All our times have come
Here but now they're gone
Seasons don't fear the reaper
Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain..

We all think about death from time to time, and ponder our own immortality.

Ms Vega captures it well.
To arrive at some point
I don't know when it will be

Shows how precious every moment of life can be.

I always get very vivid visions about the Reaper when I hear this song.

Scary.

As in so many Vega tunes, this one has those few odd lines that keep me wondering. I know that this song is supposedly about the old grim reaper, but it seems like you reeeaaaally have to reach to get

"He wispers things into my ear that sound so sweet"

and

"Could I really be the one to resist that kiss so true"

to fit into the death scenario. I can see "peace I never knew" as being about death, but to go from "peace" to "sweet" & "kiss" seems a little outlandish to me.


All I'm saying, I guess, is that if I'd never heard that this song was supposed to be about death, I'd have quite naturally assumed it to be a song about being haunted by the memory of a very tempting, but detremental love affair... like you know... being madly in love with somebody you know is just going to use you.

Well, the kiss referes to the kiss of death itself, the moment of dying, probably.

Being released from live, no worries, no nothing...might be sweet, right?

Ever stand near the edge of the subway platform, or at the railings of a tall structure, and wonder what it would be like if you fell or jumped? Isn't that the Thin Man whispering in your ear?

BTW, I like this song. I think maybe you have to be of a certain age before this song resonates with you.

On one of those stations where you sit next to the railway, and a train that doesn't stop there rages along, death only a few metres away. Gives me a strange feeling all the time.

I just recently "GOT" this song. I.e. I understood that it was about death, but I could not imagine why someone would want to sing about it in such a, well, double entendre type way. Now I get it. The idea of a love affair can be scary, as is death scary to one who has never died before. But just as we all love (hopefully!), we all will die eventually. Sometimes life seems so, well, worthless, like you're not accomplishing, moving, learning, and it can be so painful, that it can seem that the kiss of death will be sweet. In some sense, I am sure it is, but I DO hope my "handicap" will be worth showing! (c.f. Tombstone, by aforementioned author!!!)
see ya!
Miriam K

Paul wrote:"...wonder what it would be like if you fell or jumped? Isn't that the Thin Man whispering in your ear?"



I do building maintenence in a small town. I was given life insurance when I took my job and asked to name a benefactor in the event I died on the job.

I work in a lot of dangerous situations... up on tall ladders and roofs, or with live 220V wires, constantly using sharp blades and other potentially dangerous tools in cramped, dark spaces.

I mean... death and I are adversaries. He's out to get me as I struggle to undo the work of his cousins, Decay, Corrosion, Rot, and the evil twins, Leak & Clog.

This is, I guess why 'Thin Man' doesn't resonate with me the same as with most people.

Suzanne said this song is inspired from a french language singer called Jacques Brel.
Brel's song is about the figure of death that is hanging along him everywhere he goes.

Musically it reminds me Sade. (Jazzy sounds etc...)

Tommy wrote:"Suzanne said this song is inspired from a french language singer called Jacques Brel"

hehee... inspired from... but not necessarily a "remake".

That's right, the object of desire was here the figure of death.

I'm still not conviced this is the figure of death. I like to imagine Suzanne harbouring some untold obsession... some thin, pale man haunting her imagination... some kind of neurotic construct threatening to undo her sanity if she gives it too much indulgence.

Have you seen "A Beautiful Mind"? This angle really captures my own imagination... that this song could be about a persistant halluscination who refuses to completely dissolve.

To me this song, and many others speak as much to matters of psychology as to the ordinary issues of life, death, and interpersonal relationships.

Untold obsession? A deathwish, that's what it is ;-)

This is a song from "The 11th Hour, the sequel to the 7th guest" called "Mr Death". I used to play that spooky puzzle game when I was a kid, and liked this song very much. It reminded me of the Thin Man by Suzanne today.

"I can't take a breath without seeing Mr Death.
I can't take a step
I can't make a move
I can't think a thought
I can't sing a song with a minimal groove
I can't get away from the singular fact
I can't take a breath without seeing Mr Death

I can't take a bath, Mr Death is washing my back.
I can't do the disco, Mr Death will step on my foot
I can't sing the rest
I can't take a breath without seeing Mr Death

But I can't see Mr Death if I don't take that breath
I can't find my car key, better ask Mr Death
And I get so lonely, we have a game of chess
I can't take a breath without seeing Mr Death"

Spikes

This is my favorite Suzanne Song of all. I always deejay it to the people who come to the cafe where I work. It's just incredible.
It is also my favorite Suzanne album - with My Favorite Plum and Tombstone, she made some of the most memorable songs ...

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