Low Tide in Chicago

August 2006

Listening to the Mountain Goats occasionally makes me think along the lines of “Oh god, I will never catch up to John Darnielle.” Although fortunately every time I think that, my subconscious decides to strike back and provide inspiration. Much of this song was written after listening to “You’re in Maya”. It’s somewhat related to that, although for some reason it keeps straying towards Billy Joel in the chorus. Anyway, it’s fairly self-explanatory (a point of style I’m keen on borrowing from the Mountain Goats), and like all good songs, it makes fun of Indiana.

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I’m sitting on the shore in Chicago
While the breakwater spars with the lake
On these old painted stones there are warnings
Saying not to dive headfirst into shallow water
And the stones here are mercifully harsh
And the air is still mercifully cold
But the trees catch the last of the sunset
And they echo in silver and gold

And I throw all my cares to the breakwater
And I wait for the tide to come in
I know the tide never comes in Chicago
But that’s the kind of day that it’s been

Lake Michigan, please take me somewhere
To a ratty old lighthouse up north
Where I’ll live with an automated warning
Saying not to sail past me into shallow water
And the landscape is mercifully stark
And the company mercifully dry
And the mist rolls in deep and forgetful
And blocks out the edge of the sky

And I sit drinking whiskey and lake water
And I wait for the tide to come in
I know the tide never comes in Chicago
But that’s the kind of day that it’s been

I stare down the shore in Chicago
Towards the ramshackle haze in the south
Where the rust-covered pipes are a warning
Saying don’t drink or bathe in the shallow water
And the skyline is mercifully grim
And my dreams momentarily buried
And no matter how brutal my memories
I’m still glad I don’t live in Gary

And I throw all my cares to the breakwater
And I wait for the tide to come in
I know the tide never comes in Chicago
But that’s the kind of day that it’s been

It was Better When Romeo Said It

July 2006

Another song about Romeo, sort of. But hey, I feel literary lately. I’m proud of this one. I was able to break out of my normal patterns a lot. Credit goes to the Mountain Goats, as the lyric pattern feels a lot like some of their/his songs, and John Darnielle provide the mental vocals originally. I’ve tightened the rhyme scheme slightly and adjusted things to my voice, but the stress at the line endings, the free-flowing structure, I’m still very happy to have borrowed. anyway, I like it. It’s a love song with a tangent about witches.

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I told you, you were like the sun
But it was better when Romeo said it
He said it with conviction, like a fool
People were foolish in those days
When time was short and the hours were long
If you had nothing to go by
So they believed strange things
That the world was flat
And mice grew from old cheese
And witches always had black cats
Or white ones depending on who you believe

And Romeo he believed in Juliet
And Juliet she believed when Romeo said
She was bright and warm and beautiful
And kept the world from growing dark and cold
But of course they didn’t know
The whole world turned around her

People were foolish in those days
They saw meaning in every flock of birds
That circled in the sky
And every star that fell, fell for someone
And I only see meaning in subtle curves
And the circles in your eyes
And every time I fell, I fell for someone
Someone shining as the sun

But people are foolish in these days