Apparently Joni sent this to the copywriter, oh so long ago. >>>>>> "Look out the left", the captain said, "The lights down there that's where we'll land." I saw a falling star burn up above the Las Vegas sands. It wasn't the one that you gave to me... etc >>>>>>
"star burn up" is a double-mouthful. Looking at it as text, it reminds me of Hejira-era allusion, density, and cinematic description. It's no wonder I never heard it correctly. Being a sailor, I always "heard" this: "I saw <garbled> starboard and aft" I never "got" that she saw a falling star <from the air>. I can imagine that the air above the desert, like the air above the Rockies, is very clear. What a great line because it's so vivid and so perfect for a cautionary tale of a flight gone wrong. I guess it's time to re-read "The Complete Poems and Lyrics" again. Does someone have the collection of typos in this book that some one of us JMDLers compiled? All the best, Lama Saying "look out the left" comes from the same brain that earlier wrote "he heard her off to starboard" which brings us back to "one". It's also what precipitated today's research. Thank you. > From: Jim L'Hommedieu (Lama) [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > You're on a ship in Lake Superior. Let's say there's a storm and > you're about 15 miles from White Fish Bay, standing in the middle > of the boat, facing the front, the bow. The hull is pitching and > yawning as the boat rolls from side to side in the waves. It's > dusk, and foggy. The starboard rail is the boat's outside edge > on your right. > > Over the wind and the rain and the groaning, twisting rigging you > shout, "WHERE'S THE EDMUND FITZGERALD? DID THE CAPTAIN SEE HER?" > > I might holler back, "NO, BUT HE HEARD HER PLAINLY ENOUGH, OFF TO > STARBOARD, BUCKLING AND WHIMPERING AS SHE WENT DOWN!"
