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Subject: Re: The Doll Author: Mary [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 11/ 3/09 11:39pm In reply to: Lori 's message, "The Doll" on 11/ 3/09 1:46pm That is a very good guess though. My grandmother had a doll exactly like it, that my mother displayed in her house for years. I think they were popular around the turn of the last century. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> Subject: Re: The Doll Author: Bianca [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 11/ 3/09 11:48pm Somewhere I read the inspiration for Windows and Walls was an elderly neighbor in Colorado. I also thought his grandmother was the inspiration for that song and possibly it was a combination of both. Great song. B [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> Subject: Re: Windows and Walls Author: Kelly [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 11/ 6/09 6:54am That sounds sort of familiar, now that you mention it, Bianca....the elderly neighbor. Not sure if I actually remember reading that about Window and Walls, or if I'm just thinking of another story he once told about an elderly neighbor he used to visit and have tea with occasionally. The two stories may not be related at all, though....it's hard to remember. That's one song I don't listen to very often. I am curious about it though, because it seemed a strange subject for him to write about. It has a pretty melody, but the lyrics are so sad. When I hear it, sometimes I just want to say to Dan - Hey! Maybe she doesn't think her life is so sad...maybe she's content. Maybe she enjoys watching the sunrise and the birds outside her window, maybe she enjoys listening to music, or watching tv, maybe she paints or draws, and enjoys chatting with folks at the corner store occasionally. Or maybe she's content with her dreams and her memories. I don't know...I guess I just don't want her life to be as depressing as it sounds.....because it makes living seem kind of pointless. So I'm not sure what he was trying to say with this song. He's written plenty of other sad songs, but most are only sad in a particular context, a temporary state. The sadness of this song, to me, seems to make a broader statement about life. I don't hate the song, it just makes me uncomfortable. Curious to know what you like about it, and what other folks think about it too. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> Subject: Re: Windows and Walls Author: Bianca [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 11/ 7/09 12:15am Not sure where I read about the elderly neighbor, been awhile. At a few concerts he mentioned his grandmother and her cooking and her senior moments, spoke of the elder care residence, so when I heard WW I was drawn to it because I believed it to be about his grandmother. I could picture my sweet grandmother doing those same things. My grandfather had passed and all the kids were gone. She did light gardening and watered her flowers and then had to rest, she sat by the window in her recliner with the phone close by, reading her book, just waiting for someone to visit, always so thrilled. The song simply described my grandmother to a tee. He had to be singing about someone he knew well....What was he trying to say? How sad he felt for the woman? How lonely she must be? Where he usually wrote about things concerning his life, he was just watching this life fade away. It's a very sad song. B. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> [> Subject: Re: Windows and Walls Author: Kelly [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 11/11/09 9:45am I can see now how you connect with the song, because it reminds you of your grandmother. Though I hope she wasn't as sad and lonely as the song would suggest. And I hope the woman who inspired Dan's song wasn't truly as sad and lonely either. But as you suggested, I guess what the song actually reflects is the sadness Dan felt for her, and how he perceived her life. I think what bothers me most about the lyrics is the perception of the woman's "sad little plans". I see it as, hey, at least she had some plans....she wasn't just giving up. As our lives change, and we're unable to do many of the physical things we once did, I don't think it necessarily has to mean your life is now sad and pitiful. Maybe for some it is though. My grandmother lived alone for many years too before she passed, but I didn't see her life as being terribly sad and lonely. She did things she enjoyed, like reading, crocheting, listening to the radio, watching tv, even feeding the birds, and watching them outside her window. I guess those things may seem sad compared to more adventurous activities, but I wouldn't call them sad little plans. I don't remember feeling sadness for her until she became very ill, shortly before she died. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: Windows and Walls Author: Bianca [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 11/13/09 5:04pm I wonder what was going on in Dan's life when he wrote the songs for Windows and Walls ? It has a lot of sadness in it. B [ Post a Reply to This Message ]