Pavanne

[Jan_]

Please excuse my incredible ignorance but does anyone have any background information about this song?  I always thought pavanne/pavane was a dance but a google search throws up many references, none of which seem to relate to the lyrics.  

[jude]

According to wikipedia, it's a slow courtly dance

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavane

[Angela]

I thought it was about an ice cold assassin, but for years thought it was a song about 'the van'

[Brian H]

I go with the assassin theme, but wss never sure if it was literal or a metaphor for someone who won over her conquests with ease! Words below, with the slow, courtly dance reference at the end. Bit deep for Good Friday.


Pavanne, Cold steel woman, Pavanne.
How do you love a woman?
With eyes as cold as the barrel of her gun,
Who’s never missed her mark on anyone,
Pavanne, Pavanne, Pavanne.

Casino doors swing open, rich men raise their eyes they say “Who is this beauty��?
As elegant as ice, and later there’s an accident, another charges d’affaires
Is lying in a pool of blood no witness anywhere.

And they say she was a hundred miles away.
The hotel porter saw her climb the stairs.
And the maid with trembling hands knows what to say.
When the judge says, “Are you sure?��? “I’m sure,��? she swears.

Pavanne, Cold steel woman, Pavanne.
How do you love a woman?
With eyes as cold as the barrel of her gun,
Who’s never missed her mark on anyone,
Pavanne, Pavanne, Pavanne.

At the presidential palace a thousand people saw
His excellency leave his car and never make the door.
The blood flow through his fingers as he clutches at the stain
And staggers like a drunken man lies twisted in the rain.

And they say she grew up well provided for.
Her mother used to keep her boys for sure.
And her father’s close attentions led to talk.
She learned to stab her food with a silver fork.

Pavanne, Cold steel woman, Pavanne.

And they say she didn’t do it for the money.
And they say she didn’t do it for a man.
They say she did it for the pleasure.
The pleasure of the moment.

Pavanne, Cold steel woman, Pavanne.
How do you stop this woman?
When everyone is moving through a trance.
Like prisoners of some slow courtly dance.
Pavanne, Pavanne, Pavanne, Pavanne.

[Dave Russell]

Isn't it literal, about a terrorist?  It was written at the time the Bader-Meinhof gang were active.  I guess what takes the song beyond simple narrative and makes it so haunting is the upbringing verses.

I used to do this one occasionally as a floor spot and it's certainly a song that sucks one into a bleak and intense mood.  Typical of RT's genius.

[RichardH]

A more upmarket ancestor of Carrie in "Guns are the Tongues"?

[Mindwarper]

Excuse my ignorance, is this a RT song? I know the instrumentals from many renaissance cds. My favorite being Philip Pickets version of Terpsichore. But the John Renbourne version is also great. What RT cd is it on? Is it in renaissance style?

[Anne T]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0agAJr_UO4

You might like this version, Janet!

[GubGub (Al)]

Excuse my ignorance, is this a RT song? I know the instrumentals from many renaissance cds. My favorite being Philip Pickets version of Terpsichore. But the John Renbourne version is also great. What RT cd is it on? Is it in renaissance style?

It is on First Light. Not in a renaissance style but very much in a Richard & Linda Thompson style!

[Bob Barrows]

Excuse my ignorance, is this a RT song? I know the instrumentals from many renaissance cds. My favorite being Philip Pickets version of Terpsichore. But the John Renbourne version is also great. What RT cd is it on? Is it in renaissance style?

I have a couple, ahem, archival recordings on which this appears ... PM me if you're interested.

[Jules Gray]

Isn't it literal, about a terrorist?  It was written at the time the Bader-Meinhof gang were active.  I guess what takes the song beyond simple narrative and makes it so haunting is the upbringing verses.

I used to do this one occasionally as a floor spot and it's certainly a song that sucks one into a bleak and intense mood.  Typical of RT's genius.

I was sure that it was actually Linda who wrote the words to Pavanne and it became a rare co-written song.  Am I wrong?

Great song either way!

Jules

[Simon Nicol]

Linda had a vivid and complete dream and awaking, wrote the song: she and Richard refined and polished it between them. I wasn't in the room when they were processing her nocturnal fantasy so I can't say how long it took or what the division of labour was, but it was speedily done. A perfect little novella. Time can stop: always a good thing.

[pavanne]

Great song either way!

Very true.

[Curt]

So the song has nothing to do with a Pavanne then, which is a slow courtly dance - normally followed by a Galliard.

[Jan_]

I think it does, in as much as this upper class dance was very, very slow, almost to the point of not moving, solemn, elegant, sophisticated and meticulously choreographed with a great emphasis on style and posture.  With Richard Thompson, like any great author, every word counts - none are accidental and none are wasted.

I've been told that Pavanne was a spy but haven't had time to investigate yet.  Also that the word means peacock.

[davidmjs]

I think it does, in as much as this upper class dance was very, very slow, almost to the point of not moving, solemn, elegant, sophisticated and meticulously choreographed with a great emphasis on style and posture.  With Richard Thompson, like any great author, every word counts - none are accidental and none are wasted.

I've been told that Pavanne was a spy but haven't had time to investigate yet.  Also that the word means peacock.

I thought it was about one of the 1970 female terrorists...Baader meinhoff I think, but I may have imagined that.  Graham Nash (and David Crosby) sings a mean version...

[gower flower (Shirl)]

Thanks for the link to YouTube. Never heard this song before. Wonderful.

[Jan_]

Yes, thanks AnneT.  So there's this version, the First Light one, the Simon Nicol/Dave Swarbrick one and now a Graham Nash version.  Any links David?

[Jules Gray]

A perfect little novella. Time can stop: always a good thing.

Beautifully put, sir.

Jules

[davidmjs]

Yes, thanks AnneT.  So there's this version, the First Light one, the Simon Nicol/Dave Swarbrick one and now a Graham Nash version.  Any links David?

The recorded Graham Nash version is on Songs for Survivors (it's not a good album in my opinion...far too sacharine) but the live Crosby & Nash versions sound great...(not officially released)...

I think you can hear a sample here...

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/4851651/a/Songs+For+Survivors.htm