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Kerouac- was Re: Otr lyric...
In a message dated 4/4/02 8:54:36 AM Central Standard Time, Ysobelle at aol_com
writes:
<<
And tell me, what is "that word"? I used to think it must be referring to
"love," but maybe it's "night"? >>
I've always assumed Linford was referring to 'night' because 1) the vibe of
the song to me seems to be grappling with the mystery of God and 2) it's
right before 'there's that word again' and 3) judging by the bits I know
about Kerouac (had a couple year stint where I was into the Beats via Dylan)
I've always seen him himself as grappling with the mystery of God. He was
schooled by nuns and Jesuits and never, to my knowledge lost his faith in
God. I read that in a journal he wrote that the aim of his life's work was
"to love God" (although he never really went beyond what he learned as a
child about Christ AFAIK) yet he then became very interested in Buddhism but
couldn't successfully combine the two and finally, IIRC mostly abandoned
Buddhism later in life. (although it was always the favorite religion of the
Beats) He also, by Catholic standards, led a pretty sinful life which I'm
sure made for some heavy spiritual anxiety. A lotta drugs, drink, women, the
occasional man, young prostitutes, etc., while, at the same time, trying to
still hold onto at least some basic Catholic tenants.
Never really thought "that word" was anything other than "night" but now
y'all got me thinking perhaps it's not. Some strong arguments for "love."
you bastards! you killed 'night'!
What Peter found on the origins of Beat was right on from what I've read. A
bit more trivia: the word "Beatnik" wasn't used until the late 50's and was a
play on the satellite "Sputnik-1"
kevin
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