![gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit](https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/4lWbLlcmxog/hqdefault.jpg)
![gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WAnmn_wMoWU/maxresdefault.jpg)
Sometimes the harlequin is used to pass messages between characters. The harlequin can act out those thoughts in pantomime for the audience.
![gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit](https://live.staticflickr.com/7890/33689359258_c49466496b_h.jpg)
The harlequin is an important character in a play because it indicates to the audience what the actor is thinking to him/her self. As such it might be the earliest form of special effects. Dressed in bright diamondboard fabric, a harlequin stands out as imaginary in every sense. A harlequin is the personified imagination of a character in a play. We also need to know what a harlequin is. That relationship inspired many of his lyrics including “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” It seems obvious but still we have to wonder if “Helplessly Hoping” is one more product inspired by that relationship. You will understand the depth of these lyrics when you know that Stephen Stills had a tempestuous relationship with folk singer Judy Collins.
Gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit plus#
It is the vocal harmonics that make the song impossible for an individual to sing and sound like all three voices plus the harmonics at once. It becomes very easy listening when sung with the haunting harmonics of Crosby, Stills, and Nash. General CommentThis tribute to literary elements is masterful as poetry in that within just a few lines it tells a surprisingly complex story in meter and heavy alliteration. Keach apparently gets along great with the kid, too, and poor Stephen is out of the picture. She eventually hooks up with Stacy Keach (Stills and Keach probably didn't meet in the stairwell, but that's a good metaphor for seeing that you have competition). He wonders if she's about to dump him, or if he ever even had a chance with her in the first place. The rest of the lyrics suggest Judy is doing a variant on the whole "it's not you, it's ME" thing (she is going through therapy around this time, and he thinks it's a bunch of BS). He decides that she's the one, endears himself to her son Clark (yes, I think that's the "three") and hopes for a future together.
![gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit](https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a0408640920_10.jpg)
He falls for her "true gentle spirit", she says the word he's waiting for, and they begin a torrid affair. Buffalo Springfield was coming apart, CSN was not on the radar yet, and he was making ends meet as a session guitarist for, among others, Judy the reigning queen of folk music. Believe it or not, that would have been a fitting alter ego for Stephen in 1968, when he was far from being a superstar. Harlequin was a Commedia dell'arte character of lowly rank, often shown with a lute, who sometimes pursued ladies above his class. This is one of the songs Stills spat out during his "PLEEEZE marry me, Judy!" period. They are lonely, they bring each other freedom, and finally, they are "for each other.My InterpretationRemember, guys, it's all about Judy Collins. They are "one person" -that's possibly an allusion to (pseudo) Aristophanes's myth that soulmates are two halves of the same person, from Plato's Symposium. The lovers may not know if they are destined for each other, but the chorus confirms their pre-ordained love. You should read this as:Īs with many songs, the chorus answers the questions and resolves the confusions of the verses. Each number after the first one is a pun. "They are 1 person." There's a different word game in the chorus. This is the love interest, the Columbine to the Harlequin, an equally confused young lady who is trying to leave, but instead "lingers" feeling "lost." She is drawn to a love connection, but she is "choking" on admitting it. "Stand by the stairway." is new set of alliterations, this time "S", "C" and "L". But has she really left? He doesn't know if his love interest is entering or leaving his life ("hello" or "goodbye"). Now that his lover is gone, he pines and misses her. "Wordlessly waiting." this is alliterations again, this time with the W first, and then the H. This stanza is a portrait of a confused (and like the original "Harlequin", speechless) young man who is attracted (as so many of us are) to an elusive lover that is leaving ("sound of goodbye"). In the Italian Commedia dell'arte theater tradition, "Harlequin" was the name given to a clown/mime figure who was also usually the young male romantic lead.
Gasping at glimpses of gentle true spirit series#
"Helplessly hoping." this is a series of alliterations built first on "H" and then on "W," and "G". I'd venture that it's a romance built largely around the wordplay in the lyrics. You are correct, this song is about two young lovers.