"gold dust" and the Future of America
Scarlets Walk ends in Washington, D.C. with Scarlet giving birth to a baby girl in gold dust. The birth of her daughter stirs up many emotions for Scarlet. She wonders how she will bring up this baby in the country she has just traveled.
Over the relatively short history of the United States, we have incurred a great number of not only physical abuses on people, but also a huge amount of emotional abuse. As a society, we have repressed and submerged so many people, the number has become countless. It almost makes one wonder, Whos next? Scarlet is scared that perhaps her baby girl will be next.
When the album was written in 2002, America was on the verge of a war we are now indeed involved in. Because of the impending war, Scarlet had been looking at and examining the history of this country, and questioning the things our government and our society has done to its people. Her journey has not necessarily been about finding answers, but finding stories and people that aid her in coming up with the right questions that need to be asked. It is a journey to find her own truth, her own body map.
gold dust looks back at her journey. I WAS HERE (Amos), Scarlet proclaims. She needs to be sure that she will not be forgotten like the lost stories of the Native Americans. She has to make sure that her child will never be forgotten as well.
Accompanying Amos and her Bosendorfer grand piano is a full orchestra, which adds to the highly emotional aspects of the song. It brings an almost epic quality to the piece, and it also helps to bring closure to Scarlets story. She speaks of the images, the sights and sounds (Amos), that she has encountered on her journey; she is trying to remember where shes been - shes freezing that frame (Amos).
In the song, she realizes what she wants to do with the lessons she has learned from her journey across the land of the free: she wants to move mountains. She wants to share with everyone what she has learned, and encourage those she comes in contact with to find their own voice. She wants to teach others about different peoples ways of life, and the emotions that surround all the prejudices held against them. There are so many different people in this country, and each person views certain events differently. Scarlet wants to show as many people as she can why it is so important that we are especially sensitive to everyones wants and needs. This is indeed very important in order for us to become a country that supports all of its people, not just those in power.
However, she knows she could never live long enough to undo all the wrongs that have been incurred on not only Native Americans, but a vast majority of minorities in our society. Nobody could ever live long enough to do so. However, she now understands that it is about time we look at our past, admit to what we have done wrong, and try our hardest to fix them for our future: for Scarlets baby girl, and her children to come.
Over the relatively short history of the United States, we have incurred a great number of not only physical abuses on people, but also a huge amount of emotional abuse. As a society, we have repressed and submerged so many people, the number has become countless. It almost makes one wonder, Whos next? Scarlet is scared that perhaps her baby girl will be next.
When the album was written in 2002, America was on the verge of a war we are now indeed involved in. Because of the impending war, Scarlet had been looking at and examining the history of this country, and questioning the things our government and our society has done to its people. Her journey has not necessarily been about finding answers, but finding stories and people that aid her in coming up with the right questions that need to be asked. It is a journey to find her own truth, her own body map.
gold dust looks back at her journey. I WAS HERE (Amos), Scarlet proclaims. She needs to be sure that she will not be forgotten like the lost stories of the Native Americans. She has to make sure that her child will never be forgotten as well.
Accompanying Amos and her Bosendorfer grand piano is a full orchestra, which adds to the highly emotional aspects of the song. It brings an almost epic quality to the piece, and it also helps to bring closure to Scarlets story. She speaks of the images, the sights and sounds (Amos), that she has encountered on her journey; she is trying to remember where shes been - shes freezing that frame (Amos).
In the song, she realizes what she wants to do with the lessons she has learned from her journey across the land of the free: she wants to move mountains. She wants to share with everyone what she has learned, and encourage those she comes in contact with to find their own voice. She wants to teach others about different peoples ways of life, and the emotions that surround all the prejudices held against them. There are so many different people in this country, and each person views certain events differently. Scarlet wants to show as many people as she can why it is so important that we are especially sensitive to everyones wants and needs. This is indeed very important in order for us to become a country that supports all of its people, not just those in power.
However, she knows she could never live long enough to undo all the wrongs that have been incurred on not only Native Americans, but a vast majority of minorities in our society. Nobody could ever live long enough to do so. However, she now understands that it is about time we look at our past, admit to what we have done wrong, and try our hardest to fix them for our future: for Scarlets baby girl, and her children to come.
