Half A Gift

mmmender · Jan-24-07, 5:17 AM

Who do you think Liz is referring to in the song "Half-Gifts"?

It's an old game, my love
When you can't have me, you want me
Because you know that you're not risking anything

Intimacy is when we're in the same place at the same time
Dealing honestly with how we feel, and who we really are

That's what grown-ups do
That is mature thinking

Well I'm still a junkie for it
It takes me out of my aloneness
But this relationship cannot sustain itself

Intimacy is when we're in the same place at the same time
Dealing honestly with how we feel, and who we really are

That's what grown-ups do
That is mature thinking

I just have to know how to be in the process
Of creating things in a better way
And it hurts but it's a lie that I can't handle it
I still have a world of me-ness to fulfill
I still have a life, and it's a rich one even with mourning
Even with grief and sadness

I still care about this planet
I am still connected to nature and to my dreams for myself

I have my friends, my family.
I have myself
I still have me

fornasetti · Jan-24-07, 5:42 AM

I just assumed it was an ode to Mr G.

frarn · Jan-24-07, 7:03 AM

her fans?? *ouch*

Ghosty · Jan-24-07, 7:07 AM

I never really listened to the full lyrics. Now I like it even less than I did before. Could have been off FCC. Anyways i always assumed it to be about Robin. Who else?

Rondel · Jan-24-07, 8:33 AM

could be a song to the entity 'Cocteau Twins'

Quisquose · Jan-24-07, 9:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frarn

her fans?? *ouch*

no kidding.

Quisquose · Jan-24-07, 9:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rondel

could be a song to the entity 'Cocteau Twins'

Yep. Also, I can't listen to "At last I am free" without getting that vibe.

randomrob · Jan-24-07, 10:47 AM

ode to a vibrator

fornasetti · Jan-24-07, 10:49 AM

It looks like you just couldn't stay away, Rob ?

randomrob · Jan-24-07, 10:50 AM

sshh im incognito

fornasetti · Jan-24-07, 10:51 AM

Ah, yes - as RandomRob. Its ok then, no-one will know its you.

randomrob · Jan-24-07, 10:53 AM

jus keep it under yr hat

Daphne · Jan-24-07, 10:56 AM

who was that masked man??

Rondel · Jan-24-07, 11:47 AM

The most astonishing thing about 'Half Gifts' is it's blinding honesty - Liz gets top marks in my books for saying how she feels (if that is what's going on in this song - safe guess being 'sure is')

Sometimes the truth isn't what anyone wants to hear because of it's effects but at least it's the truth.

The little EP Twinlights is kinda like her 'exit off stage 1' from the Cocteau Twins - I see such dignity and self respect in that - I quietly applaud Liz for this gift.

dprid · Jan-24-07, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daphne

who was that masked man??

Sarge?

No!

Rosemary, the telephone operator?

No!

Random Rob, the mild mannered poster?

Could Be!

elysium · Jan-25-07, 10:13 PM

Yay yay yay!
Hong Kong Phooey!

randomrob · Jan-25-07, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dprid

Sarge?

No!

Rosemary, the telephone operator?

No!

Random Rob, the mild mannered poster?

Could Be!

you just completely ineffably rocked my world...

thanx david

(rosemarys hot!)

elisa · Jan-25-07, 10:26 PM

I'd always assumed Guthrie, too. I always wondered how that was for him, to hear the words in the studio as she recorded them. Although maybe he knew they were about someone else.

ossian · Jan-26-07, 6:33 AM

As much as I hate the song, I always assumed it was about me...

Knoll · Jan-26-07, 8:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmmender

Who do you think Liz is referring to in the song "Half-Gifts"?

Liz specifically said that song was about Jeff Buckley, as was all of Twinlights and a lot of Milk and Kisses. ("Milk and kisses for the first man / my old man / love and a thousandfold rose for Buckley / my Rilkean Hearted friend".)

"I'm just getting good boundaries with Robin now. We just didn't communicate," Fraser says, over tea. If her break-up with Guthrie afforded her some independence, it also opened up romantic opportunities, and when the Twins went on tour in 1994, Fraser fell in love. "My love addiction was worse than ever. I was maniacal," she confesses.

"The EP is about that man," she says of Twinlights. "My last goodbye, as it were. I was too needy and he was too much of an avoidance person. Naturally."

Twinlights finds Fraser voicing words of self-reliance and comfort. When she panics, she says she feels about five years old. "You kind of go back to the age when you were being abused," she explains. Singing helps her soothe her younger self.

"There's some of that going on in 'Rilkean Heart': 'You're lost and don't know what to do/But that's not all of you.' It's all a bit corny, really. It's really simple language; it's how you have to speak to yourself at that age. That's the part of me that's so hungry."

Particularly poignant are the EP's closing lines - yes, audible lyrics - in which Fraser plaintively intones over a fading melody, "I have my friends/My family/I have myself/I still have me." The message is to herself. "I just have to remember I have my friends and family. It's not just about a man," she says in exasperation.

