richard shindell "fleur de lis"

one of my favorite richard shindell songs-- i have no idea what it means, but i always get glassy-eyed to hear it.

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Music

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• richard
• shindell
• folk
• singer
• song
• writer
• guitarist
• fleur
• de
• lis
• live
• music
• concert

[rchristophe]

better not to know what the artist meant, IMO; one of my favorite richard tunes (i have about 50+ favorites) is 'out beyond the iron gate'-- and once i heard richard say emphatically that that song is NOT -- as i'd imagined hopefully-- about the wretched conditions of zoo animals. broke my heart to hear that. so let f'leur de lis' be about whatever you want it to be...

[punchpixie]

It's a hymn, sung by 18 yr old Joan of Arc (born 1412 in Dom Remy, France) from her English cell. She prays to the Virgin Mary,the Catholic Church, and France (Fleur De Lis). She doesn't want to die by burning at the stake, like a witch; but if she must die, then she does so believing in a Heaven like France, with a chance to be a new mother. She was finally burned at the stake. She is describing the kinds of woods that were stacked below her, and the effects of being burned alive...

[punchpixie]

...Joan was told that she could live, if she would just recant the visions she had which told her, as a 17 year old girl, to lead the entire French Army against the English. (Remember, she died at 19 years old) Initially, she said she would recant, but then sent a letter (a postman's fee) saying "No. I was spoken to by God, and I must be true to him, and to Mary. If you must burn me to death for this, then so be it." She knows she is reaching her own end of this world.(Seven seals).

[billypilgrim3000]

See Wikipedia entry for the play "Dark of the Moon," based on the old folk song Barbara Allen.

The play was performed off-Broadway in 1978, could be when Richard was involved with it. My hunch: this was just the seed of Fleur de Lis, Richard transformed it via Joan of Arc vision. After a recent NYC concert I asked Richard, "What the hell IS that song?" He replied, "I'm pretty much a listener to that song too." What a great human being.

[Castanetleah]

expression of one man's mystical love of the mother of all creation

[PhalainaBelgium]

Beautiful interpretation in a totally different mood compared with Solas'version ! Slainte ! Phalaïna

[punchpixie]

@jeffsaxton22 Thanks for passing on your meeting, and your gentle way of passing on the interpretation that you took from it...you are trying to be kind, and I appreciate it ;-) Shindell is an real artist, and as such, a muse speaks through him, and not vice versa...he may be reluctant to speak to the "meaning" of the song because of that. Most real artists are not very keen on "definitively" interpreting their art, as your second quote noted. So thanks! That said, I don't buy it. Cheers!

[jeffsaxton22]

@punchpixie I had the opportunity to talk to Richard after a concert & asked him about the source of the lyrics for "Fleur de Lis". He said that it is loosely based on the play "Dark of the Moon", which he had been involved in.

I shared with him your interpretation, which he really liked. I also mentioned the Townshend quote "Trust the art, not the artist", which (to me), means that one's interpretation of art can be as important as the artist's own idea. He liked that idea also.

[ccnyc16]

If only it could be that easy..........beautiful.

[shalena118]

Fleur de lis means, flower lilly. lol

[jeffsaxton22]

@punchpixie I agree with your observations....it's just that celandineflower has stated another source, (Richards website) for her interpretation. I've asked her for some additional information.

[jeffsaxton22]

@celandineflower When you get the chance, could you point me to your source on Richard's website...I tried looking but was unable to find it. Thanks!