Man Ray (Emmanual Radnitzky) (American, 1890-1976), Nancy Cunard, 1928
If you're looking for love in a looking glass world, it's pretty hard to find. --Bryan Ferry
There is a song by Roxy Music called "Mother of Pearl". This song has enthralled me for many, many years . . . and every time I listen to Bryan Ferry's histrionic voice, every time I hear the tempo changes and rollicking rifts, I illuminate from inside out.
I glow from this music and I cannot explain why.
Like a personal anthem, the song speaks directly to me, encompassing my reality. The music is fantastic, but it's the near-perfect fusion of lyrical poetry and transcendent Rock 'n Roll that gives me euphoria.
You know, I could never get to the bottom of "Mother of Pearl." It kept me guessing into my late twenties.
The language, always enchanting, mystical . . . funneled through electric sound. There were lines that eluded me.
I didn't have the experiences to match the words.
But I felt the meaning of the song in my bones.
Because of this mystique, I retained a heard-for-the-first-time experience every time I pressed play.
We make meaning out of poems, and "Mother of Pearl" is a poem.
At first, you find the smaller pearls strung together on chords and in between lines; only later--if you are lucky--do you find the mother pearl.
This song explains my trials in love, my delusions, and my late-blooming revelations.
Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989), Mae West's face which may be Used as a Surrealist Apartment, 1934/35
Mother Of Pearl
Turn the lights down Way down low
Turn up the music Hi as fi can go
All the gang's here Everyone you know
It's a crazy scene Hey there just look over your shoulder oo oo
Get the picture? No no no no....Yes
Walk a tightrope Your life sign line
Such a bright hope Right place, right time
What's your number? Never you mind
Take a powder But hang on a minute what's coming round the corner, ooh.. oo oo
Have you future? No no no no....Yes
Well I've been up all night.. Again?
Party time wasting
Is too much fun
Then I step back thinking
Of life's inner meaning
And my latest fling
It's the same old story
All love and glory
It's a pantomime
If you're looking for love
In a looking glass world
It's pretty hard to find
Oh Mother of Pearl, I wouldn't trade you for another girl
Divine intervention
Always my intention
So I take my time
I've been looking for something
I've always wanted
But was never mine
But now I've seen that something
Just out of reach, glowing
Very Holy Grail
Oh Mother of Pearl, lustrous lady of a sacred world
Thus, even Zarathustra
Another time loser
Could believe in you
With every goddess a let down
Every idol a bring down
It gets you down
But the search for perfection
Your own predilection
Goes on and on and on and on
Canadian club love
A place in the country
Everyone's ideal
But you are my favorita
And a place in your heart dear
Makes me feel more real
Oh Mother of Pearl I wouldn't change you for the whole world
You're highbrow, holy
With lots of so
Melancholy shimmering
Serpentine sleekness
Was always my weakness
Like a simple tune
But no dilettante
Filigree fancy
Beats the plastic you
Career girl cover
Exposed and another
Slips right into view
Oh looking for love
In a looking glass world
Is pretty hard for you
Few throw away kisses
The boomerang misses
Spins round and round
Fall on feather bed quilted
Faced with silk
Softly stuffed eider down
Take refuge in pleasure
Just give me your future
We'll forget your past
Oh Mother of Pearl
Submarine lover
In a shrinking world
Oh lonely dreamer
Your choker provokes
A picture of cameo
Oh Mother of Pearl
So, so semiprecious
In your detached world
Oh Mother of Pearl I wouldn't trade you for another girl (repeat)
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