Heartland

"And her hallway moves
Like the Ocean
Moves"

I think this is about sex, don't ask me why, I just think it is. I also think that the "Flood" is a merciful release of sorts. My good lady, currently sitting on top of me, thinks otherwise. She suggests that "a flood of your tears" implies that the song is about an act of revenge of some kind (or an argument).

Thoughts please....



the improvement in grammar and spelling is mostly due to the grammar gestapo currently scrutinising my typing.

Maisey wrote:"And her hallway moves
Like the Ocean
Moves"

I think this is about sex, don't ask me why, I just think it is. I also think that the "Flood" is a merciful release of sorts. My good lady, currently sitting on top of me, thinks otherwise. She suggests that "a flood of your tears" implies that the song is about an act of revenge of some kind (or an argument).

Thoughts please....



the improvement in grammar and spelling is mostly due to the grammar gestapo currently scrutinising my typing.

I always thought it's about losing the love of your life, then sitting down somewher quiet (in a bar in Hamburg is a good place to start ), trying to come at ease with the loss, while watching other people around you finding or trying to find new love.
A bit of bitterness there, and maybe some cynicism and a bitter laugh at the other people around you trying to find the thing that YOU know will just end one day and makes one feel like s**t and all alone.

IZ.

We're going to trust you Izzy, since "Jugement" has become one of 'our' songs and Peaches refers to you as 'the greatest living Belgian' or 'the yellow king man'

Maisey wrote:We're going to trust you Izzy, since "Jugement" has become one of 'our' songs and Peaches refers to you as 'the greatest living Belgian' or 'the yellow king man'

Don't take my word for it tho

And I got a slightly happy feeling about you two having a good time listening to Jugement. My mission is accomplished

IZ.

Maisey wrote:"And her hallway moves
Like the Ocean
Moves"

I think this is about sex, don't ask me why, I just think it is. I also think that the "Flood" is a merciful release of sorts.

Okay, it's late (or is that early) so I'll try to be coherent ...

The 'like the ocean' bit seems to be an interesting choice of comparison. I guess it links to the whole idea of women being associated with the moon and the tides. The ocean is unfathomable and unknowable in its depths - possibly something to avoid like the whirlpool of 'Marian' and definitely something that you can't ultimately establish control over. Unless, of course you are the moon (and now the cover of 'Floodland' is staring back at me) probably because it's late - so ignore that bit if you like.

'Metal and blood in the scent and mascara ... on a backdrop of lashes and stars' is one of my favourite lyrics. It could be rather brutal, masculine imagery 'metal and blood' reducing the female 'scent, mascara, lashes' to its constituent parts, turing it into a 'splintered thing'. The idea of 'lashes' and whipping is then to do with dominance. Or, it could all relate to the rather steely power of the female who, beneath those artificial, cosmetic layers is an elemental force to be reckoned with!!

Anyway, with mascara, lashes, and tears, this bit of the song concentrates on the eyes. Funny really [/i]

Izzy HaveMercy wrote:

I always thought it's about losing the love of your life, then sitting down somewher quiet (in a bar in Hamburg is a good place to start ), trying to come at ease with the loss, while watching other people around you finding or trying to find new love.
A bit of bitterness there, and maybe some cynicism and a bitter laugh at the other people around you trying to find the thing that YOU know will just end one day and makes one feel like s**t and all alone.

IZ.

Yes, yes, yes.....my thoughts. A busy bar in Hamburg full of loneliness...

"And her hallway moves
Like the Ocean
Moves"

I've got the sensation loads of times coming home after a good pint session.

Sex. Definitely. Her, ahem, hallway moves and then there's a flood. Dirty bugger.

Les Fleurs du Mal wrote:"And her hallway moves
Like the Ocean
Moves"

I've got the sensation loads of times coming home after a good pint session.

... pretty association ... and surely not so very far-fetched ...

