Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
I threatened earthseed with this a while back, and I'm now close enough to the end of my umpteenth reread of The Snow Queen to feel equipped to do this.
I reserve the right to revise this as I come up with more ideas
Story of The Snow Queen
Setting - The planet Tiamat, satellite of a binary system (the Twins) near a black hole. The black hole is used by the seven other planets of the Hegemony for transportation. One other star is caught in the gravitational pull of the black hole, the Summer Star. Tiamat has two seasons, each lasting more than a century long, summer and winter. The Snow Queen opens at the end of winter. As the Summer Star comes closer, it cuts off access to Tiamat from the other planets. So during Winter, the citizens of Tiamat have trade with the other planets in the hegemony for more than a century, then during Summer, they are isolated. Tiamat has one export, the Water of Life, which is just as it sounds, an elixir of immortality, which is distilled from the blood of a Tiamatan animal called a mer. The combination of the value of the Water of Life and the way that Tiamat is cut off half of the time makes the Hegemony do everything they can to prevent Tiamat from creating its own technological base.
Tiamat is a matriarchy, with a ruling Queen. There are two main ethnic groups, the Winters (who are dominant during the Winter) and the Summers (who are the dominant group during the Summer). The Queen of Tiamat is also a religious figure, representing their sea goddess, the Lady. Mers are sacred to the Lady in the religion of the Summers.
The Snow Queen is the story of three people (well a lot more than that, but three at the heart of it all):
Arienrhod, the Winter Queen -- She has been on the throne of Tiamat for 150 years through the use of the Water of Life. Arienrhod is pale -- white skin, white hair, gray eyes.
Moon Dawntreader Summer -- Arienrhod's clone. Arienrhod had herself cloned in hopes that one of the nine clones she had made would succeed her to the throne of Tiamat, and in that way she could continue to rule in some form. Moon is a sybil, which the people of Tiamat think of as a prophet of their Lady, but which is actually a sort of human computer port.
Sparks Dawntreader Summer -- Moon's cousin and lover. When Moon went to the place where sybils are called, she promised him that she would turn back if he was rejected. He was rejected, but Moon continued on to become a sybil. In anger, Sparks left for the only city on Tiamat, Carbuncle, where he came to the attention of Arienrhod, who took him in, then made him her lover. Sparks then became Starbuck, Arienrhod's consort, who conducts the hunts for the mers (which, since mers are sacred to the Lady, is an abomination in the religion in which Sparks was raised).
In my interpretation the song is from Sparks's pov, but he could be speaking of either of the two women:
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
You're dangerous 'cause you're honest
You're dangerous, you don't know what you want
Well you left my heart empty as a vacant lot
Moon becoming a sybil and leaving Sparks behind
For any spirit to haunt
Arienrhod as the "ghost" of Moon.
You're an accident waiting to happen
You're a piece of glass left there on the beach
Well you tell me things I know you're not supposed to
Then you leave me just out of reach
Who's gonna ride your wild horses
Who's gonna drown in your blue sea
Reference to the Queen as the Lady
Who's gonna ride your wild horses
Who's gonna fall at the foot of thee
Well you stole it 'cause I needed the cash
And you killed it 'cause I wanted revenge
Well you lied to me 'cause I asked you to
Before they went to the Choosing Place, Sparks asked Moon to promise that she would turn back with him if he was rejected; she consented without really considering her answer.
Baby, can we still be friends
Oh, the deeper I spin
Oh, the hunter will sin for your ivory skin
Sparks as Starbuck
Took a drive in the dirty rain
To a place where the wind calls your name
The approach to Arienrhod's throne room has a bridge across an open space made hazardous by cross-breezes
Under the trees the river laughing at you and me
Hallelujah, heavens white rose
The color "white" like "ivory" in the previous verse, could be a mention of Arienrhod/Moon's coloring.
The doors you open
I just can't close
Don't turn around, don't turn around again
Don't turn around, your gypsy heart
Don't turn around, don't turn around again
Don't turn around, and don't look back
Come on now love, don't you look back
This all, again, could be references to Moon becoming a sybil and leaving Sparks behind.
Who's gonna taste your salt water kisses
The Queen as Lady again.
Who's gonna take the place of me
There can be only one Starbuck at a time.
