Glittering Cloud

The act that brings on the plague has something to do with taking a lover ("Domino motion/ jump starts when we touch") The singer can't help it ("I'm not always like this," "terrible weakness," "blackout," "I can't help what I am,") and can see that things will end badly ("save me from myself/ before I hurt someone else again")

Her predictions are correct: the affair ends badly ("It's all over in a flash," "What have I done now?" "My head hurts," "Oh dear oh dear")

Then, she's pursued by the tabloid media ("all over the papers/ and the TV, wagging tongues./ The artist's impression...") I think the "glittering cloud" is the horde of paparazzi photographers that follows her, wanting a good shot, a literal plague of follows her like a swarm of insects, each one wanting a little piece of her.

I think this song is posed about being a werewolf. The line "I'm not always like this" is a hint. The glittering cloud may be the moon rising from the clouds. She says "save me from my self" which I think means she wants to stop her lunar transformation. And "before I hurt somebody else again" might be saying she might have injured somebody while in lycan state. When she speaks of the papers and the telly, she might have been seen as she transformed or just as a wolf. 'The artist's impression looks just me, only better" might state that she/he saw Heap before the transformation and after it you look a lot worse. Trust me.

This is just want I personally think.

so many ways to think about what the song's about. could be about an alcoholic / drug addict?

"I'm not always like this, it's something I've become" shes saying she never was this sort of person until recently. she gets influenced easily (possibly through peer pressure), and has an addiction to something, which is seen as a weakness in the line "A terrible weakness, in my nature, in my blood"

"Save me, oh save me, Save me from myself Before I hurt somebody else again" -maybe shes referring to something she did when she was under the influence of drugs/alcohol, which, as a consequence, ended up hurting someone either physically or emotionally.

"Domino motion Jump starts when we touch"

• one by one she influences other people with what she is. maybe shes the one hurting other people through her bad influence (of drugs+alco)

"A blackout approaching, here it comes now, wish me luck" -shes passing out, losing it, she cant control herself

"It's all over, it's all over, it's all over in a flash" -sometime after passing out / losing control and self awareness (which only seems liek minutes ago), she wakes up to the realisation that she cant remember.

"I can't remember What have I done now?" -shes not aware of what she did when she was under the influence.

"Go, go, faster wider More, more get it down yeah Dance, dance Take me over glittering clouds Go, go faster wider More more get it down yeah Dance, dance Take me over glittering clouds" -she wants more and more of whatever shes taking to feel as if shes travelling over glittering clouds, which could just be in reality smoke, but because shes drunk/stoned, she sees it as a glittering cloud.

"Oh, my head hurts." -hangover

"Oh dear, oh dear It's all over the papers And the TV, wagging tongues" -news of her alco/drug addiction spreads out through gossipping and the media.

"The artist's impression looks just like me, only better" refers to the artist in court, who usually paints an impression of the criminal.

"Don't blame me, don't maim me, I can't help what I am" -she cant change what she is because its too hard for her to change. many drug and alco addicts, even smokers, struggle to change who they are. and she's surrendered to the fact that theres no she can change her ways.

THEN AGAIN.. the song could be about something obscure like.. a slut/hooker.

"I'm not always like this, it's something I've become A terrible weakness, in my nature, in my blood Save me, oh save me, Save me from myself Before I hurt somebody else again"

basically shes saying she never was this person until somethin traumatic happened in her life.. (rape? parent's divorce? etc). seeing herself as weak coz she resorts to the lowest form of living life and getting by through prostitution. she wants to be saved (but she cant be coz she needs the money to live), before she hurts somebody else again - could refer to her family / bf / someone who really liked her but was crushed when they found out she was a hooker.

"Domino motion Jump starts when we touch A blackout approaching, here it comes now, wish me luck It's all over, it's all over, it's all over in a flash I can't remember What have I done now?"

instant action happens when she has to work for her money. the blackout could refer to her climaxing? she says its all over in a flash - a quick f**k. the person leaves, and she regrets what shes done even though she cant remember exactly what she did.

