Ugo
Group: Members
Posts: 5495
Joined: April 2000 |
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Posted: Feb. 11 2009, 10:04 |
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OK, now that, thanks to Harmono, I do have the story handy, I can better state my points by using quotes...
A long time ago, in a place which may have been Ireland (but could just as easily have been Africa or Madagascar)...
I think I have already explained this. Ireland is chosen because it is the land of myths, like this tale, and folklore, because the album features lots of folk (or folky) music. Africa [Madagascar is, of course, part of Africa!  ] is chosen because of the album's finale.
But it was also said that it produced a noise, a sound, or several sounds from time to time.
Other than the album Amarok, the statue may represent music in general. It produces both noise and sounds because music can actually be made with noise as well as with sounds.
"Do you feel exhausted as I do?" said the first man.
"I've felt better," said the other "but we much achieve our aim."
The recording of Amarok may well have been exhausting for Mike, given all the anger that he's poured into it. This is maybe the only instance in the story where both men represent aspects of Mike.
About walking back to get to their goal, I agree with Matt above. Very good! 
It was as if a great rock had been hurled from the heavens.
Maybe the statue in the tale was an otherwordly creation [after all, many people say that beautiful music sometimes feels otherwordly], which came to earth as a meteorite which broke when it fell, and the statue was within it. After all, "Amarok" may well mean "I'm a rock".
It roars like a baboon
There are many points in the album where the guitars actually roar.
murmurs like a child
After TV-AM, at 39:17, there's a very nice "murmuring" acoustic guitar section.
rustles like water in a glass
This may refer to the Hoover section, starting from 16:11.
sings like a lover
All the sections where Mike uses the so-called "screaming guitar" à la Brian May can be defined as passionately singing. A good example is at 43:50.
and laments like a priest.
The "Rachmaninoff" melody sounds to me very like a lament, in all statements of it. Maybe it's only my impression.
Imagine a creature with a melody for a voice.
This is what, I think, positively identifies the statue as a symbol of music. The descriptions above identify it as a symbol of the Amarok album.
They fell quiet. a long time passed.
The very first time I read the story, I had no idea what this may have meant. But, considering that the album was meant to last one hour, "a long time" may well be one hour. They are listening to what the statue is producing - i.e. the album.
"Doesn't look like we're going to hear it, does it?"
"I have heard it."
His friend looked at him sharply. "But there was no sound. None. What are you talking about?"
This may have various meanings. To me, the most obvious ones are these: (A) Mike could hear the whole album in his head before recording it, while his friend, i.e. William Murray, obviously couldn't; (B) William actually heard the album, but it sounded too disjointed or too weird to him... it didn't sound musically sensible, it made no sense as a piece of music... while, to Mike, it all made perfect sense. That's why Mike says that he's heard it, and William says that there was no sound, i.e. no music.
"Cheer up, cloth-ears," he said, "it's only a fairytale, innit?"
The last line, I think, refers to the readers - we shouldn't look too deep into what we've just finished reading. Which, by the way, is the contrary of what I'm doing right now. However, I should also underline the occurence of "cloth-ears" here and of "cloth-eared nincompoops" in the Health Warning. It's hard to tell which came before (the Health Warning or the story?) and maybe it's also hard to tell who actually wrote the Health Warning (Mike or William?). The fact that the same wording appears in both places is, I think, striking.
I think that I've beaten my own record for a post lenght here. Now it's up to you all!
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Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian
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I need to re-read the story as well, everything I wrote above is just from memory [check out my signature.... 
We can't have any idea at all about the chronology of events on Amarok, all we have is what we actually can hold in our hands. And that's only the tip of the iceberg, IMHO.