The walking... and endlessly...

Taking off from those comments of Jane's...,

It's always struck me that The Walking comes out of a period of 
stress, distress, confusion and unhappiness.
-- Which Jane is able to harvest as songwriting genius.

The image of her of the cover is not a happy one, she is rushed, 
moving ("the walking"), out of focus.

"The walking" is.... when you rush out of the house in distressed 
confusion, walking without a destination, "endlessly," as you process 
some upsetting collapsed relationship...

"The white tent" is a song of autumn sorrows, tremendous rushing 
movement (from one very different clearing to the next) and tears.
The different emotions of the clearings (that are named by their 
different emotions) speak to her confused and turbulent memories.

A very Canadian scene of a northern river. Hard for figured out know 
what "the white tent, the raft" is, where the image comes from, and 
what is might mean. Did she see this in a dream? It seems to me to be 
a situation of vulnerability, with the white tent (a kind of flimsy 
house) being imperiled as it is rushed down the river, past the clearings...

It (the album) definitely comes in the wake of a failed relationship, 
since there is so much guilt there, guilt over failing another 
person, letting them down...

In sum: "Goodbye..."

"The Lobby" is about guilt and confusion, self-delusion, failing 
another person. "Take off that silly hat..." and realize what you've 
just done:  abandoned someone who needed you.. She has to repeat her 
entry into the Lobby... until she finally understands.

Ingrid and Lena are about people at odds with each other, 
misunderstanding and being misunderstood.

I could say more...

Bruce

PS  As an album which takes off out of a period of stress, distress, 
confusion and unhappiness, harvested as songwriting genius, "The 
Walking" can be compared to Kate B's "The Dreaming." Which was also 
written in the wake of a traumatic collapsed relationship.
	One notable difference: On the cover of the Dreaming Kate does not 
present herself as distressed and confused (as Jane *confesses* to us 
with her cover.... she *exposes* her distraught self to her 
audience...) but instead, quite the opposite, in a situation of 
extraordinary command and control. Look how she holds his head! She's 
kissing him, and not vice versa, etc.
	But then... she's not unhappy Kate here. She's acting out one of her songs.