Amara reminds me that we haven’t had any poetry here for a while. Don’t have a good stand-alone poem on hand, but I’ve always had a soft spot for these lyrics from Nick Cave’s The Boatman’s Call album.
Into My Arms
I don’t believe in an interventionist God
But I know, darling, that you do
But if I did I would kneel down and ask Him
Not to intervene when it came to you
Not to touch a hair on your head
To leave you as you are
And if He felt He had to direct you
Then direct you into my armsInto my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my armsAnd I don’t believe in the existence of angels
But looking at you I wonder if that’s true
But if I did I would summon them together
And ask them to watch over you
To each burn a candle for you
To make bright and clear your path
And to walk, like Christ, in grace and love
And guide you into my armsInto my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my armsBut I believe in Love
And I know that you do too
And I believe in some kind of path
That we can walk down, me and you
So keep your candles burning
And make a journey bright and pure
That you’ll keep returning
Always and evermoreInto my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms
See the video on YouTube for full effect.
Nick Cave is amazing … excellent choice.
Bad Seed rebuttal (homage to arrow of time:
You don’t know what’s going on
You’ve been away for far too long
You can’t come back and think you are still mine
You’re out of touch, my baby
My poor discarded baby
I said, baby, baby, baby, you’re out of time
Well, baby, baby, baby, you’re out of time
I said, baby, baby, baby, you’re out of time
You are all left out
Out of there without a doubt
‘Cause baby, baby, baby, you’re out of time
You thought you were a clever girl
Giving up your social whirl
But you can’t come back and be the first in line, on no
You’re obsolete my baby
My poor old-fashioned baby
I said baby, baby, baby you’re out of time
Well, baby, baby, baby, you’re out of time
I said, baby, baby, baby, you’re out of time
Yes, you are left out
Out of there without a doubt
‘Cause baby, baby, baby, you’re out of time
Please tell me you’ve seen The Proposition. Nick’s script is incredible and offers some wry insight into the nature of evolution and the advent of “civilization.”
It all seems very romantic, until you read the following sentence from Wikipedia relating to the woman he probably wrote it for:
Ha. That fits in so well with much of the rest of his work …
And the black-and-white camera work on that video is gorgeous. Thank you for the art!
The Boatman’s Call is one of my favorite albums of all time!
My favorite song on it is Idiot Prayer. Here’s a memorable passage:
If you’re in Heaven then you’ll forgive me, dear
Because that’s what they do up there
If you’re in Hell, then what can I say
You probably deserved in anyway
Nick Cave is the man.
I was cruising around the Sonoran desert over the last ten days or so, and passing through Tucson i saw this cool poster with a Dali print of the melting dripping clocks. Turns out that it was announcing a special Gravity conference, and there on the list of participants was the name Sean Carroll. Do have some fun. That town is full of some of my favorite bands and artists, and its proximity to getting deep into one of the most significant of the planet’s deserts is stimulating and exciting. Go for it.
… Interesting … the lyrics seem to be just very sweet, but the video is just so sad ….
That would be me, yep. No time to enjoy the town, I’m afraid; I’m just zipping in to do my thing in between talks at NSF and Caltech. Glamorous jet-setting lifestyle, &c.
I think I liked Nick Cave more back when he sang about stuff like anally raping Billy in Stagger Lee.
I’m fairly sure this song was NOT written for Anita Lane. They were an item in the 80s and this song dates from ’95-’96. I had always assumed he wrote it for the lovely Susie Bick (since they were married around that time).
I thought it was for PJ Harvey…
My bad — I had decided it was on “From Her to Eternity” for some reason. Hadn’t listened to either album in far too long.
Sadly, my encyclopedic knowledge of music has apparently been replaced by all the lyrics for “Wheels on the Bus”.
Sean,
Usually your diverse tastes which you share with the public here, are impeccable, and I really dig your GR book, your blogging, & share your philo of sci.atheism….
But, I’m also a musician, and a songwriter, for several decades now, and I can tell you that song has gotta be THE musical `bottom of the barrel’…The guy cannot sing, the lyrix are unsophisticated philosophical whining, devoid of wit, moxie, or hipness…Now if you want a piano-accompanied love song for your girl, play her Christine McVie’s `SongBird’ from the FleetwoodMac DVD `The Dance’, and she’ll melt in your arms…Trust me.
Jimbo, I’ll have to respectfully disagree. And choosing Fleetwood Mac as a favorable comparison to Nick Cave isn’t helping your case any.
More substantively: sure, Cave isn’t an especially talented singer, nor a great pianist. But he’s a very good songwriter, an excellent performer, and a consistently intelligent, imaginative, and provocative lyricist. Into My Arms is a spare lyric, but in a very few straightforward words he manages to subtly pinpoint an expression of sympathy with the emotional weight of his lover’s religious beliefs, without accepting their metaphysical prerequisites. That’s the kind of nuance which was unavailable to Christine McVie at the height of her powers.
For the record, “Songbird” bores me to tears. I vastly prefer the Cave piece…
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