Room off the Street

There is Slavic proverb: "Eat bread and salt and speak the truth." To me, it means that both your intake and your output should be simple, direct, and decent. The quote comes up later in the song.

But it starts, like "Marlene on the Wall," with the image of a poster. This time, the poster shows "a man with his hand in a fist." We learn that the poster belongs to the resident of the "room" of which the wall is a part. And that, to this man, the poster is "his symbol of freedom/ It mean he has brothers who believes as he does." We are given to understand that he is a revolutionary of some stripe-- but whether anarchist, fascist, or what we are never told. 

In fact, this is all we really learn of the man. The main character, who is introduced first, is a woman. She is "in" the room, which we see is not necessarily hers (she is not "at home"). Her relationship to the room's resident is unclear. In fact, this ambiguity is the substance of the song.

Here is what we know of her-- she has been "drinking." She is wearing a very red dress that is "so tight/ You can see every breath that she takes." Neither of these factors-- her drinking nor her dress-- bespeak the kind of person who consorts with militant types.

Yet... "she is moved by the thing that she sees in his face/ When he talks of the cause." Perhaps she is drinking and partying because she is bored. She is aimless, and so captivated by this man who is so well-aimed. It doesn't matter if she believes in the cause, per se. She just wants to believe in something as much as he.

"She leans against him," because she is drawn to his passion. Because, while he speaks so articulately about his passion, she has nothing to talk about, and no way to express herself except physically. 

"They talk of the salt and the truth and the bread"-- the things he is interested in, and someone with a cocktail dress on her body and a cocktail in her hand is likely not.

It is somewhat clear that they do not have sex: "The night goes along/ The fan goes around." No mention of the bed. It seems that the cause is so fascinating to this rebel that he neglects to notice the tipsy, slinky woman pressed against him. And neglects to wonder what her... cause might be.

Evidently, they are being quite loud during all of this, as well. "Every sigh, every sway/ You can hear everything that they say." The song is titled "Room off the Street," so it seems they cannot only be heard from an adjoining apartment but from the street!

Something is going to happen between these two people. "Something's begun," some sort of relationship. It could be long and bad-- a "war." It could be long and good-- a "family" or "friendship." Or it could be short and good-- a "fast love affair."

Most likely, it is the lattermost. These two are not in it for the long haul. He will grow bored of her, of her lack of commitment to the cause, of her using him for his passion.

And she will grow tired of him, always caring more about the cause than her. Maybe he can eat bread and salt-- she will needs something more luxurious. Maybe he can speak the truth-- she needs innuendo and wit.

They will have a fling, then fling each other aside. He will find someone as dedicated to the cause as himself. And she will find someone wealthy enough to show her an endless good time.

For him, his party is his life. Meanwhile, she is the life of the party.

For him, life is a just cause. For her, life is... just 'cause.


Next Song: Big Space