Interpretation: MIRANDA

[Les]

Here I am, sorry I've been away a few days. Yes, Lindsey and Anne dated for a while at some point during 1993 as he toured for Out of the Cradle.

[glitter_fades]

Originally posted by Lori
Hi there,

I had to come check out the interp on this song; it is one of my fave songs on Say You Will. I think it is SUCH a rockin' tune. I wish they'd worked out a live version for the concert tour, but it may not have done well performed live - who knows? I just love Stevie's and Lindsey's vocals in it, and the beat and bass are just kickin'. However, I feel guilty everytime I'm dancing around having a blast while listening, because the lyrics are SO not lyrics that inspire one to "have a blast." The music/beat and subject matter are so contradictory to each other.

Okay, I really think a lot of this song could also be about Anne Heche (see my "Come" interp). I had my suspicions about that before, but having read some biographies of Ms. Heche on the web, I am fairly convinced. Here is the link to a Rolling Stone interview/article about Anne Heche:
Anne Heche Rolling Stone interview


At the end of the day
The end of the light
She keeps the remains of all of her foes
Miranda is dying with all of her might
She never comes
She always goes

This 1st verse makes me think that she basically sees everyone as her enemy (for what reason, we don't know), and holds that feeling within herself to the point that it is killing her inside. I interpret the last 2 lines "she never comes; she always goes" as her never really giving a piece of herself to anyone, never taking that chance. She leaves a relationship before it can get to that point.


She sticks the camera right into her arm
Anything to forget what the trouble's about
It causes her pain
That's part of the charm
She's down for the count, then finally out

In this verse, I think Lindsey is making an analogy, that she uses the camera as others would use drugs - to try and forget what is making them so unhappy or whatever. It hurts her to do so, but that is alright, because in a way she's also trying to punish herself for (a yet unknown) something that she feels could be her fault. Basically, the camera (like drugs) is a means of escape from reality for her...but because it is a camera, she ends up having to see herself and knows that everyone else is seeing her too, which is painful for her, but she feels she deserves the punishment.

Miranda is taking the stars down
A little something to call her own
But the lion still rules Miranda
And Miranda is always alone

Okay, if we interpret this as being about Anne Heche, to me the "stars" represent all of the celebrities she has been involved with - Lindsey, Steve Martin, Ellen. So "taking the stars down" could be her hurting them by making them love her, and then breaking up with them, bringing them down a peg or two. "A little something to call her own" - I interpret this as her not having much fame/fortune in her own right, so she is going to ride the coattails and break the hearts of these people, leaving them in the dust and gaining a small bit of fame because of it, which is the "little something" - little bit of something SHE alone can be known for. The "lion" thing is giving me difficulty...unless he is just using that as a reference to the "beast" of her past still affecting her life, and consequently keeping her from any serious commitments to anyone ("Miranda is always alone" - she never lets anyone get too close).


She sees her face in another magazine
And the walls all close in as the fancy takes flight
Can't stand to be loved
But she loves to be seen
She slips down headlong into the night

I think this is again a reference to losing herself in the fantasy world of celebrities and Hollywood. And again, she feels undeserving of love (for reasons that will be revealed in the song soon), but numbs herself with all of the attention, which makes things seem better for awhile. My interpretation of the last line about slipping "down headlong into the night" is just that the darkness, the nasty stuff of her past, is still sucking her down and not allowing her to live in the light of reality or happiness.


And then all at once the sun starts to rise
She sees her father holding her down
Oh, the daylight is poison to her eyes
She slips down the shade and lets herself drown

I think in this verse, her past is finally revealed as the horrible thing that has affected her so badly and deeply. Whether it is actually a true episode of sexual abuse, or just metaphorical (that what her father did or was is keeping her life "held down"), I'm not sure. In the RS article, Ms. Heche claims her father sexually abused her from before she was old enough to speak until she was a teenager, so if the song is about her, then this could be a direct reference to that abuse. Or it could be just a reference to how her father's life and death affected her whole world (her father was a closeted homosexual who died of AIDS and never came out to his family). To me, in this verse, the "daylight" represents her being forced to see herself or her life for what it truly is, but she can't deal with it, so she immerses herself back in her fantasy world again in order to try and forget.


The lights shine down the marina
All across her safety zone
But loneliness follows Miranda
And Miranda is always alone
Miranda is always alone
Miranda is always alone

I honestly don't know what the significance of the marina is, unless it's a reference to where she lives or where she goes to try to escape her past for a while. Apparently she views it as a place where she can be safe for awhile, but the "lights" - or the reality of the situation - still can shine through there as a reminder of what she's trying to run away from, and it's still keeping her from experiencing love and companionship.


