Dragonflies

I like dragonflies. They are such a beautiful insect, but I rarely see one in real life.

As a child, we often saw them around ponds and called them not dragonflies, but “snake doctors.” That comes from a folk belief that dragonflies follow snakes around and stitch them back together if they are injured.

In some cultures, dragonflies are seen as sinister are  linked with evil or injury.

But never mind all that. They are just fascinating creatures, in my opinion.

I have an entire Pinterest board devoted to dragonfly images, a few of which are below:

Art Nouveau plique-à-jour enamel and diamond dragonfly brooch, circa 1900. On Sotheby's web page.  The wings are mounted en tremblant, decorated with green and blue plique-à-jour enamel and edged in rose-cut diamonds, the body set with small old-mine and single-cut diamonds, the head of green enamel, mounted in gold and silver. Estimate: $15,000 — 20,000

Not surprisingly, I adore Little Lamb Dragonfly, a song credited to Paul and Linda McCartney and originally released on the Wings 1973 album Red Rose Speedway.

I Have No Answer For You Little Lamb

 I Can Help You Out / But I Cannot Help You In

 Sometimes You Think That Life Is Hard

 And This Is Only One Of Them

 My Heart Is Breaking For You Little Lamb

 I Can Help You Out / But We May Never Meet Again

 La La La La La La La La ... Etc.

 Dragonfly Fly By My Window

 You And I Still Have A Way To Go

 Don't Know Why You Hang Around My Door

 I Don't Live Here Any More

 Since You've Gone I Never Know

 I Go On, But I Miss You So

 Dragonfly Don't Keep Me Waiting

 I'm Waiting Can't You See Me I'm Waiting

 When We Try We'll Have A Way To Go

 Dragonfly You've Been Away Too Long

 How Did Two Rights Make A Wrong

 Since You've Gone I Never Know I Go On

 But I Miss You So In My Heart

 I Feel The Pain

 Keeps Coming Back Again

 Dragonfly Fly By My Window

 I'm Flying Can't You See Me I'm Flying

 You And I Can Find A Way To See

 Dragonfly The Years Ahead Will Show

 How Little We Really Know

 Since You've Gone Its Never Right They Go On

 The Lonely Nights, Come On Home

 And Make It Right

 My Heart Is Aching For You Little Lamb

 I Can Help You Out / But I Cannot Help You In

From Wikipedia:

Music professor Robert Rodriguez described the tune of "Little Lamb Dragonfly" as "quietly haunting" with "the power to move people without their quite understanding why."

There have been several interpretations of what the song is about. One theory is that the song was inspired by the actual death of a sheep on McCartney's farm. McCartney confirmed that this is at least partially correct in an interview in the late 1980s.

Another interpretation is that it tells a story of how McCartney became a vegetarian.This interpretation is inspired by lines such as:

My heart is aching for you little lamb

I can help you out but I cannot help you in.

Another interpretation is that the song contains a friendly message to John Lennon, particularly the lines:

Since you've gone I never know

I go on but I miss you so.

However, Rodriguez believes the latter interpretation is unlikely, since other songs McCartney recorded during the Ram sessions seemed to be intended to provoke Lennon's anger. Rather, Rodriguez believes that the lyrics are merely a number of phrases that McCartney strung together because they sounded good together, without intending any particular meaning.