I listened to a reversed version and heard the "family come home." Creepiest thing, really.
Also, I have a few corrections to the lyrics:
Both times "in the pen" should be "in the end."
"I can hear the voices rising," not of Rosalind.
And "In the end / It's just a bed"
"jump on us" is actually just "troubles" again
And I agree that it's about Elizabeth I. The headless mother and heartless father, Shakespeare, the fact that she's the virgin queen...
More specifically, I think it's about how lonely this life would have been. In order to keep her power, Elizabeth didn't marry, but this also deprived her of this relationship. It wasn't exactly ok to have sexual relationships outside of marriage, so any that she had would have to be very quiet. Robert Dudley, I think, was someone she loved or, at least, liked quite a lot, but was unable to marry because of her status. So to keep her power, she had to essentially marry England, as Regina says.
Also, the parts about the voices rising would be those trying to take power from her. Even before she became queen, there were plots against her. Also, she was Protestant, so the Catholics weren't exactly pleased with her and wanted Mary, Queen of Scots to be England's queen. So I think the voices Regina sings about are those of people plotting against Elizabeth.
The song talks about her loneliness and, I think, hints at dissatisfaction at the end with the cold crown and the things that are fading.
Also, "family come home," could refer to the fact that Elizabeth never had much of a family, what with her father killing his wives and she and her siblings all vying for power against each other. Elizabeth even had to sentence her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, to death. At least I think she was her cousin, but I’m not quite sure.
I also find it interesting that Regina chose that particular quote of Shakespeare's to use. I don't think she's implying suicidal thoughts with it, but maybe uses it to mirror Elizabeth’s internal debate about whether she should give up the idea of a family in favor of being Queen or whether it would be better to trade in her crown for a family. A question of which is worth more.
I love Regina for using that one, though, because I have an unhealthy love for Hamlet ;)
I think the vocalizing continues this debate because she has two “voices” in it. There’s one that’s deeper and more manly and one that’s feminine. The feminine one seems to plead for something and masculine one is calmer. I think there’s some quote from Elizabeth that talks about her masculinity vs. femininity, so I think that’s what this is. She has this typically masculine power, but also this typically feminine desire for a family and she has to deal with them both, causing this inner conflict.
Anyway, this is a fantastic song that I will now shut up about :)
I listened to a reversed version and heard the "family come home." Creepiest thing, really.
Also, I have a few corrections to the lyrics: Both times "in the pen" should be "in the end." "I can hear the voices rising," not of Rosalind. And "In the end / It's just a bed" "jump on us" is actually just "troubles" again
And I agree that it's about Elizabeth I. The headless mother and heartless father, Shakespeare, the fact that she's the virgin queen...
More specifically, I think it's about how lonely this life would have been. In order to keep her power, Elizabeth didn't marry, but this also deprived her of this relationship. It wasn't exactly ok to have sexual relationships outside of marriage, so any that she had would have to be very quiet. Robert Dudley, I think, was someone she loved or, at least, liked quite a lot, but was unable to marry because of her status. So to keep her power, she had to essentially marry England, as Regina says.
Also, the parts about the voices rising would be those trying to take power from her. Even before she became queen, there were plots against her. Also, she was Protestant, so the Catholics weren't exactly pleased with her and wanted Mary, Queen of Scots to be England's queen. So I think the voices Regina sings about are those of people plotting against Elizabeth.
The song talks about her loneliness and, I think, hints at dissatisfaction at the end with the cold crown and the things that are fading.
Also, "family come home," could refer to the fact that Elizabeth never had much of a family, what with her father killing his wives and she and her siblings all vying for power against each other. Elizabeth even had to sentence her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, to death. At least I think she was her cousin, but I’m not quite sure.
I also find it interesting that Regina chose that particular quote of Shakespeare's to use. I don't think she's implying suicidal thoughts with it, but maybe uses it to mirror Elizabeth’s internal debate about whether she should give up the idea of a family in favor of being Queen or whether it would be better to trade in her crown for a family. A question of which is worth more.
I love Regina for using that one, though, because I have an unhealthy love for Hamlet ;)
I think the vocalizing continues this debate because she has two “voices” in it. There’s one that’s deeper and more manly and one that’s feminine. The feminine one seems to plead for something and masculine one is calmer. I think there’s some quote from Elizabeth that talks about her masculinity vs. femininity, so I think that’s what this is. She has this typically masculine power, but also this typically feminine desire for a family and she has to deal with them both, causing this inner conflict.
Anyway, this is a fantastic song that I will now shut up about :)