It's good advice, but it embarrasses her. "Sometimes I cringe when I think about what I'm singing, but I've never been more real in my life."

AP Jan 96

There is a LOT more to this story. The BBC doc presented her basically as his widow.

Jan-24-07, 5:17 AM	#1
mmmender Forum Founder & Greatly Missed ¨˜”°º• HELP CONQUER CANCER IN OUR LIFETIME •º°”˜¨ Join Date: Aug 2002 Age: 43 Posts: 37,504 Rep Power: 86	Half A Gift Who do you think Liz is referring to in the song "Half-Gifts"? It's an old game, my love When you can't have me, you want me Because you know that you're not risking anything Intimacy is when we're in the same place at the same time Dealing honestly with how we feel, and who we really are That's what grown-ups do That is mature thinking Well I'm still a junkie for it It takes me out of my aloneness But this relationship cannot sustain itself Intimacy is when we're in the same place at the same time Dealing honestly with how we feel, and who we really are That's what grown-ups do That is mature thinking I just have to know how to be in the process Of creating things in a better way And it hurts but it's a lie that I can't handle it I still have a world of me-ness to fulfill I still have a life, and it's a rich one even with mourning Even with grief and sadness I still care about this planet I am still connected to nature and to my dreams for myself I have my friends, my family. I have myself I still have me __________________ ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥Visualise whirrled peas♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Jan-24-07, 5:42 AM	#2
fornasetti Dear Hearted Smile ! Join Date: Dec 2003 Age: 49 Posts: 12,637 Rep Power: 35	I just assumed it was an ode to Mr G. __________________ 40 years old is just too young.

Jan-24-07, 7:03 AM	#3
frarn Itchy Glowbo in the beginning there was darkness, and it scared the shit out of the little children .... Join Date: Jan 2004 Age: 54 Posts: 9,246 Rep Power: 28	her fans?? ouch __________________ listen to my music on Soundcloud

Jan-24-07, 8:33 AM	#5
Rondel Millimillenary Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 628 Rep Power: 8	could be a song to the entity 'Cocteau Twins' __________________ See the book so clear & white... Turn the page read my life Deception leads you to believe... Everything is silver on the screen

Jan-24-07, 10:49 AM	#9
fornasetti Dear Hearted Smile ! Join Date: Dec 2003 Age: 49 Posts: 12,637 Rep Power: 35	It looks like you just couldn't stay away, Rob ? __________________ 40 years old is just too young.

Jan-24-07, 7:07 AM	#4
Ghosty Itchy Glowbo Join Date: Dec 2003 Age: 45 Posts: 8,664 Rep Power: 27	I never really listened to the full lyrics. Now I like it even less than I did before. Could have been off FCC. Anyways i always assumed it to be about Robin. Who else?

Jan-24-07, 10:47 AM	#8
randomrob Summerhead Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 28,714 Rep Power: 68	ode to a vibrator

Jan-24-07, 10:50 AM	#10
randomrob Summerhead Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 28,714 Rep Power: 68	sshh im incognito

Jan-24-07, 10:51 AM	#11
fornasetti Dear Hearted Smile ! Join Date: Dec 2003 Age: 49 Posts: 12,637 Rep Power: 35	Ah, yes - as RandomRob. Its ok then, no-one will know its you. __________________ 40 years old is just too young.

Jan-24-07, 10:53 AM	#12
randomrob Summerhead Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 28,714 Rep Power: 68	jus keep it under yr hat

Jan-24-07, 10:56 AM	#13
Daphne Moderator No matter where you go, there you are Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 12,038 Rep Power: 35	who was that masked man?? __________________ If you don't feel that you are possibly on the edge of humiliating yourself, of losing control of the whole thing, then probably what you are doing isn't very vital. John Irving

Jan-24-07, 11:47 AM	#14
Rondel Millimillenary Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 628 Rep Power: 8	The most astonishing thing about 'Half Gifts' is it's blinding honesty - Liz gets top marks in my books for saying how she feels (if that is what's going on in this song - safe guess being 'sure is') Sometimes the truth isn't what anyone wants to hear because of it's effects but at least it's the truth. The little EP Twinlights is kinda like her 'exit off stage 1' from the Cocteau Twins - I see such dignity and self respect in that - I quietly applaud Liz for this gift. __________________ See the book so clear & white... Turn the page read my life Deception leads you to believe... Everything is silver on the screen

Jan-25-07, 10:13 PM	#16
elysium Grail Overfloweth Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 6,934 Rep Power: 21	Yay yay yay! Hong Kong Phooey!

Jan-25-07, 10:26 PM	#18
elisa Limbo Join Date: Jun 2006 Age: 44 Posts: 9,845 Rep Power: 26	I'd always assumed Guthrie, too. I always wondered how that was for him, to hear the words in the studio as she recorded them. Although maybe he knew they were about someone else.

Jan-26-07, 6:33 AM	#19
ossian Megalast Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Age: 39 Posts: 2,281 Rep Power: 14	As much as I hate the song, I always assumed it was about me...

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