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Paradox View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: H To He Who Am The Only One cover...
    Posted: August 10 2005 at 20:14

What exactly is the cover of VdGG's album "H To He Who Am The Only One" all about?

I used to think that the cover was a pair of legs with amusing over-sized novelty shoes flying over Earth...but discovered that i was incorrect.

 

Anybody else see how i could make this most shocking of mistakes??

 

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 11 2005 at 03:44

Is it an airlock door floating in space? I guess you are looking though that door. Somebody has decided to do a nice morning swim on the orbit.

You can also see Finland!



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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 11 2005 at 04:10

Actually it's a balance (a pair of scales) referring to the astrological sign Libra. The painting is called "Birthday" and is about the birth of Paul Whitehead (the cover artist). I don't think it was intended for the album originally.

 



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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 11 2005 at 04:37
I have always considered the cover to be a picture of Phaeton, the sun of the Greek God Helios (the God of the Sun), who one day borrowed the chariot his Father races across the sky with and had an accident. the "scale" I thought was his chariot. this made perfect sense to me because of the album title and the track "Pioneers over c". now that you mention it I see it as a scale for the first time, and you have a point there


A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 11 2005 at 07:13

You're right, it truly is a scale!

But I believe it's the scale they used to measure their dope before playing. Someone of them has already blown the horn and is now leaving the orbit.

I like the first side of the LP very much, but I think the B-side is bit too... hmm. Powerful for me? Yeah, that's it.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 11 2005 at 14:34

Yeah, the picture is so enigmatic that it can be interpreted the way you want. That's perhaps the reason why it was chosen.

Here is an excerpt from an interview with Paul Whitehead:

...

JC: Next, you did the H to He album. How did you get hooked up with Van Der Graaf?

PW: Through Genesis.

JC: So, were those two bands pals, were they sociable?

PW: Oh sure, yeah. And they did those tours, the five shilling tour or whatever.

JC: Uh, six bob. With Lindisfarne.

PW: Right, whatever it was... And, really, it was the same thing - John Anthony said "you should get this guy to do your next album cover." So I got together with Peter (Hammill) and we hit it off, we had the same kind of taste and ideas. (For H to He) I actually had a painting. I'd done that painting earlier for myself. I'm a Libra and that was my interpretation of the birth of Libra, I think it was called 'Birthday'. (The eye beam) goes right down to London. I visualized my birth, that was me being born.
JC: So what are the two legs hanging down?

PW: That was me. (both laugh)

...

(The complete interview can be found at http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/paulw.htm)

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 11 2005 at 15:12
I know one thing for sure.......It's an absolutely crap cover!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 12 2005 at 05:30
can som1 please tell me what this cover try to tell us? i dont understand!

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 12 2005 at 05:37

Originally posted by proger proger wrote:

can som1 please tell me what this cover try to tell us? i dont understand!

Read the posts above, its all explained

BTW...how people can not see that its a weighing scale is beyond me! Has no one got eyes? The art is bad I admit, but not that bad!



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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 12 2005 at 07:47
Never mind the cover, what does the title mean?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 12 2005 at 08:01

"H to He" means Hydrogen to Helium, the nuclear fusion process that is occuring in the sun.

What "...Who Am The Only One" means I don't know, maybe it's a travesty of something.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 12 2005 at 08:36
Originally posted by Snow Dog Snow Dog wrote:

Originally posted by proger proger wrote:

can som1 please tell me what this cover try to tell us? i dont understand!

Read the posts above, its all explained

BTW...how people can not see that its a weighing scale is beyond me! Has no one got eyes? The art is bad I admit, but not that bad!

well, I took the two scales for wheels and the whole scale for a cart, and it made immediate sense to me because I remembered the myth of Phaeton, the son of the ancient Greek sun God Helios. the legs then were his legs. in combination with the title of the album it made perfect sense to me



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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 12 2005 at 09:37

I must admit that I have thought it was something on wheels too (not a chariot though, but something more modern). I have also believed it was a pair of lungs (made of metal) or some kind of oxygen tubes. It was not before I read Whitehead's explanation I realized what it was.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2005 at 06:18
Originally posted by Mategra Mategra wrote:

"H to He" means Hydrogen to Helium, the nuclear fusion process that is occuring in the sun.

What "...Who Am The Only One" means I don't know, maybe it's a travesty of something.

its so heard to explain this album title, its one big riddle... a good one.

...live for tomorrow...
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2005 at 06:34
the key to understanding the album title lies in the double meaning of "He" (chemical symbol for Helium" and third person pronoun)


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 13 2005 at 07:11
Originally posted by BaldJean BaldJean wrote:

Originally posted by Snow Dog Snow Dog wrote:

Originally posted by proger proger wrote:

can som1 please tell me what this cover try to tell us? i dont understand!

Read the posts above, its all explained

BTW...how people can not see that its a weighing scale is beyond me! Has no one got eyes? The art is bad I admit, but not that bad!

well, I took the two scales for wheels and the whole scale for a cart, and it made immediate sense to me because I remembered the myth of Phaeton, the son of the ancient Greek sun God Helios. the legs then were his legs. in combination with the title of the album it made perfect sense to me

Yes you already said, but my point was that it actually does look like a scale!

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