<<You're a regular professor of Joni! >> No way! I'm just making guesses like everyone else. Deciphering and discussing her lyrics is one of the joys of this group to me. I don't think Joni puts any of this stuff in at random. I think there are further references to her rejection of the Biblical man/woman relationships:
"Truth goes up in vapors The steeples lean" The steeples lean, referring to a church, THE church, leaning...in other words, "crooked" or "not right". "Winds of change patriarchs Snug in your bible belt dreams" Here she turns the tables on her oppressor, refers to him as one of the Patriarchs of the Bible, but telling him that there are 'winds of change'. And what are "dreams" if not fantasy or the absence of reality? "God goes up the chimney Like childhood Santa Claus" This sounds to me like an exclamation point to the whole argument...God as a fantasy, compared to Santa Claus. Eve was promised by the serpent that if she ate from the tree of knowledge she would gain wisdom. She & Adam both became "enlightened" by doing so. Another interesting reference: "I'm leaving on the 1:15 You're darn right" The Adam & Eve story is told in the book of Genesis. If you look at Genesis 1:15, it says: "and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. It's the part of the creation story where God creates light. Could it also be a reference to creating enlightenment? The female declaring her freedom from the religious oppression and saying "I've seen the light, I'm outta here"? Maybe so, maybe no... Bob NP: Phil Collins, "Everyday"
