I agree with everything but I feel very strongly that the corridors of pale green and gray refer to an institution. Anne Sexton spent alot of time in first a boarding school, then as an adult, a mental institution. The first time I really listened to the lyrics I felt the priest, he's the doctor he can handle the shocks...had to do with the practice of electroshock therapy. Back in those days I wouldn't be surprised if they combined the 2, thinking the devil was the cause of the mental illness/depression. I think in your daddys arms again is refering to her desire to be reunited with her father. I don't often refer to God as my daddy. Additionally, after reading a bio, I forget where, they mentioned the rumored affair with Sylvia Plath, and I wondered if the tenderness, the tremble in the hips and kissing Marys lips was refering to sexual acts between her and a lover. Maybe tying back to the "shocks." she would confess. After reading the posts, one lyric now has taken on new meaning; she pictures a soul with no leaks at the seam...I can definitely see what musicfreak was talking about feeling like something is missing, but perhaps she is also refering to always feeling empty, no matter who is loves, how many children she has, how many poems she writes (which incidentally began as part of her therapy), nothing repairs that seam. Just my 2 cents.
I agree with everything but I feel very strongly that the corridors of pale green and gray refer to an institution. Anne Sexton spent alot of time in first a boarding school, then as an adult, a mental institution. The first time I really listened to the lyrics I felt the priest, he's the doctor he can handle the shocks...had to do with the practice of electroshock therapy. Back in those days I wouldn't be surprised if they combined the 2, thinking the devil was the cause of the mental illness/depression. I think in your daddys arms again is refering to her desire to be reunited with her father. I don't often refer to God as my daddy. Additionally, after reading a bio, I forget where, they mentioned the rumored affair with Sylvia Plath, and I wondered if the tenderness, the tremble in the hips and kissing Marys lips was refering to sexual acts between her and a lover. Maybe tying back to the "shocks." she would confess. After reading the posts, one lyric now has taken on new meaning; she pictures a soul with no leaks at the seam...I can definitely see what musicfreak was talking about feeling like something is missing, but perhaps she is also refering to always feeling empty, no matter who is loves, how many children she has, how many poems she writes (which incidentally began as part of her therapy), nothing repairs that seam. Just my 2 cents.