More Dathonian English

Yesterday, YNSHC came close to winning concert tickets.  It was a radio contest, and somehow we were actually able to get through to the DJs.  This in itself is a rare occurrence, but it was at least partially due to the particular hoops through which contestants had to jump in order to win the contest.

The theme was literary references in rock songs.  The DJs played snippets from three songs, each of which contained the name of a fictional character(s).  The caller had to identify the book being referenced and the author.  The snippets were:

Bruce Springsteen singing about "The ghost of Tom Joad."

Someone that sounded like the Cure (although it turned out to be The Bravery) singing something unintelligible.

And someone whose name we forget singing, "Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Kathy, I've come home."

Now, as we've probably mentioned, the Solipsist was an English major.  He knew the first and third references, and he was wagering that, if he got through, the DJs might be sporting enough at least to tell him what the second singer was saying.

Well, the phone actually rang!  The DJ picked up!  We were close!

"OK, well, the first reference is John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath."

"Right!"

(Duh!)

"OK, now, the second one, I can't quite make out the words.  Could you just tell me what he's saying?"

"He's saying, 'Never had a Cherry Valance of my own.'"

What?  Who?

Well, folks, YNSHC was stumped.  He probably should have just guessed V by Thomas Pynchon (which would have been wrong anyway), but, as it was, he didn't even get to tell them what song number three was (Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte, again, duh!).

It apparently took forever for them to get a winner because, after we had gotten in to work and googled "Cherry Valance" (The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, of all things!), we turned on the radio and they were just THEN getting a winner.  The sad part, for us, was how many people didn't seem to know either the Steinbeck or the Bronte reference.

Still, this got us to thinking again about "The Guide to Dathonian English."  Since these references are, at least in theory, meant to be understood by the songs' audience, it seems we should be able to link the references to universal ideas.  Hence:

Tom Joad--One who stands up for the little guy.

Cherry Valance--????  An ideal love?  Could somebody who's read or seen The Outsiders recently help us out here?

Heathcliff and Kathy--Passionate romance.

Keep those entries coming folks!