|
|
|
|
|
|
|
WEBMISTRESS speculates:
The guitar in this song reminds me a lot of acoustic Big Love. The words, however, do not! This is a very dark song. "Miranda" obviously has very serious problems.
This woman is living a destructive life - she's "dying with all of her might" - killing herself with drugs? Drink? Delusions? The lines "She sticks the camera right into her arm/anything to forget what the trouble's about" calls to my mind shooting up heroin to dull the pain of life, but since he uses the camera as what is being figuratively shot up, maybe this woman is addicted to / desperately needs attention. This need comes from her own insecurity - "can't stand to be loved/but she loves to be seen."
The part about the "father holding her down" is very disturbing as it smacks of sexual molestation or at the very least abuse. Apparently this is what has scarred her so badly that she has to "let herself drown" - drink herself to death? Or just drown in sorrows? (Or, as U2 says, "My sorrows, they learned to swim!") Whatever the case, Miranda is always alone.
At first, I believe "Miranda" could be at least partially about Carol Ann. She was a self-destructive model who craved attention and was killing herself with coke...and when Carol went on Geraldo she definitely was trying to get attention by "taking a star down". However, the passage about molestation makes more sense with Anne Heche as Paige notes below (MirANNda?) Of course, "Miranda" could be an entirely ficticious character as well.
The imagery in this song intrigues and mystifies me. Miranda is ruled by "the lion" and her safety zone is a marina (I guess Miranda feels sailing takes her away?) Presumably the fact that she allows herself to be ruled is what keeps her alone. So, what is the lion, then? A figure of ambition? A powerful force such as an addiction? Sometime terrorizing? We all normally associate lions with the idea of "king of the jungle" and this lion does indeed rule Miranda. Perhaps the lion is an authority figure who abused his position of power in the chaos (jungle) of her childhood, and the fact that she can't get over her damaging past keeps her from forming relationships now, or having healthy self-esteem?
Heck, for all I know, it's the MGM lion! Your guess is as good as mine.
PAIGE speculates:
In going over these lyrics, I'm thrown back to Anne Heche's book, 'Call Me Crazy'.
If you go through the book, one finds that Heche was abused by her father and was very delusional about it (she admits herself as such). She also doesn't have kind things to say about Lindsey (though none of the few brief pages are anything bad), and she most definitely was bringing Ellen DeGeneres down when she declaired herself to be simply insane during her period as her partner and an out lesbian. Though this is not directly affecting Lindsey now, he certainly could be skeptical of the actions of a former lover who is drowning herself in press and in denying everything she purported herself to be. It certainly goes with "Do you hear me, Annie?" as heard in 'Down on Rodeo'.
SKY speculates:
My thoughts on Miranda...I feel it is about Ann Heche...it has all the drama of the sad story she told to "the older good looking seat-mate" on the redeye to LA...Lindsey!!! She was so lonley and needy he felt sorry for Ann and gave her his private phone # ...something he never does! She didn't know who LB was but a friend said to call him, they got together for a while during Lindsey's tour for OOTC.
The book tells a story very much as Lindsey's lyrics...she said Lindsey was very handsome and very very kind to her!She also said as how she always was anything the man needed... just to be accepted! So...she traveled with him on tour for
OOTC...Perhaps LB helped her... as she has turned her very sad life around,dumped Ellen and is now married with a baby son!!!
TRISTIAN speculates:
While I think that a lot of you here bring up really good points, It just hit me one day. mir-ANN-duh. Ann duh. I had never thought about before, it really doesn't seem Lindseys style either, but Ann-duh. It just hit me as so smart. Like he knew that we would try to figure it out.
Anyone find it strange that Lindsey says "She sticks the camera right into her arm" When his wife Kristen just happens to be a photographer. It could very well be just about fame as a drug, infact it sounds better then my idea. But it's sounds all too ironic to me, that his wife is a photographer and he uses the carmera as a kind of drug. Just an idea guys.
PENDRAGON speculates:
I think the part about the lion ruling Miranda is a reference to astrology. One of the sun signs is Leo (The lion). A common trait of Leos is their desire to be the center of attention ("She sticks the camera right into her arm" refers to her using modeling or film as a drug) and their deeply held opinions. The line about "The Lion still rules miranda" most likely means she is acting the part of a Leo (in astrology, the term "ruled by" is often used in referring to sun signs, such as "John is ruled by Capricorn")
Miranda however probably doesn't exist. The name itself is a play on words. In spanish (most likely in latin, although I have not checked), "Mira-" refers to looking or watching. In spanish, to say "watch TV", you would say "mira la television". The form "miranda" is active, as is "Is looking" or "Is watching", or possible in this case, "Is watched". In any case, this all ties back to the theme of the song.
The song itself seems to be about a generic model (many models tell common stories of sexual abuse and their craving of the spotlight), and considering Lindsey Buckingham, is probably a comment on that lifestyle, using the fictious "Miranda" as an example.
Finally, Anne Heche is a gemini, so this song is probably not about her, at least not entirely.
ANANIAH speculates:
I think the thing that really confirms it's about Anne Heche is that the line says that she never comes she always goes. You would want to look at "Come", because the main theme is that she doesn't "Come" and it is about Anne Heche, as Lindsey admits in an interview. I can see the idea that Anne being a Gemini might have some complications regarding the "Lion", but Lindsey doesn't reference astrology in his work as often as Stevie does, or for that matter at all. The "Lion" is synonymous with the silver screen and would appear to rule an actress.
This song is of importance to me, because my wife's name is Miranda. She didn't appreciate the song very much.... ;)
Miranda is so totally about Stevie, probably the early days. Everyone knows the antics of the dramatic Miss Nicks, so it is my belief that he is saying from beginning to end that. at the end of the day when Stevie is writing her songs he knows that when they were fighting she was really writing about him. The camera referring to her memories=her songs she sticks them under her arm and walks into the studio singing them directly at him causing painful memories; in turn, he sings his back to her causing more of an argument perpetuating the dramatic cycle. Lindsey is saying in the chorus that Stevie tries to move on and the lion (the music) still rules her and well she's more dedicated to it, doesn't make time for anything else, therefore she's still alone. She sees her face in another magazine and she still gets excited about being a rock star; it still totally thrills her. Her life is so totally wrapped up in it that like he said she wants to just stick to the music above all else. Then all at once the sun starts to rise is about her dream getting closer and her dad is still talking about college and so she dives headlong into the music ignoring purposely the opinions of her father. Later stevie during Bella Donna lived at Marina Del Ray, so the light shines down on the marina all across her safety zone, that is where she lives, where she writes, but still the music rules her and Stevie still lives alone
Want to speculate about "Miranda"? E-mail me and I'll post your comments.