There are times when a post of words is insufficient...
Such as now.
The playlist I cooked up for myself this past November is perhaps just too potent. I can’t listen to it without being whisked away to an alternate world of my own creation… full of the Bull Moose party platform, cthonic beasts, Tesla inventions and welcome respite from the trenches of WWI… I thought I’d share it with you, tonight, when the stars (and wine, and whisky) are right, and impairing my perhaps better judgment.
FAULTED STARS PLAYLIST 2012
M4 Pt II, by Faunts (Mass Effect: Original Soundtrack)
Epic. Driving. Remorseless.
Fingers Never Bleed, by Yeasayer (Fragrant World)
Full of second-thoughts, disregarded. Facing only the problems at hand, to the eternal discomfit of everyone involved. To quote:
I know you think you could do this without me,
But I know I could do without you,
Failed ambitions held up on a trident,
Hope predictions of future come true…
Black Wave/Bad Vibrations, by the Arcade Fire [esp. starting at 1:33 secs] (Neon Bible)
Portentious. Ominous. Ignored. To quote the art:
Don’t stop now, before it’s too late,
eatin’ in the ghetto on a hundred-dollar plate,
nothin’ lasts forever, that’s the way it’s gotta be,
there’s a great black wave in the middle of the sea…
for me…
for you…
for me…
it’s always for you…
Split Needles, by The Shins (Wincing the Night Away)
Storm Coming, by Gnarls Barkley (St. Elsewhere)
Intervention, by Arcade Fire (Neon Bible)
I can taste the fear.
Lift me up and take me out of here,
Don’t want to fight, don’t want to die,
Just want to hear you cry.
Who’s going to throw the very first stone?
Oh! Who’s gonna reset the bone?
Walking with your head in a sling
Want to hear the soldier sing.
Working for the Church
While my family dies,
Your little baby sister’s
Going to lose her mind,
Every spark of friendship and love
Will die without a home…
Hear the soldier groan, “We’ll go at it alone”
I can taste your fear,
It’s going to lift you up and take you out of here,
And the bone shall never heal,
I care not if you kneel.
We can’t find you now,
But they’re going to get their money back somehow,
And when you finally disappear
We’ll just say you were never here.
Open Book, by Gnarls Barkley (The Odd Couple)
So you mortals must keep this in mind
This is the way I’m designed
And I am no power so I’ll only die one time…
Come on!
Kill me!
You heard!
Kill me!
I am an open book, an open book…
My Body Is A Cage, by Arcade Fire (Neon Bible)
I’m living in an age
That calls darkness light
Though my language is dead
Still the shapes fill my head
I’m living in an age
Whose name I don’t know
Though the fear keeps me moving
Still my heart beats so slow
My body is a cage
That keeps me from dancing with the one I love
But my mind holds the key
Standing next to me
My mind holds the key
My body is a—
My body is a cage
We take what we’re given
Just because you’ve forgotten,
doesn’t mean you’re forgiven
I’m living in an age
Still turning in the night
But when I get to the doorway
There’s no one in sight…
Sycamore Trees sung by Jimmy Scott, written by David Lynch (Twin Peaks)
As regards that last track, I find it best interpreted via an apocalyptic, cthonic avenue… beyond that, my impression are vague & unsatisfying at best.