No, I don't think the Lucinda : Lucifer suggested analogy quite accounts for what's sung. I have a variation on what iwalkwithzombies wrote and it's very close in meaning, so just bear with me, here. I think it's a narration at the moment between life and death-- by suicide hanging. It condemns William to hell for his own sin, rather than any act Lucinda might have done, without the conspiratorial glitz of devil-worship & devotion.
William "the Pleaser" clearly shows that he cared greatly for Lucinda. His knowing her--whether it's intimate or stalkerish is something to note, but not relevent--is likened to a child's secret and a secret "wish in the moonlight" He even associates his connection to her with children's story prop "bowl full of stars". He's childish enough to kill something beautiful by neglect (3.3-4). And at her death scene he doesn't ascribe any passionate or murderous descriptions. It focuses on the stormy night and is nothing more than snippets of the scene. There's a gunshot -- a golden glint -- her body -- and his guilt on the backdrop of the storm. It's hardly murderous!
What I can't account for is why he'd say "and she will go off with me down to hell" (4.4) or why "she wanted the bell in [William's] soul" (7.4). That leads me to think of iwalkwithzombie's suggestion. For all we know, he watched Lucinda be murdered (hence the reflection in the window: a gold glint) and blames himself. Mixing anger and guilt with the memory of her death? And, hells' bells, it may be that Lucinda was the one who committed suicide and he witnessed it-- after all, William isn't saying he saw or heard someone run out of the house. It's only him and her corpse. Besides, this woman is an exception to the ascribed notion that "the devil dances in empty pockets" -- that the poor are thieves, beggars and cunts, or that "poverty tempts one to do evil".*. If she DID ANYTHING she'd be a saint. As it is, Lucinda ("light", as Google & the Latin language tells me, so that's another pretty reference for her) is a romantic doll for all she does in this romantic song.
All that I can say for her "wanting the bell in his soul" is that maybe I don't know what it means. Really, did she demand this pretty little thing from him literally, or is it a little death knell her death set a-ringing in him? Whatever it is, he's singing this forlorn tale to us when he'll be soon be dead.
*Courtesy of the Tom Waits Library. Mr. Waits also says that it's just "an American backwoods a cappella about a hanging." Just that. Very formal. Very official and brusk.
And the footnotes: I suspect William is quite poor, hence why Lucinda isn't described by image the upper class would coo for. It's tar and cuttlefish bone for the poor, it is. He's also a small-time peddler who's strangely familiar with worshipful practices in India. Where the hell did he follow Lucinda to, from Texas? India? The joy of this song is that we have a departure location and not the bloody arrival destination.
My interpretation is a bit different. I think Lucinda is a Lady MacBeth type, luring William to do bad things beyond what he'd typically be willing to do. He just wants to sell opium, fireworks, and lead; Lucinda wants him to commit robbery and murder. She's not really interested in him at all, she just wants to know she can drive a man to such extremes---that she can take "the bell in his soul". And when he finally succumbs to her at the White Horse, he becomes the "jewel of her sin"; she knows that she...
My interpretation is a bit different. I think Lucinda is a Lady MacBeth type, luring William to do bad things beyond what he'd typically be willing to do. He just wants to sell opium, fireworks, and lead; Lucinda wants him to commit robbery and murder. She's not really interested in him at all, she just wants to know she can drive a man to such extremes---that she can take "the bell in his soul". And when he finally succumbs to her at the White Horse, he becomes the "jewel of her sin"; she knows that she can do it. She doesn't need him anymore, and she won't be at his hanging. The irony is that William understands all this, yet he can't resist her.
No, I don't think the Lucinda : Lucifer suggested analogy quite accounts for what's sung. I have a variation on what iwalkwithzombies wrote and it's very close in meaning, so just bear with me, here. I think it's a narration at the moment between life and death-- by suicide hanging. It condemns William to hell for his own sin, rather than any act Lucinda might have done, without the conspiratorial glitz of devil-worship & devotion.
William "the Pleaser" clearly shows that he cared greatly for Lucinda. His knowing her--whether it's intimate or stalkerish is something to note, but not relevent--is likened to a child's secret and a secret "wish in the moonlight" He even associates his connection to her with children's story prop "bowl full of stars". He's childish enough to kill something beautiful by neglect (3.3-4). And at her death scene he doesn't ascribe any passionate or murderous descriptions. It focuses on the stormy night and is nothing more than snippets of the scene. There's a gunshot -- a golden glint -- her body -- and his guilt on the backdrop of the storm. It's hardly murderous!
What I can't account for is why he'd say "and she will go off with me down to hell" (4.4) or why "she wanted the bell in [William's] soul" (7.4). That leads me to think of iwalkwithzombie's suggestion. For all we know, he watched Lucinda be murdered (hence the reflection in the window: a gold glint) and blames himself. Mixing anger and guilt with the memory of her death? And, hells' bells, it may be that Lucinda was the one who committed suicide and he witnessed it-- after all, William isn't saying he saw or heard someone run out of the house. It's only him and her corpse. Besides, this woman is an exception to the ascribed notion that "the devil dances in empty pockets" -- that the poor are thieves, beggars and cunts, or that "poverty tempts one to do evil".*. If she DID ANYTHING she'd be a saint. As it is, Lucinda ("light", as Google & the Latin language tells me, so that's another pretty reference for her) is a romantic doll for all she does in this romantic song.
All that I can say for her "wanting the bell in his soul" is that maybe I don't know what it means. Really, did she demand this pretty little thing from him literally, or is it a little death knell her death set a-ringing in him? Whatever it is, he's singing this forlorn tale to us when he'll be soon be dead.
*Courtesy of the Tom Waits Library. Mr. Waits also says that it's just "an American backwoods a cappella about a hanging." Just that. Very formal. Very official and brusk.
And the footnotes: I suspect William is quite poor, hence why Lucinda isn't described by image the upper class would coo for. It's tar and cuttlefish bone for the poor, it is. He's also a small-time peddler who's strangely familiar with worshipful practices in India. Where the hell did he follow Lucinda to, from Texas? India? The joy of this song is that we have a departure location and not the bloody arrival destination.
My interpretation is a bit different. I think Lucinda is a Lady MacBeth type, luring William to do bad things beyond what he'd typically be willing to do. He just wants to sell opium, fireworks, and lead; Lucinda wants him to commit robbery and murder. She's not really interested in him at all, she just wants to know she can drive a man to such extremes---that she can take "the bell in his soul". And when he finally succumbs to her at the White Horse, he becomes the "jewel of her sin"; she knows that she...
My interpretation is a bit different. I think Lucinda is a Lady MacBeth type, luring William to do bad things beyond what he'd typically be willing to do. He just wants to sell opium, fireworks, and lead; Lucinda wants him to commit robbery and murder. She's not really interested in him at all, she just wants to know she can drive a man to such extremes---that she can take "the bell in his soul". And when he finally succumbs to her at the White Horse, he becomes the "jewel of her sin"; she knows that she can do it. She doesn't need him anymore, and she won't be at his hanging. The irony is that William understands all this, yet he can't resist her.