I'm pretty sure it's a mixed-up film quote, I've heard/seen it, thought about the connection to the song lyrics and forgotten about it til now

It's definitely about sex. Doesn't take a genius to figure out what 'her hallway' is. From the Booklet to the remastered version of Floodland:

As Eldritch acknowledge to the NME's Ted Mico in 1987, the imagery of flooding and engulfment that pervades both songs is a metaphor for "sex-at least in this context. Most people, if you think about it, only get wet under certain circumstances... '[Flood] I' is 'Are you sure we really want to do this?,' and '[Flood] II' is 'Yeah here we go!' In normal circumstances, the raising of arms is a sign of exultation but if you're surrounded by water it's complete submission, 'Down we go'. This is both at once ... Water is something so mammoth, so a flood is emotionally very stimulating. To surrender to it so willingly with such enthusiasm I think would be quite exciting."

For me though when I first started listening to the album, the words "dream of the flood" took on a different personal meaning, as I had recently started having recurring dreams of floods and drowning almost every night. These started a couple of weeks before I acquired the album.

"In normal circumstances, the raising of arms is a sign of exultation but if you're surrounded by water it's complete submission, 'Down we go'. This is both at once ... Water is something so mammoth, so a flood is emotionally very stimulating. To surrender to it so willingly with such enthusiasm I think would be quite exciting."

Flood II is still my favorite Sisters track, and I think this is precisely why. It captures an emotion in it's music and lyrics that is so incredible and huge and rare but so indescribable to me, that simultaneous feeling of surrender and exultation. "Seconds to the drop but it feels like hours..." That song is still overwhelming to me whenever I hear it. I actually really love the way it was played live on the last tour, with the louder guitars even.

Hasn't AE also said that water simultaneously awes and frightens him at the same time? I seem to remember that from some interview - anyways. Adding another layer into the lyrics and atmosphere of the song - water is also pretty classic erotic imagery I believe.

Elfeyth wrote:
Okay, it's late (or is that early) so I'll try to be coherent ...

The 'like the ocean' bit seems to be an interesting choice of comparison. I guess it links to the whole idea of women being associated with the moon and the tides. The ocean is unfathomable and unknowable in its depths - possibly something to avoid like the whirlpool of 'Marian' and definitely something that you can't ultimately establish control over. Unless, of course you are the moon (and now the cover of 'Floodland' is staring back at me) probably because it's late - so ignore that bit if you like.

I know I'm posting a ton in this thread all in a row - but I just wanted to say I never thought about this, and I really like it. Makes sense.

Damn I love this song. Even before I tried going into the layers upon layers of the lyrics (whether they were intentional or not) just the way it made me feel listening to it was enough. It's the sort of song that makes me catch my breath when I get to listen to it, preferably at high volume so those drums are really pounding. The drums always reminded me of a heartbeat for some reason, and they're steady and regular and the rest of the music is rolling and swaying, until that point where most of the rest drops out and the beat, it sounds like it skips a beat - again, a heart skipping a beat. Hard to explain which part I mean in text! I love the first part, Flood I, as well, as a prelude. Kinda ominous sounding really, but prepares you for what's to come.

For the record my boyfriend told me he always thought the "her hallway moves like the ocean" bit was about being under the influence of something, that swaying, disoriented feeling. He figured the usual suspects, drugs or booze or what have you, but I suppose it could be a sort of high from adrenaline, emotions running so high everything else sort of blurs together.

Someday I'll actually write out all my thoughts on this song (lyrics and music both) either here or just for myself somewhere because you don't want to hear me blather on. Cause there's a lot I could say...

I think it's a remniscing of a sexual relationship, stitched together in the speaker's mind as the song goes on with the other themes of Floodland - personal loss, the transience of human endeavours, nuclear destruction and the Flood metaphor for all this.

I like the different images the sounds of the songs conjure up - Flood I is all terror and dread in the expectation, but when it finally comes it's glorious sunlight upon the roaring waves.

Hmm let me think about this...a stretchy hallway or just a passage that leads to a womb, I mean room??