27 Oct
2009
27 Oct
'09
12:57 a.m.
Dave Phillips <dlphillips(a)woh.rr.com> wrote:
I must be perverse. As I listened to this (very fine) tune I kept
thinking about the horror movie "Carnival Of Souls"...
Thanks Dave, although I find it slightly disturbing that you sensed
something not entirely happy in the tune. You're actually one of three
people who have said that, and I can't for the life of me understand how
that should come about. To my ears the form and instrumentation are
reminiscent of music for a
carousel or carnival. In my psyche (admittedly influenced by 'way too
many horror and sf books & movies from the 50s and 60s) there's
something inherently surreal or even menacing about such things and
events. Perhaps it's a cultural conditioning ?
It was definitely early conditioning in my life regarding circus clowns.
As a very sickly infant and young child, I quickly learned to associate circus clowns with
intense, physical pain.
The pediatrician had circus clown portraits on the walls of his waiting rooms, hallways,
and patient rooms. Everywhere I went and waited, there were circus clowns. Then came the
treatments and pain, with those circus clowns watching and laughing.
To this day (I'm 56), I don't find anything remotely joyful or comforting about
circus clowns. They were the stuff of nightmares to me.
Amazed and just realizing how much I'm *still* upset with circus clowns,
Stephen.