Don't Drive On Ice and Driven Like The Snow

[Fallon]

Couldn't find a thread for this one, funnily enough.

I think it's stating the obvious to say that water runs through a lot of Eldritch's work, often in naval and nautical contexts, but the motif of being trapped underwater comes through again and again too. As early as Marian, we're hearing about people who can't or won't get out from under the water.

And while Floodland is, bear with me, flooded with water imagery throughout, Driven Like The Snow obliquely describes a car through a white curtain of snow, followed by a description of what one encounters underwater as the 'ice gets harder overhead'. And that happens to comprise cars, people and cares which were lost in the drift.

I'm not sure if the protagonist in Drivewn has gone offroad and into the water, or whether they have willfully exited the vehicle and entered the water, but it seems to describe a car on an icy night, and, latterly, at least one person underwater as the surface freezes solid.

Drift is also something of a pun, I think: ice-drifting off a road ('cars lost in the drift'), and a possible reference to a snowdrift (a big solid mound of snow). They both have the same Germanic root word.

So then, all these years later, Don't Drive On Ice comes along and we're back on an icy road, we're once again driving in a way that sends us underwater, and we're once again confusing waving for drowning - a notion Eldritch has discussed in relation to the Floods previously (and which may or may not refer to Cohen, in turn). Aside from the fact that this time around, the car accident has caused a long, slow pileup (and what a delightful word 'carambolage' is - there's a cool artsy French punk band called Carambolage, if you're interested), what stands out to me about Don't Drive On Ice is that it once again details a fragmented, elliptical set of observations from the perspective of a person who has become trapped underwater after driving on an icy road.

We know who the real-life counterparts of the people in the song likely are, based on Eldritch's comments, but that probably doesn't matter here because I wouldn't swear to the idea that Don't Drive On Ice refers to the same people, time or events. But there is something tying the songs together.

I don't suppose I'm pointing out anything which has gone unnoticed, but what do you think? Is this just Eldritch writing according to a lyrical preoccupation, are the songs connected in some other way, or could it even just be that they're repurposed lyrics from the time Driven was written (we know that Eyes Of Caligula has old lyrics, so it's not without precedent in the Dylan-era songs).

[H. Blackrose]

We know who the real-life counterparts of the people in the song likely are, based on Eldritch's comments, but that probably doesn't matter here because I wouldn't swear to the idea that Don't Drive On Ice refers to the same people, time or events. But there is something tying the songs together.

Well, no, I would say exactly the opposite. "Driven Like The Snow" is part two of "Nine While Nine", which are break-up songs about Claire Shearsby, someone for whom Von continued to have some affection. "Don't Drive On Ice" is, by Von's own comments, a vicious song. I doubt Von is going to be vicious about an ex-GF of near 40 years ago.

[Fallon]

We know who the real-life counterparts of the people in the song likely are, based on Eldritch's comments, but that probably doesn't matter here because I wouldn't swear to the idea that Don't Drive On Ice refers to the same people, time or events. But there is something tying the songs together.

Well, no, I would say exactly the opposite. "Driven Like The Snow" is part two of "Nine While Nine", which are break-up songs about Claire Shearsby, someone for whom Von continued to have some affection. "Don't Drive On Ice" is, by Von's own comments, a vicious song. I doubt Von is going to be vicious about an ex-GF of near 40 years ago.

No, you're saying exactly the same thing. I said I wouldn't swear to the idea that the songs are about the same people, time or events. We're all well aware of who the songs are about, and that's exactly why I wouldn't swear to the idea that Von is still singing about Claire.

But the amazing thing about lyrics, right, is that just because they're not telling the same story, doesn't mean they aren't connected in other ways. And the eagle-eyed reader will note that the connections I was drawing between the songs had more to do with Von's broader lyrical preoccupations and motifs.

[ruffers]

Or it's a simple pun about drug driving which conveniently harks back to previous themes...

[DJW]

DDOI may also be connected with But Genevieve (through the “you took the bridge…” line.

I think it’s poor Genevieve in the drink, having been warned “it’s time”.