Okay then! I welcome any thoughts you all might have - please share! Now I'm going to drag myself off to bed...it's nice though; all of this thinking about Anne Heche and her tragic life makes one realize just how good his/her own life truly is! Take care, everyone!

Lori

I read the book "Call me crazy" and you have it right, Lori. Miranda is about Anne Heche. I'm sure she tried to share a little about her past with Lindsey (being sexually abused by her father, who was secretly gay) and he was not able to "get it" or handle it probably until after they broke up. He probably realized later what she was trying to tell him and I think he was very sorry for her and wrote the song as a type of apology to her.

The song says it all, really. Read the book, read the lyrics to Miranda, and there you have it. It is clearly Anne Heche he's describing. The lyric about seeing her father holding her down, comes right out of her life of childhood sexual abuse. The parts about not wanting to be loved but loving to be seen, also describes her to a T. The comparison of fame and celebrity as being like a drug to her is also exactly how Anne describes her ambition to become a famous star, because her father's facination with stars, ect. It all make sense to me, Miranda being Anne Heche.

I used to think Anne was just some kookie Hollywood flake. The jokes about her breakdown and the Ellen stuff don't help if that's all you know about her. After I read the whole book, I developed a lot of empathy and admiration for her. She seems to think the past is now behind her, but I don't think so. Anyone who's experienced that kind of abuse from a parent is never going to be "over" it, but at least she's on her way to making sure it doesn't rule her entire life...the lion rules Miranda...and Miranda is always alone...

BTW...I think he wrote the song before she wrote the book. He probably didn't know she's trying to deal with that part of her past in a more positive way now, and not let it rule every other aspect of her life. I agree with the poster who said he wouldn't write a song about someone he didn't care about. I think he wrote this close to the time after they broke up and he was kinda saying "sorry" for not understanding her better when they were dating. Everything about the song says he's talking about someone with identity problems, a person who doesn't know how to accept love, someone who is probably a celebrity of some kind but who is also facinated by other celebrities and obsessed with that part of her life, and also someone who has obviously been abused and is suffering from it and doesn't know how to cope with it...all these things describe Anne as she was when they dated. If you read her book, I'm sure you'd agree.

[gypsysara]

I agree with what Glitter & Lori say...

I feel Miranda has Anne Heche written all over it.

[DownOnRodeo]

But the lion still rules Miranda..

Does Anne Heche have a contract with MGM?

[Tim Robinson]

OK then.
Let us agree that the song is specifically about Anne Heche, but also more generally about beautiful, famous, needy, crazy, unhappy women, and that this class includes Stevie and many others.

Apart from MGM , is there a lion specific to Anne? Whatdid rule her? Also, do we know what drugs she took?

[Tim Robinson]

Lindsey is mocking and ironic about Miranda. How come?
I have considered Lindsey's point of view, and here is what I see.

Miranda thinks she is totally crazy and mortally unhappy. She thinks she is dying with all of her might.

But Lindsey, who has rather more experience of life, knows that Miranda is behaving like a teenage drama queen and is in no real danger. She sticks the camera right into her arm, not a needle: going through the motions of drug addiction, but not really addicted. She says "I'm dying" but what she means is "look at me!". She's not really crazy either, just neurotic and immature.

I guess (pure speculation) if Lindsey has lived with someone who has make numerous suicide threats and only a few half-hearted attempts, his sympathy would wear pretty thin.

So that may be how he sees her.

[Tim Robinson]

My wife says Miranda never actually took drugs - she'd just spill a little on the carpet and flush the rest down the toilet.

[frostie]

I am just finishing Anne's book. In it she says that she never really "did" drugs but she did do LSD therapy for awhile to help her with her "demons". Some of the LSD sessions were pretty wild according to her book. It supposedly helped her come to terms with her abuse.

[gypsysara]

Well dont forget she was allegedly on esctasy when she had her breakdown in the Central Valley of CA.

[Tim Robinson]

Call me naive, but I understand that ecstasy is not regarded as particularly dangerous. Certainly not in the same league as cocaine and heroin.

Perhaps this is why Lindsey is so mocking. Addicted to ecstasy??? And you think you're dying with all of your might??? Gag my mouth with a spoon!

[welcomechris]

I really like Miranda it is one of my favorites

[johnnystorms]

A song about Stevie. 'Miranda; was sung by Stevie while backing up John Stewart in Midnight Wind.