Jump to content

The Sound Of Snow

Rate this topic


Recommended Posts

Fine and Dandy...i see 15 people have read my last post on Seven and One without responding...perhaps there was great wailing and gnashing of teeth as my ramblings were considered those of a madman....oh well...onward and forward...

Had a discussion with a good friend of mine today, actually turned into quite an argument, over the use of the song "Dark end of the Street" in The Sound of Snow...

as you know, the song was written by Spencer Oldham and Dan Penn. It was origionally recorded by Percy Sledge in union with a group called the Eels...

James Carr, whose version is used for The Sound of Snow, re-recorded the song in 1963 and it became his signature song. He was considered one of the best soul singers of the 1960's, often being compared to Otis Redding...however, his success was short lived due to drug and alcohol addictions, in addition to recurring bouts of main depression that plagued him for the rest of his life. Eventually he shuffled off his mortal coil in Memphis Tennessee on Jan 7, 2001.

Anyway, i dont think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out the song is all about an adultrous relationship between two individuals. I patiently explained to my good friend that this was the PERFECT metaphor for Frank and Catherine's relationship. Catherine had ALWAYS felt and Frank never denied that the MillenniuM Group was the one temptation he could never really overcome, or never could say goodbye to. I think it was a stroke of genius to show that its not always the complexity of a relationship that can come between two well-meaning individuals. The Group was ALWAYS the greatest struggle Frank had in maintaining his faithfullness to Catherine...

4th Horseman..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Elders (Moderators)
Fine and Dandy...i see 15 people have read my last post on Seven and One without responding...perhaps there was great wailing and gnashing of teeth as my ramblings were considered those of a madman....oh well...onward and forward...

Dear Fourth, I can only speak for myself, of course, but besides being desperately busy lately I feel somewhat crippled trying to express my thoughts on a language which is not my mother tongue. That's why I often skip answering even though I might actually have something to say. We'll see if I'll be able to post a reply to the topic you mentioned some sunny day. :down:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear Fourth, I can only speak for myself, of course, but besides being desperately busy lately I feel somewhat crippled trying to express my thoughts on a language which is not my mother tongue. That's why I often skip answering even though I might actually have something to say. We'll see if I'll be able to post a reply to the topic you mentioned some sunny day. :down:
DBSD - no need to feel obligated. I was just expressing what i see as a simple anomaly here. I tried at one time to keep percentages of messages read vs messages responded to, but the numbers are truely staggering. What the numbers DO SHOW is that the percentage of responses is in the single digits on nearly every topic ever presented here, which tends to belie the fact that there is still only a small core of hardened fans of the show. DBSD - your responses have always been looked upon by me with the highest degree of respect. Please do not feel any obligation whatsoever, i was simply expressing a viewpoint...

I just have a hard time letting go of the fact that There HAS to be a reason that Frank looks at the clock stopping in "Seven and One" at that precise time. Why choose something as dramatic as a perfectly working clock stopping in tick? Why not just stop with the flashes? There were at least 20-25 other people at Jordan's party, why not focus on any one of them? Since i could not find any Biblical/Nostradamus references to the 3:08 or 3:09 time, and after watching Lamentations once again on a whim, it struck me that the hands, if reversed were uncanny to the position of the judges arms, thats all..

It was only presented to stir the thought process, nothing more. More than likely it has no relevance, other than coincidence, but "post hoc ergo propter hoc" - (after this, because of this)...

4th Horseman...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest A Stranger

The song used is actually Percy Sledge's, I have the copy. Frank Black and Elvis Cosetello released a cover of this song on their latest records. I've heard a few covers but the Percy Sledge one is the best.

I'm not sure I agree with the assement that the MLM Group is what came between Frank and Catherine. The song is very affecting but I'm not exacty sure why. My feeling from the song and the context in which it's used is that Frank thought he could take he and Catherine's love and hide from the rest of the world, that's the dark end of the street and the yellow house. The bridge, the "Oh, they're gonna find us" is their love that was destroyed when outside forces destoryed what he wanted to protect, almost hide. There is no more Catherine or Yellow House because they've been found out. He knows he was wrong.

I agree that the MLM Group played a part in the desctrution of their relationship but it was really Frank's belief that he could protect what he had that ended in the destruction of it. The last verse of the song is the most explict in showing it is about an adultrous relationship and it isn't used in the show.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The song used is actually Percy Sledge's, I have the copy. Frank Black and Elvis Cosetello released a cover of this song on their latest records. I've heard a few covers but the Percy Sledge one is the best.

I'm not sure I agree with the assement that the MLM Group is what came between Frank and Catherine. The song is very affecting but I'm not exacty sure why. My feeling from the song and the context in which it's used is that Frank thought he could take he and Catherine's love and hide from the rest of the world, that's the dark end of the street and the yellow house. The bridge, the "Oh, they're gonna find us" is their love that was destroyed when outside forces destoryed what he wanted to protect, almost hide. There is no more Catherine or Yellow House because they've been found out. He knows he was wrong.

