I think the meaning of this song can be most easily explored through Jungian concepts and analogies. Beauty and the Beast is essentially about Anima/Animus possession due to an unassimilated Shadow. I won't get into great detail, but you can Google "Anima possession" if you want to learn more than what I'm about to tell you.
To give a very brief overview of Jung's model of human consciousness, it starts with a "collective unconscious" from which every individual ultimately operates. It is the totatlity of the human experience that everyone's personal unconsious is derived from. Within this unconscious realm lives certain archetypes, like the Shadow and Anima/Animus. These archetypes are symbols for different aspects of the Self. The Shadow is all the darker aspects of the Self that we tend to dislike and project onto others. The Anima is the personification of all the feminine qualities in a man (simililarly, the Animus is the personification of all the masculine qualities in a woman). Again, Google those terms for more details on what each archetype means.
But when you read the lyrics with these concepts in mind, the meaning of the song is more easily seen. This is a man's Ego attempting to communicate with his inner Anima, whom he calls "darling". She consequently addresses him as "weakling", which is how the man feels when he is possessed by his Anima. This is why Bowie has the group of female backup singers say the line "weakling..".
Jung wrote:
"Turned towards the world, the anima is fickle, capricious, moody, uncontrolled and emotional, sometimes gifted with daemonic intuitions, ruthless, malicious, untruthful, bithcy, double-faced, and mystical."
This is what Bowie is describing in the second verse when he says "something in the night, something in the day". This is the "double-faced" duality aspect of human consciousness that Jung described in his works. "Beauty and the Beast" is another way of expressing this duality. Every archetype that lives in our unconscious has this quality. For every enlightened Ego there is a dark Shadow lurking beneath the surface. For every welcoming/positive aspect of the Anima that is consciously integrated into a man's life, there is a hostile/negative aspect of her that can take possession of the man's consciousness without him becoming aware of it. That's why he says "someone fetch a priest", indicating that he's possessed and needs an exorcism or else "someone could get skinned" (meaning he could have a violent, emotional outburst, which is common for men who are possessed by their Anima).
This duality of human nature is shown on the cover of the Heroes album, where Bowie has one hand placed on himself (symbolizing the ‘subject' part of the duality concept), and his other hand placed out in front of his eyes (symbolizing the 'object' part of the duality concept).
This duality is also expressed on more of a group level when he says "there's slaughter in the air, protest on the wind". This line is likely influenced by Bowie's time spent in Berlin in the 70's, where one could clearly see a collective split in Germany's psyche resulting from the Second World War. The "slaughter in the air" represents the static part of the psyche.. the part that clings to the status quo and doesn't want things to change. The "protest on the wind" represents the dynamic part of the psyche that wishes to shake things up and change the status quo. Again, this is a duality in man being expressed in more group-oriented/political terms, but it's also a reference to the personal psyche as well. The Shadow/Anima tend to act as the "protest on the wind" in our personal unconscious, disrupting the Ego's behavior as described in the lyrics.
This is reinforced by the interlude where he says "I wanted to believe me, I wanted to be good, I wanted no distractions". This is the man explaining how he's trying to be a good person, but he hasn't done any work on himself psychologically. He's been ignoring his Shadow & Anima, and doesn't fully understand himself as a result. He always thought of himself as a "good boy" because he's been dismissive of his own dark side. His Shadow is unassimlated, thus rendering him unable to clearly communicate with his Anima and reach the next step in his process of individuation. He's still "weaving down a byroad" without knowing how to get back on the main highway to the Self.
Finally, I thought it would also be interesting to note that the fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast, is in fact a story about Animus possession in a woman, and has been referenced by Jung and others when describing this phenomenon. It's a long story, so I won't get into it here, but that's also something you might want to check out. I don't necessarily think Bowie's song relates directly to the fairy tale, but I think it serves to show how a deeper understanding can come from looking at this song through Jungian terminology and ideas.
Also.. I realize that the lyric sheet that comes in the cd booklet says it's "liebling" rather than "weakling", but that's what I hear. Other sources agree with that assessment, so you'll have to be the judge. Remember though, that this only 1 line out of many others that relate this song to Jung's attempt at describing the complex nature of the psyche, and the mysterious dualities held within.
Also.. I realize that the lyric sheet that comes in the cd booklet says it's "liebling" rather than "weakling", but that's what I hear. Other sources agree with that assessment, so you'll have to be the judge. Remember though, that this only 1 line out of many others that relate this song to Jung's attempt at describing the complex nature of the psyche, and the mysterious dualities held within.
