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My name is Leslie Ann Levine
My mother birthed me down a dry ravine
My mother birthed me far too soon
Born at nine and dead at noon
Fifteen years gone now
I still wander this parapet
And shake my rattle bone
Fifteen years gone now
I still cling to the petticoats
Of the girl who died with me
On the roofs above the streets
The only love I've known's a chimney sweep
Lost and lodged inside a flue
Back in 1842
Fifteen years gone now
I stil wail from these catacombs
And curse my mother's name
Fifteen years gone now
Still a wastrel mesallied
Has brought this fate on me
My name is Leslie Ann Levine
I've got no one left to mourn for me
My body lies inside it's grave
In a ditch not far away
Fifteen years gone now
I still wander this parapet
And shake my rattle bone
Fifteen years gone now
I still cling to the petticoats
Of the girl who died with me
My mother birthed me down a dry ravine
My mother birthed me far too soon
Born at nine and dead at noon
Fifteen years gone now
I still wander this parapet
And shake my rattle bone
Fifteen years gone now
I still cling to the petticoats
Of the girl who died with me
On the roofs above the streets
The only love I've known's a chimney sweep
Lost and lodged inside a flue
Back in 1842
Fifteen years gone now
I stil wail from these catacombs
And curse my mother's name
Fifteen years gone now
Still a wastrel mesallied
Has brought this fate on me
My name is Leslie Ann Levine
I've got no one left to mourn for me
My body lies inside it's grave
In a ditch not far away
Fifteen years gone now
I still wander this parapet
And shake my rattle bone
Fifteen years gone now
I still cling to the petticoats
Of the girl who died with me
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I think the abortion is much more likely the intended meaning for this song, because to me it explains:
"cling to the petticoats" - those where the evidence of the abortion, and such the mother left them with the fetus, probably even used as a shroud in regret.
"the girl who died with me" could mean the result of the horrible experience of an abortion in a teen mother, whose childhood ends abruptly by the act of aborting her child.
The "on the roofs above the streets" verse I must admit is a bit puzzling, but I imagine since the narrator is the ghost of Leslie-Anne, her only love could well be the ghost of a kid who died trapped in a chimney in 1842.
Also, the verse "I still cling to the petticoats of the girl who died with me," could suggest that, during the forced miscarriage, the fetus ended up "clinging" to the petticoat of his mother, who in turn, maybe bled to death. And, since she brought this fate on him, he curses his "mother's name." Leslie has no one left to mourn for him because the only one who knew of his existence was his mother and she died with him.
"On the roofs above the streets, the only love I've known's a chimney sweep. Lost and lodged inside a flue Back in 1842,"....."Fifteen years gone now, still a wastrel mesallied has brought this fate on me," maybe this could be interpreted as the mother being ashamed of who fathered her child, or that she was the one unsuited for the relationship. Abandoned by her lover of higher social status, and unable to manage a child on her own she, therefore, aborted it.
Fifteen years ("gone by") could be how long it has been since the event of his death transpired and how long he has been haunting the parapets. Some spiritualistic perspectives suggest that when an individual dies, they age in the same time relative to the living. In this case, fifteen years. Maybe Leslie felt that since he was apparently so undeserving of his mother's love, he deserved no better than to perpetually roam the rooftops and catacombs, were the least loved and least fortunate dwell.
I'm not saying that this is what the song definitively means at all, only that for whatever reason, this is the story it painted in my mind when I heard it....independently of any true interpretation or meaning that the musicians themselves intended for it to have.
Also, the verse "I still cling to the petticoats of the girl who died with me," could suggest that, during the forced miscarriage, the fetus ended up "clinging" to the petticoat of his mother, who in turn, maybe bled to death. And, since she brought this fate on him, he curses his "mother's name." Leslie has no one left to mourn for him because the only one who knew of his existence was his mother and she died with him.
"On the roofs above the streets, the only love I've known's a chimney sweep. Lost and lodged inside a flue Back in 1842,"....."Fifteen years gone now, still a wastrel mesallied has brought this fate on me," maybe this could be interpreted as the mother being ashamed of who fathered her child, or that she was the one unsuited for the relationship. Abandoned by her lover of higher social status, and unable to manage a child on her own she, therefore, aborted it.
Fifteen years ("gone by") could be how long it has been since the event of his death transpired and how long he has been haunting the parapets. Some spiritualistic perspectives suggest that when an individual dies, they age in the same time relative to the living. In this case, fifteen years. Maybe Leslie felt that since he was apparently so undeserving of his mother's love, he deserved no better than to perpetually roam the rooftops and catacombs, were the least loved and least fortunate dwell.
I'm not saying that this is what the song definitively means at all, only that for whatever reason, this is the story it painted in my mind when I heard it....independently of any true interpretation or meaning that the musicians themselves intended for it to have.
In 1842 Leslie was a mans name, and he is "clinging to the petty coat of the girl who died with [him]" his "un-touched Miranda" (see "we both go down together")
The line "Born at nine, dead at noon" likens ones life to the hours on a clock, the narrator is a teenager. This is why He repeats "Fifteen years gone now" he died at 15, making those years a waste.
In "we both go down together" the narrator says, "You come from parents wanton, a child hood rough and rotten, I come from wealth and beauty, untouched by work or duty". He also speaks of his parents forbidding there love; because of this they meet at his veranda, jump off the cliff together and commit suicide.
This explains many things:
1)Why he still "wail(s) from these catacombs and curse(s) [his] mothers name", it is her rejection which forced the suicide.
2)He says "The only love I've ever know's a chimney sweep" one of the lowest forms of work in 1842
3)Why he is "wandering this parapet".
4)Why he is buried in a dry ravine
5)Who the "wastrel" is in the line "This wastrel mislead, has brought this fate on me"
Just a side note the Decemberists hail from Portland, I don't know what it is that makes Portlandiers more imaginative, creative and all around more awesome...must be something in the water.
Colin paints a wonderful picture with his lyrics, more than any artist I've heard. I can see everything he sings.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_R._Levine
Anyway, in my opinion, the absolute saddest part of this song is the part about the chimneysweep. So many children died exactly like that. Industrial Britain was an ungodly horrible time and place to live.