HW: Space Poetry

Andrew Fergus Wilson a.f.wilson at GMAIL.COM
Tue Sep 13 03:49:26 EDT 2005


> Consider that we are dealing here with
> a man sent into space by some body or other that is prepared to indulge an
> obsession of the heart, and to do so with a robot replica, and that this
> seems to be enough (he's having sex with it, anyway!) Hanging from this is
> a vision of a dystopian society where identity is unimportant (ties up
> nicely with the contrast of `Clone Song') which sends people into space
> who are not just unstable, but encourages them in delusion. Society's
> finest... Yours,
>                  Jon


Yep, that's always been how I've read it - that the fear of the dangers
(mental and physical) of space travel are mollified by the distractions of
obsessive love; an obsession shared, no doubt, by the twenty other
telepathic men. Perhaps the android replica began playing up at the point
when the crew's thought were intended to start turning towards Earth once
more and galvanize them into preparing for the return journey.

Hmm, I wonder how many 'normal' love songs were on the airwaves when RC
wrote it? ;-)

Andrew (sat here wondering if a certain CD shipped by Amazon at 19:41 last
night will be delivered today...)



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