soooo charlatan in red huh. i love the transmasc interpretation and i have my own things to say about it to do with what it means to be lost and found in terms of the relationship of the fox and the daughter in a way that is paralleled in a lot of the forgetmenauts other songs in different ways and also i love this song and have some opinions about it.
so if you listen to the song on the side of the parent/narrator with the fox being someone actually using the daughter or manipulating her into someone she doesnt want to be, they are really caring. they never really blame the daughter, saying things like "lost my little girl to the foxes" rather than saying she ran away. it feels to me more like they are blaming themself for not being able to help her rather than blaming her for leaving. the chorus also feels like they are trying to help, rather than telling her to come back, and assuming her choices are wrong just because they dont understand them they are giving her reasons to try if she ever wants to. reasons to keep fighting if she feels trapped. "if they catch you by the eye and smile their wicked smiles remember me and run" i think of as the parent saying if they (the charlatan) have wicked intentions and you realise that remember a relationship that didnt, run based on the memory things can get better, run with the knowledge i am here for you now and always, if you need it.or if you dont. the end too, instead of questioning her choices directly about her being married, they tell her actions she can take to be less trapped. "dont let them take another daughter" a reminder even if she feels completly lost she can help others not be taken, she still has agency. her choices still matter, even if nothing makes sense, there is good in the bad, the sun can shine even while it rains, do not give up hope.
a vixens lament also works with this interpretation.( yes i am talking about the subtext of a song with no lyrics. dont worry about it.) its her realising she has become something else, a vixen rather than a daughter, and that she doenst want to be. there are no words because she feels voiceless. in my heart that song is her running, with her childeren back to her parent and she has a happy ending. in my heart.
anyway im really normal about these songs and all that.
also Tam Lin being a directly similar thing, but instead of the character entering the abusive relationship its them leaving it and the narrator having to deal with the trauma tam lin sustained during it and lashing out at a healthier relationship because when someone has been lost for so long finding them again can be difficult. i think the language of that song is similarly not blaming the victim, like "he was torn from my bed in the midst of a storm by a woman whose name we dont speak in this town" going on to illustrate the cruelty of the abuser rather than attributing any guilt to the victim. lots of thoughts.
