So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
The wind blows, rain into my face
The sun glows at the end of the highway
Child of the moon, rub your rainy eyes
Oh, child of the moon
Give me a wide-awake crescent-shaped smile
She shivers, by the light she is hidden
She flickers like a lamp lady vision
Child of the moon, rub your rainy eyes
Child of the moon
Give me a wide-awake crescent-shaped smile
The first car on the foggy road riding
The last star for my lady is pining
Oh, child of the moon, bid the sun arise
Oh, child of the moon
Give me a misty day, pearly gray, silver, silky faced
Wide-awake crescent-shaped smile
The sun glows at the end of the highway
Child of the moon, rub your rainy eyes
Oh, child of the moon
Give me a wide-awake crescent-shaped smile
She shivers, by the light she is hidden
She flickers like a lamp lady vision
Child of the moon, rub your rainy eyes
Child of the moon
Give me a wide-awake crescent-shaped smile
The first car on the foggy road riding
The last star for my lady is pining
Oh, child of the moon, bid the sun arise
Oh, child of the moon
Give me a misty day, pearly gray, silver, silky faced
Wide-awake crescent-shaped smile
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It was in the window of time where LSD ruled the rock world.....I'd guess Keith had little to do with this # and much more to do with JJ Flash.
A great one that has snuck under the radar screen.
"Give me a misty day, pearly gray, silver, silky faced, Wide-awake crescent-shaped smile!" VVOVV
Lots of imagery for a song with limited lyrics - water being a primary reference. Moon Child is an astrological sign and is a water sign. The crescent moon is represented as a lady in the sense of a Florence Nightingale. When he sings of the child of the moon, he is singing of himself and of the prospect of joy and relief from gloom (probably unrequited love) as represented by the coming of the sun.
I'd like to comment further about the possible allusion to drugs in the song. From that perspective, the prospect of joy I refer to above could suggest a drug trip gone splendidly (a wide-awake pleasure). As if to say "don't knock me out but don't throw me to the sun either". In this interpretation, the moon ("she") can be seen as the drug itself. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
Very good song, so obviously a part of their jumpin jack flash era with just one guitar carrying the song, mostly because brian jones was to srewed up to play the guitar at the time
Wish I had it.
The moon is the planet sign for cancer. Jagger, being born a couple days late, is not a cancer. Leos on the other hand, are of the governing sun. The suns relationship with the moon might suggest a relationship he had with a moon child. Cancer is a water sign which might lead to "rainy" eyes while the "sun glowing at the end of the highway" might mean he is going home to masturbate.
Yes, the B-side of Jumping Jack Flash - and I still have that 45 vinyl single at home! This song never had any airplay and is showing its age now but sounded fine at the time.
This song kind of falls between the cracks. Original demos were recorded during '67 in the midst of the chaotic and frequently-interrupted (due to drug busts, legal hearings, etc.- the right wing of the British Establishment was doing its best to destroy The Rolling Stones via constant harassment of Jagger, Richards, and Jones during '67; they did not succeed, although they damaged Brian Jones seriously, psychologically and emotionally and even physically) "Satanic Majesties" sessions. From its sound, it certainly has a psychedelic vibe and is not in step with the band's return to blues and acoustic folk blues in '68. Some commentators have also said that the song is a love note from Jagger to Marianne Faithfull. Don't know, but of course it first saw light of day in public as the B side of the release of "Jumpin' Jack Flash," a full-scale return to blues-based hard rock, which Jagger and Richards have both called an anthem about surviving, especially after the weirdness of acid-tinged '67 and the legal hassles. On the demos, Nicky Hopkins plays very Nicky Hopkins-style piano. On this release, he plays organ- the exact reverse of "Sympathy for the Devil," on which Hopkins plays organ during the early phases of the song's recording, then switches to piano for the studio version that became familiar to the public as the lead-off track for "Beggars Banquet." Personnel for this release of "Child of the Moon": Mick Jagger, vocal; Keith Richards, guitars; Brian Jones, Mellotron; Bill Wyman, bass; Charlie Watts, drums; Nicky Hopkins, organ. After its release as a the B-side of a single, this track did not see the light of day again until the release of "More Hot Rocks (Big Hits and Fazed Cookies)" near the end of 1972. One of the great lesser known Stones tracks in any case.
In Child of the Moon, she’s going from melancholic to happiness. Jumping Jack Flash is about being born into a life of pain but finding one’s way to a joyful present. Variations on this theme are common in Stones lyrics.
This is a song short on meaning, but somehow flew under the radar.
I think it was a b-side of Jumping Jack Flash - so it was never on an album, did not make it onto any of their best hits collections, but is great song I think.