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Topic: "Crime of passion" lyrics, is it about his dead mother????< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
Mike Chadwick Offline




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Posted: May 26 2003, 12:55

Lyrics from "CRIME OF PASSION" are in my opinion very sad and depressing and about someone important to Oldfield who had died tragically.

is it about his dead mother???

As far i know she was on the cover of "Crime of passion" single in 1984.

What do you think about it????


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theweightless Offline




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Posted: May 26 2003, 13:12

i think the song is about mike's cousin, not sure though..correct me if i'm wrong

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Blue Dolphin Offline




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Posted: May 26 2003, 17:23

Yeah, Barry Palmer said it was about Mike's cousin. But he didn't know for sure, I think. I still don't know, because the picture of his mother is on the single.

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Korgscrew Offline




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Posted: May 27 2003, 13:19

The picture of his mother was, so they say, on the cover because it was released on or approaching the 10th anniversary of her death.

I think that the song's about a lot of things - often when writing a song that's nominally about one thing, all kinds of other things come in and influence it (and there are then songs like Moonlight Shadow which describe more of a feeling than a particular event). Writing a song about one person who died young, it's easy and maybe even natural to incorporate ideas and feelings that relate to another person who died young.
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bee Offline




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Posted: Nov. 13 2007, 19:12

I've listened to this track quite a few times recently. I have always liked it, love the guitars and the way the lyrics at the same time speak volumes yet do not tell us the whole story. I think it's one of his best songs. I know from reading here that no one knows for sure what it is all about. But what strikes me most about it is the seemingly sad and maybe mournful sentiment of the words against the energetic and upbeat pace of the music. The two almost don't go together, and yet they do. Mike's clever at this but I can't think of another example of his where there is this pull in different directions. The video too doesn't give a sombre feel. Perhaps it's meant to be felt from a child's perspective and how they would deal with difficult times?

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timshen Offline




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Posted: Nov. 13 2007, 22:40

This song is very special to me as it came out just after a close friend of mine committed suicide at the age of 19 over relationship issues. I played this song over and over again and it helped me to release my grief and get through the whole thing.

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Ugo Offline




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Posted: Nov. 14 2007, 13:25

I'll repeat here a post I put in another similar topic.

"Crime of passion" is freely based upon a real-life story which happened in 1852, about a 19-year-old English girl, whose name was Elizabeth Jane; she got married to a Portuguese man, but even after she married him she continued to lead a sort-of ... ahem ... reckless life :). Her husband had some patience for a while, but he finally lost it all and challenged in a duel (with guns) the last one in a long series of 'friends' of her wife. She happened to walk by chance into the duel's site, and she oddly threw herself in between, to avoid that her lover killed her husband - but obviously the one who got killed was her. [Did this maybe inspire the Moonlight Shadow video as well? :D] Her husband, love-crazed as always, lived three more years, obsessed by her ghost (which he used to 'conjure up' from the bottom of a whiskey bottle...), and then he killed himself.

This story was explained to me by an Italian friend of mine, a history teacher (who did quite a lot of research on it), so I tend to believe it is really true. :)  

The death of Mike's mother, or indeed of anyone who was close to him, has nothing to do with the song's lyrics.


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larstangmark Offline




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Posted: Nov. 14 2007, 16:25

Quote (Ugo @ Nov. 14 2007, 13:25)
This story was explained to me by an Italian friend of mine, a history teacher (who did quite a lot of research on it), so I tend to believe it is really true. :)

Where does "pictures and posters of times and fashion" fit into that? Do you think Barry Palmer just invented the story? I think Mike draws from multiple sources - a composite of several stories, a  bit like Moonlight Shadow.

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Ugo Offline




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Posted: Nov. 14 2007, 19:10

Quote (larstangmark @ Nov. 14 2007, 22:25)
Where does "pictures and posters of times and fashion" fit into that?

I think that the "pictures and posters" line is a way to refer to the characters in the story - i.e. it's a story belonging to the past. However, I don't think Barry Palmer invented anything, he was just the singer singing those words. If there's anyone who invented anything, that was Mike. ;)

Yes, I agree with you that there may be various different sources. But I think that the story I quoted is definitely one of them. :)


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bee Offline




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Posted: Nov. 18 2007, 12:59

Timshen, I'm so sorry the song has such sad associations for you.

Thanks to Ugo for the explanation, I did read it in the earlier posting too.


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