For some reason I got up crazy early this morning thinking about The Dead by James Joyce (which I haven't read in ages), and I decided to lean into it and make it a song. I spliced in lines from the folk song in the novella, The Lass of Aughrim, and I really like the effect it has on the end couplet.
You try so hard to fade into the back
Nursin' your beer like it might ward off some attack
But I can see you. I can see you.
Dublin's dangerous in oh so many ways,
These landmine politics so far from out in Galway,
I can hear you. I can hear you.
I stumble out and fall into the car
Just next to me, you feel so very far,
But I can taste you. I wanna taste you.
Snow reaches out and colonizes ground.
When we get to our room let me sink in you and drown,
Oh I can smell you. I love to smell you.
But who will kiss your rosy cheek?
Who will kiss your ruby lips?
When you say his name you almost seem to burst,
I try to imagine what it's like to lose your first
So I can feel you. I can feel you.
So many things are less than what they seem,
But you're lookin' still and stiff just like the Lass of Aughrim.
I don't know you. I don't know you.
But who will kiss your rosy cheek?
Who will kiss your ruby lips?
Way down there in the gasworks
A boy, only seventeen, burnt and battered.
You're dead too, in your way.
So many of us die before we matter.
And he took his little dart
And he thrust it through his heart.
@slusk Feb 2022
Impressive lyrics. And a great performance.
@gordon Feb 2022
Really enjoying the lyrics and I'm a sucker for a one-take. Lots of great stuff comes out when you do a one-take and don't try to overproduce. Lovely stuff, thanks for posting
@mikeskliar Feb 2022
wow, this is really powerful! poetic and the music and lyric are a great fit- and a great performance. Love that 'i can see/hear/taste' etc thing- what a great idea
I'v never read Joyce's 'the dead' but i did see a live taping of part of it put on live as a radio play on public radio here at wnyc. This makes me want to check it out again.
@bithprod Feb 2022
A lot of great lines. Dark and emotional. "So many of us die before we matter." Indeed.
@erbaer Feb 2022
This really captures the limited light within a dark side of town. Great images. Great lyrical progression. The simplicity and drive of the music adds a desperate complexity of the song. Well done.
@richardmasters Feb 2022
Great song with some amazing lines, the final line is an absolute killer. Really good job of creating a riveting atmospheric song