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shenry Group: Members Posts: 131 Joined: Oct. 2018 Posted: April 29 2020, 13:32 It has a yearning, sad quality I usually associate with Pink Floyd (for example). What is it about and where does it get that quality from? And is there some kind of religious meaning in the lyrics?  My favourite song on the album. Back to top

oldfield_fan Group: Members Posts: 198 Joined: May 2001 Posted: April 30 2020, 13:03 Mike said that the song is about addiction. “Not necessarily to drugs or alcohol – it can be to certain kinds of relationship patterns, about an addiction to failure.” He's also said that he wrote the lyrics from the addiction's perspective. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBsWpgDZAgs (1:45 - 2:35) Back to top

shenry Group: Members Posts: 131 Joined: Oct. 2018 Posted: April 30 2020, 14:25 Ah that makes sense. Thanks. Good to hear the song has a bit of depth and melancholy to it. Back to top

nightspore Group: Members Posts: 4770 Joined: Mar. 2008 Posted: April 30 2020, 19:50 Quote (oldfield_fan @ April 30 2020, 13:03) Mike said that the song is about addiction. What a load of crap. Back to top

shenry Group: Members Posts: 131 Joined: Oct. 2018 Posted: May 01 2020, 09:44 Eh? Why? Back to top

nightspore Group: Members Posts: 4770 Joined: Mar. 2008 Posted: May 01 2020, 20:08 For confidentiality reasons I can't disclose, I know that this song is about something completely different - something far more profound than addiction Mike's comment was just a throwaway reply intended to get rid of a stupid question a la "why DID you write Tubular Bells?". Now if the song had been "Man on the Wagon", it would have been different.   Back to top

omgmo Group: Members Posts: 148 Joined: Mar. 2018 Posted: May 02 2020, 06:16 I don't know particularly about this one, but I do tend to believe that Mike is not very honest in his answers (which is not a bad thing). Back to top

nightspore Group: Members Posts: 4770 Joined: Mar. 2008 Posted: May 02 2020, 06:51 Yes, he clearly likes puzzles (eg in the two games) and probably prefers people to work things out for themselves. Back to top

omgmo Group: Members Posts: 148 Joined: Mar. 2018 Posted: May 02 2020, 07:04 Also, some answers would not be acceptable (let us not forget that "on average" people tend to be... er... less intelligent than Mike ) this was my post number 105, hope you didn't get caught Back to top

nightspore Group: Members Posts: 4770 Joined: Mar. 2008 Posted: May 02 2020, 19:38 Quote (omgmo @ May 02 2020, 07:04) Also, some answers would not be acceptable (let us not forget that "on average" people tend to be... er... less intelligent than Mike ) this was my post number 105, hope you didn't get caught Given the mystic power of the palindrome, I hope you were wearing your 501s when you made it   I think your answer also explains why TB4 is also "The Music on the Edge of Forever", to paraphrase Christopher Priest's sardonic comment about Harlan Ellison. When you get to a certain point you simply don't care about providing work or comment to stupid people. Pearls before swine, etc. Come to think of it, Songs on the Edge of Forever would make a great title for a MO album.   Back to top

oldfield_fan Group: Members Posts: 198 Joined: May 2001 Posted: May 04 2020, 18:22 In my opinion, the lyrics fit the addiction subject very well. I don't really get the title though. I guess it's possible that Mike had something specific in mind, maybe something very personal to him, and didn't want to go into details during interviews. But I want to believe that there's at least some truth to his words. My impression is that Mike, and also his brother Terry, seems very humble. There may well be other reasons why Mike hasn't been commenting about any future album. It doesn't mean he's on some "high horse". Back to top

nightspore Group: Members Posts: 4770 Joined: Mar. 2008 Posted: May 04 2020, 19:58 Quote (oldfield_fan @ May 04 2020, 18:22) It doesn't mean he's on some "high horse". Perhaps a Shetland pony? Hey, and away we go...   Back to top

omgmo Group: Members Posts: 148 Joined: Mar. 2018 Posted: May 20 2020, 06:50 Yes, he is humble (good for him). Regarding his intelligence, I think that, for someone to be stupid, they have to be many many levels below him, meaning that Mike must be, in my opinion, one of the smartest persons on Earth, not only musically. He perceives "things" that few can perceive. Maybe I'm wrong, but there have been times I felt so. Finally, I like to think that he is preparing 4 TB albums, all in one release haha I don't wear 501s. Back to top

nightspore Group: Members Posts: 4770 Joined: Mar. 2008 Posted: May 20 2020, 07:28 Quote (omgmo @ May 20 2020, 06:50) Finally, I like to think that he is preparing 4 TB albums, all in one release haha Yes, to bring the total to 7 for each of the main chakras. Of course, there are minor chakras; perhaps The Millennium Bell stands for one of them. Back to top

qjamesfloyd Group: Members Posts: 1357 Joined: April 2001 Posted: May 21 2020, 04:11 I still wish they would continue with the deluxe re-issues program, I was really looking forward to hearing The Wind Chimes in 5.1 could even be Atmos now Back to top

bluemlein Group: Members Posts: 83 Joined: June 2020 Posted: April 07 2021, 17:38 let's see - song is about someone who "entered" MO's world (in which he literally is "the jewel in the crown of the king") and did not stay. and perhaps MO himself can't get out of the world he's inhabiting, any more than the other can remain in it. seems to have a quality of self-sacrifice about it, lyrically. as for the music, MO always resorts to fantastic solos when he can't/doesn't want to/is afraid to articulate his feelings. as to the rocks on the island, it could be literal - he lives on an island - or metaphor - one the rocks (a wreck) on the island (isolated from humanity) intensely creative people frequently have this feeling because in order to get their creations out (before they cause brain fries) they have to focus to the exclusion of others, which others often take the wrong way "if you really loved/liked me you would spend more time with me". speaking from personal experience, it is difficult to be with a musician, expecially a classical one who will go off practicing scales   hours at a time - only slightly less so with a visual artist    who will retort well, try putting up with a writer! Back to top

bluemlein Group: Members Posts: 83 Joined: June 2020 Posted: April 08 2021, 17:48 i am going to add something to my previous comment. mike oldfield was raised in the catholic faith. i can tell you that the imagery and mysticism and vocabularies of the faith have deep hooks and tend to inform much of one's creativity even if not immediately apparent. i find that to be the case particularly in this song. and BTW - my projected psychological biography included a chapter on ommadawn titled "fool on the hill". Back to top

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