Who's gonna ride your wild horses
Who's gonna tame the heart of thee
Like I said before. It could all be a coincidence. But then again . . .
I reserve the right to revise this as I come up with more ideas
Story of The Snow Queen
Setting - The planet Tiamat, satellite of a binary system (the Twins) near a black hole. The black hole is used by the seven other planets of the Hegemony for transportation. One other star is caught in the gravitational pull of the black hole, the Summer Star. Tiamat has two seasons, each lasting more than a century long, summer and winter. The Snow Queen opens at the end of winter. As the Summer Star comes closer, it cuts off access to Tiamat from the other planets. So during Winter, the citizens of Tiamat have trade with the other planets in the hegemony for more than a century, then during Summer, they are isolated. Tiamat has one export, the Water of Life, which is just as it sounds, an elixir of immortality, which is distilled from the blood of a Tiamatan animal called a mer. The combination of the value of the Water of Life and the way that Tiamat is cut off half of the time makes the Hegemony do everything they can to prevent Tiamat from creating its own technological base.
Tiamat is a matriarchy, with a ruling Queen. There are two main ethnic groups, the Winters (who are dominant during the Winter) and the Summers (who are the dominant group during the Summer). The Queen of Tiamat is also a religious figure, representing their sea goddess, the Lady. Mers are sacred to the Lady in the religion of the Summers.
The Snow Queen is the story of three people (well a lot more than that, but three at the heart of it all):
Arienrhod, the Winter Queen -- She has been on the throne of Tiamat for 150 years through the use of the Water of Life. Arienrhod is pale -- white skin, white hair, gray eyes.
Moon Dawntreader Summer -- Arienrhod's clone. Arienrhod had herself cloned in hopes that one of the nine clones she had made would succeed her to the throne of Tiamat, and in that way she could continue to rule in some form. Moon is a sybil, which the people of Tiamat think of as a prophet of their Lady, but which is actually a sort of human computer port.
Sparks Dawntreader Summer -- Moon's cousin and lover. When Moon went to the place where sybils are called, she promised him that she would turn back if he was rejected. He was rejected, but Moon continued on to become a sybil. In anger, Sparks left for the only city on Tiamat, Carbuncle, where he came to the attention of Arienrhod, who took him in, then made him her lover. Sparks then became Starbuck, Arienrhod's consort, who conducts the hunts for the mers (which, since mers are sacred to the Lady, is an abomination in the religion in which Sparks was raised).
In my interpretation the song is from Sparks's pov, but he could be speaking of either of the two women:
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
You're dangerous 'cause you're honest
You're dangerous, you don't know what you want
Well you left my heart empty as a vacant lot
Moon becoming a sybil and leaving Sparks behind
For any spirit to haunt
Arienrhod as the "ghost" of Moon.
You're an accident waiting to happen
You're a piece of glass left there on the beach
Well you tell me things I know you're not supposed to
Then you leave me just out of reach
Who's gonna ride your wild horses
Who's gonna drown in your blue sea
Reference to the Queen as the Lady
Who's gonna ride your wild horses
Who's gonna fall at the foot of thee
Well you stole it 'cause I needed the cash
And you killed it 'cause I wanted revenge
Well you lied to me 'cause I asked you to
Before they went to the Choosing Place, Sparks asked Moon to promise that she would turn back with him if he was rejected; she consented without really considering her answer.
Baby, can we still be friends
Oh, the deeper I spin
Oh, the hunter will sin for your ivory skin
Sparks as Starbuck
Took a drive in the dirty rain
To a place where the wind calls your name
The approach to Arienrhod's throne room has a bridge across an open space made hazardous by cross-breezes
Under the trees the river laughing at you and me
Hallelujah, heavens white rose
The color "white" like "ivory" in the previous verse, could be a mention of Arienrhod/Moon's coloring.
The doors you open
I just can't close
Don't turn around, don't turn around again
Don't turn around, your gypsy heart
Don't turn around, don't turn around again
Don't turn around, and don't look back
Come on now love, don't you look back
This all, again, could be references to Moon becoming a sybil and leaving Sparks behind.
Who's gonna taste your salt water kisses
The Queen as Lady again.
Who's gonna take the place of me
There can be only one Starbuck at a time.
Who's gonna ride your wild horses
Who's gonna tame the heart of thee
Like I said before. It could all be a coincidence. But then again . . .