Jeri, you wrote:

the best way to ask for a critique of lyrics here is to start a thread and post 'em. I still don't think this is the best place to do it. It's like asking a roomful of people if they like your dress. Most of them will just keep quiet to stay out of trouble. Two will say it's too long, two will say it's too short. Two will love the color, two will hate it. Someone will point out it looks a bit like the dress Helvitica Noodleflip wore to dinner last Friday, but NO ONE will mention, or perhaps even notice, the the big rip under your arm. (Or if they do, they'll phrase it something like "I see you've done something very different and creative with your seams.")

Well, yes -- if I just walk in and ask "Howja like my dress?" But if I start with something like: "I've got this dress almost the way I like it, but I'm having trouble with the underarm seams. If I make the hem strong enough to hold, it's all bulky and uncomfortable. If I go for comfort, it falls apart... I've gone for comfort, now, but I'd like a sleeve that holds together, too. Any tailors in the house who can give me some sewing tips to fix the problem?" I just might get at least one response that is helpful. And I'd certainly get more help than if I didn't ask for any at all, and just put the dress in my closet and never wore it... Though I might get a few "make it a sleeveless dress!" responses (which is advice, even though I don't want it at the moment, I might end up taking).

As for your sirens song, I was planning on responding, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't talking out the top of my head, so I wanted to go back and refresh my mythological knowledge before writing something, and then I got sidetracked, and then I forgot. Sorry.

In general, I agree with McGrath: Sirens are a mythological symbol with a lot of baggage on their lovely winged shoulders, and listeners to the song may get so wrapped up in their own associations, that they don't hear the unique message that you are trying to get across.

But I also agree with you, that the sirens got a bad rap. Here is what I do remember about them (that I wanted to double check), though:

The Sirens were originally nymphs, and playmates/friends of Kore, Demeter's daughter (commonly called Persephone in the mythology books, but she didn't get that title until after she became Hades' queen). Some say that they were granted their half-bird forms so that they could fly over the world and search for her. When they failed, they begged the gods to grant them eternal life, and eternally sweet voices, so they could sing their grief and remembence of Kore. The gods compromised: The sirens would be given eternal youth until the moment a ship successfully sailed past their island. So the sirens did everything they could to prevent that from happening: every sailor who heard them heard words that he most wanted to hear -- some also said that they sang their song in unison with the three Fates (who sang while they worked at spinning out each live's fate).

They had a singing contest with the Muses, once, and the Muses won. The prizes were crowns of feathers that had been plucked by the sirens' wings.

Odysseus beat them by having his men tie him to the mast of his ship, and also had Orpheus sing a competing song. Orpheus' song had greater power, and when the ship sailed safely past, the sirens lept into the sea and commited suicide.

After that, they dwelt in the land of the Dead, and the ancient Greeks would pray to them when they were grieving the loss of a loved one, to help them express their grief.

So I agree -- the sirens were not evil, exactly. But their singing was not particularly happy, either...

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