Annotations
- Kentish
Town, love-hungry
pilgrims, no bodies
to feed
Robert Pahre suggests that "
'Kentish town' is a reference to Canterbury, seat
of the Archbishop of Canterbury." Canterbury
has been a city of pilgrimage since Thomas à
Beckett was killed there in the 11th century.
Some kind of pilgrims turn up here: "... a new breed of love-hungry
pilgrims". These pilgrims don't
have to be fed anymore, since they are dead:
"no bodies to feed"
might refer to the fact that in the middle ages
pilgrims received free meals in the monastries
during their stay and a place to sleep. Neil
R. Thomason points out that Kentish Town is
in fact the name of a district of London.
* Jan Voorbij
- Pick up
thy bed and rise
Referring to the Bible-verse, John 5:8:"
Jesus saith unto him, rise, take up they bed, and
walk".
"Th' infernal Serpent; he
it was, whose guile
Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd
The Mother of Mankinde, what time his Pride
Had cast him out from Heav'n, with all his Host
Of Rebel Angels, by whose aid aspiring
To set himself in Glory above his Peers,
He trusted to have equal'd the most High,
If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim
Against the Throne and Monarchy of God
Rais'd impious War in Heav'n and Battel proud
With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power
Hurld headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skie
With hideous ruine and combustion down
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire,
Who durst defie th' Omnipotent to Arms."
- Icy
Lucifer
Another Dante reference, this time from Canto 34,
Terzetta 30 (Longfellow's translation):
"The Emperor of the kingdom
dolorous
From his mid-breast forth issued from the ice... "
- Lord of the Flies
Referring to Beelzebub, one of 'the fallen
angels'. Beelzebub literally means "the lord
of the flies" in Hebrew.
* Leigh-Ann Hussey (The
Annotated Passion Play)
- Pick me
up at half past none .....
From this verse-line up to "I'd stay but my wings
have just dropped off."
there are two possible references, but I am not
sure which one is right. One might be referring
to dying, the other might be - once again - a
biblical one referring to 'resurrection on the
youngest day'."Half past none"
suggests the end of time, the moment when we are
supposed to be"picked up",
according to John in chapter 20. The train
is symbolic for the life we have lived full of
rush and hurry, our own personal passion play;
'the old
shoes on the platform' possibly
stand for everything we leave behind when dying:
our earthly life, our history and our body. But
departing without shoes also suggests a kind of
nakedness, vulnerabilty perhaps. All that is left
of us is the nucleus of what and who we
essentially are. That part of us travels further.
In the context of the verses that follow I tend
to assume that the second reference might be
correct, though the line "I'd stay but
my wings have just dropped off" pleas
in favour of the first one.
* Jan Voorbij
- Magus Perde
Magus (1) -i, m. a learned Persian, a
magician; magus (2) -a -um, magical. Magus
Perde is a medieval latin term that
translates roughly into 'Supreme Magician' or '
extreme magician'. I cannot tell you its origin
however, I have two ideas - either it was a
church term for the devil or it is an alchemical
term for god, or both.
* reddred
- In Antiquity and
during the middle ages there was the common
notion among intellectuals, that wizards,
magicians etc. stemmed from Persia, in fact from
Babylon. These magicians originally had a
religious, priest-like function in the society of
the old Babylon, reading the stars, explaining
the will of the gods, telling fortune,
excercising black magic, alchemy, medicine and
mathematics. "Loose a wish to still the
rain, the storm about to be"
: they were supposed to have contact with and
have partly power over supernatural forces and
could influence the course of ones life, the
weather, and were therefore consulted by kings
and magistrats. There is a connection between
these magicians, gnosticism and alchemy
(including witchcraft). And as gnosticism and
alchemy were by the official church considered as
the works of the devil these people were often
protrayed as a devil and persecuted. It is very
well possible, that in the context of A Passion
Play this Magus Perde-figure stands for the
devil. Via Leigh-Ann Hussey I found this striking
tarot-card with an image of the devil, who with
his chain keeps men and women emprisoned: "Magus Perde, take your
hand from of the chain":
- In the original APP lyrics there is a horizontal
line over the 'd' in Perde. This means, that it
might be originally a medieval English word, but
up to now I did not find any plausible
explanation in Old English dictionaries. However,
this horizontal line might also be an
abbreviation of the ending of a word, a practise
which was quite common among medieval copyists of
manuscripts: the reader knew what was meant after
all. If - as Reddred suggests - Magus Perde
is medieval latin term, I can only assume that
Perde is derived from 1. 'perdition' (damnation,
utter ruin), 2. perdu(e) (derived from french:
lost, hidden, out of sight; very likely since
english was so heavily influenced by french
during the middle ages) or 3. perdo, perdit
(derived from the latin word for destroy; also
very likely since latin in those ages was the
language of scholars, intellectuals, clergy
etc.).
* Jan Voorbij
- It looks to be Latin. Magus is magician or wise
man. Perde is imperative of verb perdo meaning to
destroy or ruin.
* Alexander MacLennan
- Tread the knife's edge
There is a pun on this, of course -- "tough
are the souls", but this line also
refers to the sword-bridge over the Abyss, the
most famous instance of which is in the tale of
Lancelot told by Cretien de Troyes called
"Le Chevalier de la Charrete", or the
Knight of the Cart. In it, Lancelot must undergo
numerous humiliating ordeals before finally
coming to the Pont de l'Espee, the Bridge of the
Sword, which he must cross to rescue Queen
Guenevere ("Ganievre" in the French),
who has been kidnapped by Sir Meleagans. To cross
it, he must divest himself of all but his helmet
and hauberk and cross on bare hands and feet.
* Leigh-Ann Hussey (The
Annotated Passion Play)
Hail! Son of kings make the
ever-dying sign
From this point in the lyrics Ian makes use of
several elements of the visions of St. John
concerning the fate of mankind and the universe,
as described in the Book Of Revelation. The
apocalyptical conflict between the powers of good
and evil, God and the devil might be referred to
in these verselines:
"...cross
your fingers in the sky for those about to BE.
There am I waiting along the sand.
Cast your sweet spell upon the land and sea.
Magus Perde, take your hand from off the chain.
Loose a wish to still, the rain,
the storm about to BE. (...)
Break the circle,stretch the line, call upon the devil.
Bring the gods, the gods' own fire. In the conflict
revel".
* Jan Voorbij
- The gods'
own fire
This probably refers to the Greek myth of
Prometheus, but one should also bear in mind that
"Lucifer" is Latin for
"light-bearer".
* Leigh-Ann Hussey (The
Annotated Passion Play)
The passengers upon the ferry
crossing, waiting to be born,
I assume that here Ian refers to the river Styx,
the river in Greek mythology, that parts the
living from the dead and from where - once
crossed - no return is possible. Only this time
the dead are returning to live and cross the
river once again, called awake by the
reveille horn , to make their
appearance for the Last Judgement, in the hope to
gain eternal life ("From the dark into
the ever-day"):
"renew the pledge of life's long song
rise to the reveille horn.
Animals queueing at the gate thatstands upon the
shore
breathe the ever-burning fire that guards the
ever-door".
- Roll the
stone away from the dark into the everday
Referring to the Bible-verse, John 20:1: "Early
on the first day of the week, while it was still
dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw
that the stone had been removed from the
entrance." (English - NIV)
* Jan Voorbij
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