same thing that's on the 
>album......Well then save your money and stay home and listen to it.
>
>KLP

"Drowned" isn't about suicide at all, IMO.  It's about fitting in.  It's
about drowning into the great mass of humanity, becoming one with it,
feeling like you really FIT somewhere.  Since Jimmy feels like he fits in
NOWHERE, what more logical wish than to want to be assimilated into WATER
which, to quote Spinner, prevades everything?

And if they were PC-ing up "Quadrophenia" perhaps they would have dropped
"like the lesbians and queers" or "Who is she? I'll rape it".

rainman



"A bunch of flowers means more to a woman
 than a wheelbarrow full of dung."
 - John Lennon