Comments on Fragments of a Cale Season: Woman

That's my vid! I feel so proud. We did our own ana...

2008-05-03T08:17:06.575-04:00

That's my vid! I feel so proud. We did our own analysis of the song to come up with a video so ridiculous.

I thought it was about his first wife, Betsey John...

2008-02-14T03:39:11.572-05:00

I thought it was about his first wife, Betsey Johnson.

bye.

Heh, I didn't know about the gender change in Mary...

2008-02-11T23:00:40.603-05:00

Heh, I didn't know about the gender change in Mary Lou.

I don't really think this song is about Mr. Reed, and I think Cale would be surprised that anyone took it that way. Nevertheless, the thought had occurred to me (it's a very Reedian thing to do), and I was tickled to see a video that followed through on the thought.

One interesting thing about the song is that the chorus on bA is, "The woman in my past, I want her in my present;" the live version is, "The woman in my past, she wants me in her present." The verses are meant to be negative - threatening or twisting the blade - while the chorus is meant to be actually positive/celebratory. I like that tension, and how quickly one mode turns to the other like a switch being flipped.

Interesting that you chose to post a video that im...

2008-02-11T21:56:15.271-05:00

Interesting that you chose to post a video that implies Cale sees Reed as just one of the women in his life. I've never gotten that from this song, but there's another one that seems more suspect to me -- "Mary Lou". Besides the obvious title jab, there's the way Cale changes the "she/her" describing the titular character to a "he/his" in the live version. To me, given what I know of Cale's life, this song has always hung heavy with bile directed at Rise Cale.