SLPAD - 92 - Low-Lands - 5

[Mark Kohut]

Could it be a wordplay with the word "low" which can mean "depressed or
lacking in energy" (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/low).
Maybe the man is feeling low?


That might be the case. The protagonist is feeling low, indeed. I also
thought about a wordplay with the word *low-life *since all protagonist's
friends are rather low-lifes and he ends up living at the dump.

On Thu, Aug 31, 2023 at 1:29 AM Michael Bailey <michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Why the hyphen in Low-Lands?
>
> He has a falling-out and lands low?
>
>
> This link:
>
> https://www.proz.com/kudoz/english/poetry-literature/5513273-lowlands.html
>
> has a number of songs containing the word “lowlands” but textually the
> story doesn’t refer to sea songs, only to sea stories, iirc.
>
> The germane song - if there is one - I think would be
>
> There is this sea shanty called "Lowlands" or "Lowlands Away" (popularised
> by the game Assassin's Creed 4 and movies such as Moby Dick [2011] and
> Treasure Island [2012]). There are numerous versions, but they generally
> feature the chorus "Lowlands, lowlands away, my John". So the first verse
> goes something like this:
>
> I dreamed a dream the other night
> Lowlands, lowlands, away my John
> I dreamed a dream the other night
> Lowlands, my lowlands, away.
>
> One version features this ending:
>
> My love is drowned in the windy Lowlands,
> Lowlands, lowlands, away my John
> My love is drowned in the windy Lowlands.
> Lowlands, my lowlands, away.
>
> Depending on the version, the shanty usually portrays either the dream of a
> sailor who sees his beloved in his sleep and realises that she is dead; or
> the dream of a girl who similarly dreams of her sailor boyfriend being
> dead.
>
> I am not sure whether "Lowlands" here has any meaning? Or is it just a
> poetic chorus? Perhaps a corruption of an earlier version, or brought over
> from another song? It just doesn't seem to tie in with the rest, but I
> don't know much about sea shanties.
> [image: linkedin sharing button]
> [image: email sharing button]
> [image: twitter sharing button]
> [image: facebook sharing button]
> [image: sms sharing button]
> [image: sharethis sharing button]
>
> We’re spared any deaths in “Low-Lands” I think - if he is mourning anything
> it’s his lost youth and/or his moribund love.
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>