I agree that the MLM Group played a part in the desctrution of their relationship but it was really Frank's belief that he could protect what he had that ended in the destruction of it. The last verse of the song is the most explict in showing it is about an adultrous relationship and it isn't used in the show.

A stranger...so the credits are wrong then? i stand corrected....what i post is only a hypothesis, a flick of the imagination if you will. Nothing is written in concrete, and thats the good thing about the show, is that it can have similar but slightly different effects on a person by person basis..

4th Horseman..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DBSD - no need to feel obligated. I was just expressing what i see as a simple anomaly here. I tried at one time to keep percentages of messages read vs messages responded to, but the numbers are truely staggering. What the numbers DO SHOW is that the percentage of responses is in the single digits on nearly every topic ever presented here, which tends to belie the fact that there is still only a small core of hardened fans of the show. DBSD - your responses have always been looked upon by me with the highest degree of respect. Please do not feel any obligation whatsoever, i was simply expressing a viewpoint...

I just have a hard time letting go of the fact that There HAS to be a reason that Frank looks at the clock stopping in "Seven and One" at that precise time. Why choose something as dramatic as a perfectly working clock stopping in tick? Why not just stop with the flashes? There were at least 20-25 other people at Jordan's party, why not focus on any one of them? Since i could not find any Biblical/Nostradamus references to the 3:08 or 3:09 time, and after watching Lamentations once again on a whim, it struck me that the hands, if reversed were uncanny to the position of the judges arms, thats all..

It was only presented to stir the thought process, nothing more. More than likely it has no relevance, other than coincidence, but "post hoc ergo propter hoc" - (after this, because of this)...

4th Horseman...

I'm just simply in awe of your millennial prowness, as usual, nothing escapes the horseman.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm just simply in awe of your millennial prowness, as usual, nothing escapes the horseman.
GS...good to see you back on the board...dont be awed, i think that most people here think i am a raving lunatic, seriously... but this is who i am....

4th Horseman..

post-1098-1145586899_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm just simply in awe of your millennial prowness, as usual, nothing escapes the horseman.

You're not the only one in awe of the mighty Horseman!

There HAS to be a reason that Frank looks at the clock stopping in "Seven and One" at that precise time. Why choose something as dramatic as a perfectly working clock stopping in tick?

I agree.....I just have never known what.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest MrCox

There are some thoughts of mine concerning the mysterious Alice Severin in "The Sound Of Snow".

Often I read that Alice seems to be some kind of higher being, maybe an angel or something, as she is referring to St. Peter's Gate in her conversation with Giebelhouse and Emma.

I just don't see Alice as a celestial being at all! :devil:

She sends the tapes with white noise to people who are torn apart by guilt and drives them into suicide, suicide being one of the most terrible sins man can commit. Frank's feelings of guilt about Catherine's death almost kill him in the woods near his father's cabin. (I never understood why Frank suspected the group behind the tapes, there is NOTHING to indicate this! :death: )

Alice Severin: This name is certainly no coincidence. In "Severin" you can find such words as "to sever" (in the sense of tearing apart relationships) or "severe" (used in conexts like pain or suffering). This name points in a frightning direction, especially as this woman kills guilty people of all kinds. Her actions always remind me of the judge in the first season who is a manifestation of evil without a doubt.

Her first name seems to indicate the same thing as "Lucas" in "Saturn Dreaming Of Mercury" as a variation of Lucy / Lucifer. I think that Alice Severin is in fact another form of Lucy Butler who tries to kill Frank!

All this went through my mind after I thought a bit longer about one otherwise useless but often overlooked scene in "The Sound Of Snow":

Alice is in a café where she watches an unidentified smoking man at the next table. She doesn't care about his face but seems to be fascinated of the smoke and the ashes of his cigarette. The sound that Alice (and with her the viewer) hears when the ashes fall into the ashtray is a thunder that always reminds me of the thunder in Frank's and Jordan's apocalyptic dream in "The Fourth Horseman". Combining this apocalyptic thunder, the smoke and ashes as results of fire it all feels like a hint to hell.

By the way, Jessica Tuck as Alice shows the same kind of body language and mysterious looks - devillish and seductive at the same time - as Sarah-Jane Redmond. The two actresses play Lucy and Alice in almost the same way. :swingin:

You can call me crazy but I really think that Alice Severin IS Lucy Butler in disguise and not some kind of angel who freed Frank from his guilt. If Emma and Giebelhouse hadn't come to rescue Frank he would have certainly been killed in those woods!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using our website you consent to our Terms of Use of service and Guidelines. These are available at all times via the menu and footer including our Privacy Policy policy.