I think the meaning of this song can be most easily explored through Jungian concepts and analogies. Beauty and the Beast is essentially about Anima/Animus possession due to an unassimilated Shadow. I won't get into great detail, but you can Google "Anima possession" if you want to learn more than what I'm about to tell you.
To give a very brief overview of Jung's model of human consciousness, it starts with a "collective unconscious" from which every individual ultimately operates. It is the totatlity of the human experience that everyone's personal unconsious is derived from. Within this unconscious realm lives certain archetypes, like the Shadow and Anima/Animus. These archetypes are symbols for different aspects of the Self. The Shadow is all the darker aspects of the Self that we tend to dislike and project onto others. The Anima is the personification of all the feminine qualities in a man (simililarly, the Animus is the personification of all the masculine qualities in a woman). Again, Google those terms for more details on what each archetype means.
But when you read the lyrics with these concepts in mind, the meaning of the song is more easily seen. This is a man's Ego attempting to communicate with his inner Anima, whom he calls "darling". She consequently addresses him as "weakling", which is how the man feels when he is possessed by his Anima. This is why Bowie has the group of female backup singers say the line "weakling..".
Jung wrote: "Turned towards the world, the anima is fickle, capricious, moody, uncontrolled and emotional, sometimes gifted with daemonic intuitions, ruthless, malicious, untruthful, bithcy, double-faced, and mystical."
This is what Bowie is describing in the second verse when he says "something in the night, something in the day". This is the "double-faced" duality aspect of human consciousness that Jung described in his works. "Beauty and the Beast" is another way of expressing this duality. Every archetype that lives in our unconscious has this quality. For every enlightened Ego there is a dark Shadow lurking beneath the surface. For every welcoming/positive aspect of the Anima that is consciously integrated into a man's life, there is a hostile/negative aspect of her that can take possession of the man's consciousness without him becoming aware of it. That's why he says "someone fetch a priest", indicating that he's possessed and needs an exorcism or else "someone could get skinned" (meaning he could have a violent, emotional outburst, which is common for men who are possessed by their Anima).
This duality of human nature is shown on the cover of the Heroes album, where Bowie has one hand placed on himself (symbolizing the ‘subject' part of the duality concept), and his other hand placed out in front of his eyes (symbolizing the 'object' part of the duality concept).
This duality is also expressed on more of a group level when he says "there's slaughter in the air, protest on the wind". This line is likely influenced by Bowie's time spent in Berlin in the 70's, where one could clearly see a collective split in Germany's psyche resulting from the Second World War. The "slaughter in the air" represents the static part of the psyche.. the part that clings to the status quo and doesn't want things to change. The "protest on the wind" represents the dynamic part of the psyche that wishes to shake things up and change the status quo. Again, this is a duality in man being expressed in more group-oriented/political terms, but it's also a reference to the personal psyche as well. The Shadow/Anima tend to act as the "protest on the wind" in our personal unconscious, disrupting the Ego's behavior as described in the lyrics.
This is reinforced by the interlude where he says "I wanted to believe me, I wanted to be good, I wanted no distractions". This is the man explaining how he's trying to be a good person, but he hasn't done any work on himself psychologically. He's been ignoring his Shadow & Anima, and doesn't fully understand himself as a result. He always thought of himself as a "good boy" because he's been dismissive of his own dark side. His Shadow is unassimlated, thus rendering him unable to clearly communicate with his Anima and reach the next step in his process of individuation. He's still "weaving down a byroad" without knowing how to get back on the main highway to the Self.
Finally, I thought it would also be interesting to note that the fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast, is in fact a story about Animus possession in a woman, and has been referenced by Jung and others when describing this phenomenon. It's a long story, so I won't get into it here, but that's also something you might want to check out. I don't necessarily think Bowie's song relates directly to the fairy tale, but I think it serves to show how a deeper understanding can come from looking at this song through Jungian terminology and ideas.
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Also.. I realize that the lyric sheet that comes in the cd booklet says it's "liebling" rather than "weakling", but that's what I hear. Other sources agree with that assessment, so you'll have to be the judge. Remember though, that this only 1 line out of many others that relate this song to Jung's attempt at describing the complex nature of the psyche, and the mysterious dualities held within.
Also.. I realize that the lyric sheet that comes in the cd booklet says it's "liebling" rather than "weakling", but that's what I hear. Other sources agree with that assessment, so you'll have to be the judge. Remember though, that this only 1 line out of many others that relate this song to Jung's attempt at describing the complex nature of the psyche, and the mysterious dualities held within.
Boy, you just sucked the fun right out of this song.
Boy, you just sucked the fun right out of this song.