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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
THE JOURNEY
Mott the Hoople
Brain Capers
Atlantic : 1971
[Buy It]
Once, many years ago, I left my small town to travel to the big city. Before I left, I spent the better part of the evening with the woman I loved, kissing her and running my hands across her shoulders and back. At dawn, I embraced my parents and set out on foot, with nothing in my pack except food, a canteen, and a knife. What else do you need?
The city was five days away. The first few days were calm and the weather was mild. But the third night, I heard owls hooting with menace, and I felt my solitude and my terror. I rolled up my pack before the sun rose and set out at a clip, eager to cover as much distance as possible. After an hour, though, I was exhausted. The sun I had waited for had come up and stayed up, beating down on me violently. I was on a desert now, and to say that it was unbearable is an understatement.
SEARCHING THE DESERT FOR THE BLUES
Blind Willie McTell
Okeh : 1932
Available on: Statesboro Blues
RCA : 2003
[Buy It]
A mile more of desert would have been the end of me. Luckily, I came to a flat plain punctuated with small deep lakes. I took my canteen out of my pack and filled it with water from the nearest lake. The water was cool and sweet. I drank again. The third time, when I touched the canteen to the surface of the lake, I saw something flicker in the corner of my eye. It was a gold bird, standing on the edge of the lake.
"Hello," said the bird.
"Hello," I said. To say that I was surprised would not quite have conveyed my state.
"Have you enjoyed your trip so far?" the bird said.
"Well," I said, "yes." I felt strange, but the more I spoke to the bird, the more comfortable I became speaking to the bird. It was quite a pleasant bird, with a friendly expression on its little face, and after a few moments I considered him a friend. It is hard for me to say this without sounding foolish, even to myself, but there it was.
SOMETHING IN THE WATER DOES NOT COMPUTE
Prince
1999
Warner : 1982
[Buy It]
Suddenly, I saw a shadow in the deep part of the lake. With a start I realized that it was a sea snake. It was as long and as thick as a man’s leg, with sharp yellow teeth and rough green-brown skin, and it was heading right for the edge of the lake where the bird was standing. Without thinking, I took my knife from my bag and swung it down into the pond, cutting the snake cleanly in half. The lower half of the beast fell down to the lake's bottom. For a moment the bird and I just looked at each other. The bird spoke first. "Thank you," he said. His voice was unsteady. He lifted one wing and then the other and then flew away over the lake.
I continued on my journey. Near day's end, in the shadow of a tree, I sat down to take a nap. I was closing my eyes when a giant sea snake leapt out of the lake. The snake that had menaced the bird was terrifying; this one was almost twice as large. Its eyes were a terrifying blackness that appeared endless. The huge snake put a coil around me and doused me with its foul breath. "What?" I managed to say.
"I hope that you have not fixed your mind too firmly on the city," the snake said, "for you are fated to die here."
The snake explained that the first snake I had seen, the one I had cut in half, was her son. She had gone underwater, moving from lake to lake, waiting for the moment when she could spring upon me and take my life. "Take my life?" I said. "But I did not kill your son from malice. He was coming for the bird that I had befriended."
"I do not care," the snake said.
"Please," I said. "Make an exception."
The snake made an angry noise. "I will spare your life on one condition."
THE SNAKE
Al Wilson
1968
Available on: The Original Northern Soul Selection
Original Selection : 2005
[Buy It]
"This tree above us," the snake said, "is a blood pear tree, They are extremely rare. Look." I looked up and saw what appeared to be a handful of giant bells, hanging from the highest branches of the tree. "I have never tasted a blood pear," said the snake.
"Why don't you just wait until they fall?"
"They only fall after the first of the year, when we are burrowed into the bottoms of the lakes. By the time we come up again in spring, they have spoiled. I fear that I will never taste one unless someone knocks it down for me."
"Okay," I said. "I will try to climb the tree and knock down a blood pear."
"No," the snake continued. "You must knock one down from here. If you cannot, I will kill you."
My heart pounded in my ears. I thought of my family, of the woman I loved. I prayed to every god I could think of but received no answer and no relief. The face of the woman I loved was fading. I was done for. I knew it. I cursed every god I could think of.
NO FRIEND OF MINE
Boyce Day
The Lie That You Believe
Black Fly : 2005
[Buy It]
At that moment I heard a sharp crack, and a moment later something rushed by me and thudded into the ground. It was a blood pear. The snake's eyes widened, and she took the pear in her mouth and slithered back into the lake.
I stood slowly. I could hardly breathe. I would live to visit the city after all. I would return to the woman I loved. I picked up my pack and started to walk away from the tree. And it was then that I saw the gold bird from the lake, its face smashed flat and bloody where it had hit the pear, its body cold and dead on the ground.
CRASHING BY DESIGN
Pete Townshend
White City: A Novel
Atlantic : 1985
[Buy It]Labels: atlantic records, ben, rhythm and blues, soul
posted by Ben
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