Tragically, in these days of rampant pseudo-intellectual academic iconoclasm, the classics go virtually untaught, so—for some—an explanation of the theme may be in order.

An ancient Greek myth tells the story of King Minos, his lovely daughter Ariadne, and a terrible and blood-thirsty half-man/half-beast called the Minotaur, who lived in a huge cavernous labyrinth.

Many a brave soul had entered the labyrinth with a view to slaying the beast, but invariably ended up getting hopelessly lost in the maze, and ultimately falling prey to the Minotaur.

Enter the hero Theseus, who agrees to try his hand at this deadly task!

Meanwhile, Ariadne had fallen madly in love with Theseus, and is concerned for his safety. She gives him a huge ball of thread or twine, which he is to gradually unwind as he proceeds into the labyrinth.

Long story short, Theseus succeeds in slaying the monster, and---thanks to Ariadne's ball of thread---is able to find his way back out of the maze. There's much more to the tale, but this will suffice.

I like the thought of Ariadne's thread as a metaphor of a good woman's love, and its salutary effect on her man's sanity.

So now you know...

This song is a bit of an experiment. While always remaining true to my folk-rock and classic-rock roots, I occasionally like to get a bit out of my own comfort zone.

I wanted to combine Phil Collins influenced percussion, and some Robert Fripp-ish lead soloing, with my usual roaring about on the guitars, and not-so-restrained caterwauling.

I went with Midi for the bass on this one because, about a week previous to recording the bass parts, I semi-crushed my right hand at the wrist in the hinge of a friend's closing electric garage door opener. (What a DOOFUS!) The palm of my hand still had some swelling, and I had numbness and tingling in two of my fingers. Anyway, although it was healing up rather rapidly, I didn't think I'd be able to manage playing live bass. The Midi track sounds pretty good to me... Critical comments thereon are certainly welcome.

C'est la vie!

Anyway, I hope you folks enjoy this one. Ain’t love grand?

Be well all!