Last week I was lucky enough to see Laura Marling perform at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank. It was a beautiful concert. And, of more interest to me and my peculiar research topics, she opened with her song ‘Howl’. I don’t think my partner needed an elbow in the ribs when Marling instructed us to ‘howl at the moon’ and the whispered invocation, “Wolves! Wolves are everywhere!” but I certainly appreciated the imagery. The lyrics appear to be about two lovers. The subject of the song tells us that she (the gender is a little unclear) only appears at night to see her lover and asks him to howl at the moon should he need her. Personally, I feel that it has a very lycanthropic tone. But perhaps you can take a listen and tell me your interpretation below.
In a similar musical vein (folksy, guitary, bluesy goodness), Mumford and Sons also have a song on their new album called ‘The Wolf’. Whilst this seems to pertain to the wolf of the imagination, there is an overlap between human and lupine subjectivity in the lyrics. Both singles are interesting takes on the figure of the wolf and how it thrives in the wilderness of the human psyche.
Wolves are everywhere.You going to do a playlist for the conference? Would be fun. IGA has music but BSECS only eighteenth-century dancing and occasional Handel concert:-)
I certainly could. What night for? And how long would it need to be? I’d love to. I can’t say that eighteenth-century dancing whips me into a frenzy. Would it be likely to feature at Ministry of Sound?