|
|
Houdini:
Harry Houdini (born Erich Weiss) was an escapologist who managed to
escape by using a key that was passed to him by his wife Bess with a
kiss she always gave him before he was bound and drowned. ("With a
kiss, I'd pass the key.") Now Houdini and his wife previously agreed
on a secret code ("Rosabel, believe!"), which he should use via a
medium after his death to let her know about after-life. At one point
Bess was given the code by a "psychic," but she later found out that he
obtained it from a former servant of Houdini's (it *was* simply their
favorite song, rather than some involved code.) So, it's easy to see
how the confusion has happened. Bess *once* stated that a "psychic"
had given her the code, then she retracted that statement. As usually
happens, the people who want to believe in "psychic phenomena" accept
want they want and disregard the rest. So the first claim of contact
is more widely reported than the true (but less romantic) story.
Kate's song is closer in the details to the Hollywood film starring
Tony Curtis than to the real events of Houdini's life and art. This is
in no way intended to disparage Kate's song, which concentrates on the
*emotional*, rather than the biographical aspects of Houdini and Bess'
relationship. [some of this by CW]
The NDT logo and the concept of No Dead Trees are
© Copyright 1995-2002 by HoL and No Dead Trees. No part may be used without
the express permission of HoL and No Dead Trees. To get permission,
contact the Webmaster.
All Kate Bush material is © Copyright by Kate Bush, Vox Magazine, Andrew
Marvick or anyone else involved with the material. I make no claim to the woman's
genius.