OJD234
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Over The Moon interpretationsHey, sorry if this has been posted before, but i'm new and I'm not exactly sure how to search for it other than going through all the pages and reading the subjects...
But... What EXACTLY is the meaning of Over The Moon? Is there an actual meaning that I'm missing, the million times i've heard it or is it open for interpretation?
One interpretation I came up with was that it's a bohemian nursery rhyme!
You know “hey diddle diddle”? It’s a nonsense nursery rhyme. So… “the cat and the fiddle” would be “ever since the cat took up the fiddle…” “the cow jumped over the moon” … if you didn’t get that from listening to over the moon, then you have serious issues. “the little dog” would be “THEN, a little bull dog entered. His name, we have learned, was BENNY!” and “the dish and the spoon” …were evicted from the table and eloped!
Share your interpretations!!
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Monsieur D'Arque
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It's bad performance art, spoofing the then-current trend of "postmodern feminist revision" versions of classic stories and fairy tales. Looking for meanings deeper than what's on the obvious face value won't lead you anywhere.
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ActingDude17
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Re: Over The Moon interpretationsMonsieur's absolutely right.
And "the dish and the spoon" are Mark and Roger. I think.
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OJD234
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[quote="Monsieur D'Arque"]Looking for meanings deeper than what's on the obvious face value won't lead you anywhere.[/quote]
I know that, that was just one example.
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What you own
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Re: Over The Moon interpretations | ActingDude17 wrote: | Monsieur's absolutely right.
And "the dish and the spoon" are Mark and Roger. I think. |
Eh? 
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Monsieur D'Arque
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The dish and the spoon aren't really anything. If you wanted to go deep into context, they'd be more likely to be Collins and Angel or Mimi and Joanne, as the general subtext of the piece is dealing (albeit very badly) with homosexuality.
However, it really doesn't mean shit in the long run.
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What you own
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^ Yup you said it perfectly.
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myworldtocreate
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I totally disagree, the entire song is a metaphor for the society they currently live in, and how each character is represented is extremely important. If you were to perform this song, you would have to search for deeper meaning and have an understanding of what Maureen is trying to say.
| Quote: | the general subtext of the piece is dealing (albeit very badly) with homosexuality.
However, it really doesn't mean shit in the long run. |
It does mean shit in the long run, a lack of understanding of the subtext...which by the way it seems you have...leads to a shallow performance.
Do you really believe that someone so intelligent and gifted, such as Jonathan Larson was, would write a song so random yet so powerful if it didn't have complex layers of meaning behind it...especially when the rest of the show is characterised in this way?
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LeocadiaBegbick
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| Monsieur D'Arque wrote: | It's bad performance art, spoofing the then-current trend of "postmodern feminist revision" versions of classic stories and fairy tales.
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My first impression was that the song was some sort of Frank Zappa pastiche... that "doomba doomba doomba" part (right after she says "a 1-2-3") was totally Frank Zappa-ish... in fact, I think "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" has background vocals like that.
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alcockell
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Hmmm - I can;t help but agree one person who commented on a Youtube splice of the Over the Moon clip....
"HOW high was the writer?"- which would be quite apt re the internal author rather than Lawson..
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Monsieur D'Arque
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It's bad, it's essentially meaningless, but Maureen THINKS it's the most important statement on earth. That's the key to it.
I saw a performance artist once whose whole bit was that we could take Bush down by identifying his true nature, which was apparently... rhyming animal metaphors.
"Fat.... cat!" (cheers) "Big... pig!" (cheers) "Evil....... WEEVIL!" (loudest cheers yet)
I wish i made that up, but no.
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Quique
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It's not as random as you all think. It's not particularly clever but it makes perfect sense. I understand how one could be completely mystified by the whole thing upon first viewing/listening, as it's so wacked out over the top, but she is clearly protesting the eviction of the homeless from the lot, expressing her dislike of the planned cyber arts studio that will be built in its place, and Benny's a-holism.
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Monsieur D'Arque
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I didn't mean it wasn't clear in its attempt, but the people who attempt to read a LOT more subtext into it often miss that it's not intended to be "deep."
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ActingDude17
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I've always taken it as an expression of just how zany and unique Maureen is.
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nabla
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| Quique wrote: | | It's not as random as you all think. It's not particularly clever but it makes perfect sense. I understand how one could be completely mystified by the whole thing upon first viewing/listening, as it's so wacked out over the top, but she is clearly protesting the eviction of the homeless from the lot, expressing her dislike of the planned cyber arts studio that will be built in its place, and Benny's a-holism. |
I agree. While overall it's parodying performance art it does make many allusions to her dislike of benny and the cyber arts studio and yuppie culture.
eg. the whole rant about benny (although that's barely even a metaphor really) abandoning them for his wide and becoming a part of redevelopment and gentrification of alphabet city
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