"Go, go, faster wider More, more get it down yeah Dance, dance Take me over glittering clouds Go, go faster wider More more get it down yeah Dance, dance Take me over glittering clouds" -referrin to how he describes sex? go go faster wider more more get it down...

"Oh dear, oh dear It's all over the papers And the TV, wagging tongues The artist's impression looks just like me, only better Don't blame me, don't maim me, I can't help what I am" -prostitution is illegal in most countries, and she was caught in the act. as a result, it has flooded the media, and she sees her day in court for her offence. again, the artists impression refers to the guy/girl who paints the convicted criminal. she pleads not to be judged or looked down upon coz shes different, coz this is her only way to live her life. she believes she was destined to be a hooker in life, adn that is all she ever will be. even tho she has prayed for salvation, and tried to change her ways - "Oh, Lord knows I've tried to"

then again, it could be seen as any of the previous posts' impression of the song: the locust cloud (biblical allusion? apocalypse?) being a closeted/gay celebrity? a love relationship between celebs? drink driving/influence of drugs? whatever. has heaps of meanings.

love the song. love immy. xx

As people have already pointed out, she was commissioned to write something about locusts for the 'Plague Songs' project. On her blog she said:

Quote:

My mission, should I choose to accept it was "to write a song about Locusts" That had to be the strangest request I've ever had so of course I took it on! What I had no idea idea of is that for the most part our locust is actually a pretty nice solitary kinda guy. It's only until the rains fall and they're forced to hand out together to eat and breed they become the creature we all know and hate...Our locust is battling between his two sides. In the verses he's trying to explain that he's misunderstood, that he's not really like that and and in the chorus, he's become the tribal cop-eating warrior! I thought that when they are swarming they're probably having a fantastic time about it. Hedonistic even. I imagined them all at some huge rave or something.

End quote

(A couple of obvious typos in the blog: 'hand out' must be 'hang out', and 'cop-eating' must be 'crop-eating'.)

I must admit I would never have guessed it had anything to do with locusts if I hadn't been told, but it works as an expression of a kind of frenzied feeling amyway.

this song makes me think so much of mental illness. the lyrics sound like they're from someone with dissociative identity disorder. "i'm not always like this, it's something i've become, a terrible weakness, in my nature, in my blood"--it sounds like something genetic that she can't control, and the part about "a blackout approaching, here it comes now, wish me luck" sounds like the switch between the parts of her personality. Most people with DID have at least one personality that controls the most carnal parts of them, the parts of them that are under control when they're in their own "normal" personality. when they're living in this "normal" state, they're typically not aware of the carnal personality (or any of the other ones that come out) or what they do when they're in a different personality, which is why she explains it like a blackout.

I think it's about the character's reaction to the blame that others put on her for a mental condition that she can't control. the phrase "glittering clouds" represents the escape from reality she has when she involuntarily switches into other personalities. glittering clouds make me think of clouds that are about to rain hard and cause problems.

"The artist's impression looks just like me, only better" I think this refers to the way that most of the media portrays "dangerous" mental illnesses--they're kind of romanticized in movies like The Secret Window etc. DID/whatever mental illness it is might be the puppeteer who's making her "dance" without her control. anyway that's just my take on it, it could be something totally different.

Yes! First to comment! A fresh track from Imogen for a strange little collective album called Plague Songs. Anyway, very pretty beats and instrumentals. I love when she says "Oh, my head hurts." I'm not sure why. God, I love Imogen.

This is about the plague of locusts?

Well, the title "Glittering Clouds" is relevant to the subject of locusts; in On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder, she describes a "glittering cloud" as a large swarm of locusts that blocked the sun out.

As for the song, it's brilliant, as per usual for any song by Imogen Heap.

the mystery of this song is what makes it so special to me.

I think she's just personifying the locusts. They really don't want to be part of the plague, it's another part of them~

I can also kind of see this scenario where a pretty well known person has forced out the closet and is being looked down upon from their peers, especially with the

"Don't blame me, don't maim me/I can't help what I am/Oh, Lord knows I've tried to"

part. I can also see it being about a person with a split personality and is doing things they don't realize they're doing when they are their other 'self'. Kind of like my locust thought