Tuesday, 06 May 2008

• Currently Listening Hello Starling By Josh Ritter see related

  Bright Smiles, Dark Eyes, and the Summer Manifesto

  I had the privilege of attending a Josh Ritter concert at the Orange Peel last Friday. For me the most poignant moment of the show was his rendition of “The Temptation of Adam” from his record “The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter”http://www.joshritter.com/news.php . After strapping on an acoustic guitar as the rest of the band left the stage, he stood alone and asked for all the lights in the venue to be turned off. Then  in the dark he slowly made his way through this chilling and completely original song. I mean, seriously, have any of you heard of an amorous liaison set in a missile silo? Incredible stuff.  Here are the lyrics:

   

  The Temptation of Adam
  
  If this was the Cold War we could keep each other warm I said on the first occasion that I met Marie We were crawling through the hatch that was the missile silo door And I don¹t think that she really thought that much of me
  
  I never had to learn to love her like I learned to love the Bomb She just came along and started to ignore me But as we waited for the Big One I started singing her my songs And I think she started feeling something for me
  
  We passed the time with crosswords that she thought to bring inside What five letters spell ³apocalypse² she asked me I won her over saying ³W.W.I.I.I.² She smiled and we both knew that she¹d misjudged me
  
  Oh Marie it was so easy to fall in love with you It felt almost like a home of sorts or something And you would keep the warhead missile silo good as new And I¹d watch you with my thumb above the button
  
  Then one night you found me in my army issue cot And you told me of your flash of inspiration You said fusion was the broken heart that¹s lonely¹s only thought And all night long you drove me wild with your equations
  
  Oh Marie do you remember all the time we used to take We¹d make our love and then ransack the rations I think about you leaving now and the avalanche cascades And my eyes get washed away in chain reactions
  
  Oh Marie if you would stay then we could stick pins in the map Of all the places where you thought that love would be found But I would only need one pin to show where my heart¹s at In a top secret location three hundred feet under the ground
  
  We could hold each other close and stay up every night Looking up into the dark like it¹s the night sky And pretend this giant missile is an old oak tree instead And carve our name in hearts into the warhead
  
  Oh Marie there¹s something tells me things just won¹t work out above That our love would live a half-life on the surface So at night while you are sleeping I hold you closer just because As our time grows short I get a little nervous
  
  I think about the Big One, W.W.I.I.I. Would we ever really care the world had ended You could hold me here forever like you¹re holding me tonight I look at that great big red button and I¹m tempted.

   

   

   

   

  This summer I will attempt to learn to be a person again.

   

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