What does this song mean?

[journeymom]

Lightening Crashes ~by Live

"Lightning crashes, a new mother cries
Her placenta falls to the floor
The angel opens her eyes
The confusion sets in
Before the doctor can even close the door

Lightning crashes, an old mother dies
Her intentions fall to the floor
The angel closes her eyes
The confusion that was hers
Belongs now, to the baby down the hall

Oh now feel it comin’ back again
Like a rollin’ thunder chasing the wind
Forces pullin’ from the center of the earth again
I can feel it.

Lightning crashes, a new mother cries
This moment she’s been waiting for
The angel opens her eyes
Pale blue colored iris, presents the circle
And puts the glory out to hide, hide

Barbara lewis (1973-1993)"

What's the confusion about?
Why is the doctor shutting the door?
What are the old mother's intentions?
Puts the glory out to hide? Means what?

Help me here, you creative, insightful types. I like this song. What does it all mean??

[Marlet]

I'm guessing the mother lost a lot of blood (based off the confusion sets in line) and that the scene was set further back in time. I say further back in time cause it seems to me to be a trend that when the mom was fading they "let her be" so she could die in peace. Doesn't make sense to me but there you have it!

So to answer your questions:

What's the confusion about? If it is from the mom losing blood I would imagine you would get "lost" looking, not sure where you are hence the confusion. It could also be that everything had gone smoothly until that point so everyone involved is confused as to why it no longer is going that way.
Why is the doctor shutting the door? See above explanation.
What are the old mother's intentions? I'm guessing here but maybe they mean literal old and it was her intention to be a mom despite what everyone told her. If they are not being literal and are meaning old as in her body is tired then her intentions would be to live.
Puts the glory out to hide? Means what? Not sure on this one!

[Viola]

Maybe the confusion is that she is dead and doesn't know where she is before the doctor is even out of the room.

Or maybe she's just realized how she's changed her life forever by having a baby, and is wondering why in the heck she did that? I remember having a "Oh great, what do I do now?" couple of moments with my first.

Or maybe the angel is the baby and the baby is confused as to wear she is.

I think the doctor shutting the door line is to emphasize how quickly whatever is happening is happening.

I think the old mother's intentions are all the intentions we have, not just with our children and what we wanted to do for them or with them or see them achieve, etc, but maybe what we wanted to do ourselves.

Puts the glory out to hide? I have no clue unless it is referring to the potential glory of a baby being sort of lost in the world as you go out and live and do what you have to do and all that.

I'm not a big poetry person, and I tend to look at things very literally. When things don't make sense to me, I wonder why they chose those words and I figure that either it made some odd sense to them at the time (I've looked back on things I've written and realize I am confused about what I meant), the words fit the meter or rhyme scheme, or the author/lyricist thinks the words sound good or profound.

So Barbara Lewis died at a rather young age and I was curious about that so I googled it. Apparently she died in a car crash and this song was dedicated to her and is about life cycles.

http://www.radcyberzine.com/text/interviews/live.html

RAD
Do you mind if I ask what the story behind "Lightning Crashes" is and who Barbara Lewis is?
Chad
No, not at all. Barbara Lewis was a friend of ours that who was a year behind us in high school. She was a big fan of the band. In 1993, she was killed by a hit-and-run in a car accident. We just decided to dedicate that song to her.
RAD
It's a nice song, just kind of the cycle of life.
Chad
Yeah, exactly, so we thought it would be appropriate for her.

[dove]

seems like it is about birth and death, the transferrence of souls/spirits. The confusion being on the spirits' part. (like "where am I now? who do I belong with? ")
???
just my very late night thoughts...

[journeymom]

Yes, I think between the three of you, I've a clearer understanding of it.

There are three stages of life represented: baby, new mother and old mother. Symbolized by the circle of the (baby's) blue eye.

Are there two different angels?

Are the new mother and old mother two different people? I assume so, but maybe they're the same woman at different stages in life. This line, "The confusion that was hers belongs now, to the baby down the hall," makes me believe they're two different women.

I also thought it sounds like there's a complication with the new mother's delivery, and it all happened quickly. Does the new mother die? It doesn't say that at all, but that's one impression I got.

What's the tone of the last paragraph, to you? Positive, negative, neutral?

I probably shouldn't analyze this too much! It's just a song. But I was fantasizing about writing a short fiction based upon it and wanted to be sure I was seeing all the symbols and details.

[FoxintheSnow]

I remember in the video for this song it seems like there some complications following the baby's birth...

[johub]

I agree with pp, THis seems to me to be a life stages/circle of life thing.
Birth and death are intertwined, and connected. Life IS confusion. The old mother gives up her confusion (and her intentions) as she gives up her life and the baby begins life and the confusion that entails. The new mother of course is faced with the confusion of moving from one stage of life to another.
They are all three born in this song. The young woman into a mother, the baby into life, and the old woman into death.

And of course the forces pulling from the center of the earth is the whole cycle, motivation and energy which propels this life wheel.

I love this song. Thanks for bringing it to mind.
Joline

[aprons_and_acorns]

I think the song is about a mother who dies in childbirth. Has that already been established by other posters here?

I just wanted to say that when my ds was born in the hospital there were a lot of complications and they called a code blue on him, and in rushed several doctors and nurses with a crash cart. One of the things I remember about it was that they came in all in a rush and left the door wide open, and it remained open what seemed like a long time. It was really scary.

The confusion sets in
Before the doctor can even close the door

There was a lot of confusion for me and my husband. And even the doctors and nurses seemed to be running around in a panic.

??? I don't know

I think the confusion part would be the mother's confusion about what's happening during the birth would be replaced by the child's (presumably "down the hall"-- the baby nursery) confusion about where her mother is. Also, I think "angel" here may have two meanings--one being the spirit of a dead person (the dead mother), and another being a figure of speech people use when refering to a baby ("a precious angel" ) Also, it brings to mind the idea of an "angel of death"

sad song, in any case.

[rose angel]

I think it is set back in time, when most ladies in rural areas had babies at home attended by a doctor, if there was one nearby (like my grandmother and great grandmother) I thought she had the baby quickly and was dying as the doctor arrived, before he shut the door behind him.

For some reason "her placenta fell to the floor" sung all soulful-like sounds silly to me, so I usually change the station at that point. (Why did it fall to the floor? Wouldn't a placenta more like drop or SPLAT? The way he sings it makes it sound like a wistful flower petal What about the cord?) Over analyzation I know....

[journeymom]

Originally Posted by rose angel

For some reason "her placenta fell to the floor" sung all soulful-like sounds silly to me, so I usually change the station at that point. (Why did it fall to the floor? Wouldn't a placenta more like drop or SPLAT? The way he sings it makes it sound like a wistful flower petal What about the cord?) Over analyzation I know....

[Zipporah]

I believe this song is about the reincarnation cycle; Live incorporate lots of Hindu references and imagery into their songs.