Haul away - interpretation?...

[RAc]

Hi there,

sorry if this should be a dupe; if so, please let me know and I'll attach to the exisitng thread...

The lyrics to Haul Away are very Markish - open ended, ambiguous, interpretable. Is the protagonist a man (would have to be according to "I'm a living man and you're a cold one") or rather a woman ("my love's as fair as a girl can be")? Or could this possibly be a homosexual relationship? Is this really about a drowned sailor or simply a failed relationship (of whichever flavor) which attaches to the metaphor of sea life? After all, "living" and 2cold" don't necessarily have to mean "living" and "dead" in the medical sense; maybe one simply drifted off into loneliness and wouldn't accept the other's invitation to bring him/her back to the world of the actively living?

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[GennT]

Hi there,

sorry if this should be a dupe; if so, please let me know and I'll attach to the exisitng thread...

The lyrics to Haul Away are very Markish - open ended, ambiguous, interpretable. Is the protagonist a man (would have to be according to "I'm a living man and you're a cold one") or rather a woman ("my love's as fair as a girl can be")? Or could this possibly be a homospamual relationship? Is this really about a drowned sailor or simply a failed relationship (of whichever flavor) which attaches to the metaphor of sea life? After all, "living" and 2cold" don't necessarily have to mean "living" and "dead" in the medical sense; maybe one simply drifted off into loneliness and wouldn't accept the other's invitation to bring him/her back to the world of the actively living?

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Watch Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World movie. You'll understand where Mark got the inspiration for Haul Away and Privateering

[RAc]

well of course. Thanks for the pointer, now everything falls into place. For some reason it did not occur to me that the person addressed could be anyone but the partner of the narrator.

Just one more question: How did you know?

[GennT]

well of course. Thanks for the pointer, now everything falls into place. For some reason it did not occur to me that the person addressed could be anyone but the partner of the narrator.

Just one more question: How did you know?

Well this song has been discussed many times before, Mark started playing it live last year during Bob's Europe Tour, so it's not a new thing. Also in the Privateering EPK Mark mentions the Patrick O'Brien novels and also this specific story from which he was inspired. The movie is really awesome too!