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Originally Posted by nomowish
Tell me more about the Jodi Foster connexion...
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Well, it seems to be partly based on, or inspired by, Foster's old mid '70's thriller,
The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane, which was based on a novel by Laird Koenig. The original story seems to follow a survivalist philosopy--live outside of everything, and plot your own course in the world--even if it involves murder and breaking every other law and fundamentalist taboo in the book.
The front cover's art by what's-her-name is reminiscent of some of the scenes from the movie: the young vulnerable-looking girl, the nearby stereo (probably plays Chopin), the hamster with the fuck-finger pointing to it (will probably get its eyes burnt out). The lyrics seem to have various shades of reference to the film and novel's plot and themes. The dedication to Allen Ginsberg in the middle of the album could be symbolic of Foster's character's dead father, who was a poet. Kim also chants about "Alice, oh Alice, he's just a kitten", etc. in the opening number. There's an image of Kim posing on (I believe) a stool in the album art that recalls one of the early scenes from Foster's
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. The video for "Sunday" has McCauley Kulkin necking with his future bride and wearing a magician's top hat--Foster's boyfriend is a magician in the film. In the original promo video for the same song, Thurston is seen shopping for a jack-o-lantern--the original story opens on Halloween with the local teenage girl-rapist (Martin Sheen in the movie) trick or treating at Foster's door with a jack-o-lantern. Most striking of all, though, is the title:
A Thousand Leaves. In the novel the word "leaves" pops up again and again and again.
Probably the person who knows more about this theory than anyone is the poet R.W. Watkins. A few years ago he published a little book of haiku based on
The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane. I think it has a section called a "A Thousand Leaves" or something which is dedicated to SY. (SY is his favorite rock group, I believe, and he's a humongous Foster fan.) Watkins has popped up around the internet being quoted on this stuff. I think he can go into far greater detail than I have above. I saw a webpage or a myspace blog or some damn thing by him or about him several months ago. You can probably contact him there and get his full take on all of this. I think he's a bit of a controversial beatnik-type character himself. A lot of fans I've cme across have noticed the uncanny similarities between this record and the old movie and book, but Watkins has been the most vocal about it, publishing his observations here and there.
Anyway, that's as much as I can tell ya. Shop around and you might learn more.