I was flipping around the channels last night and came across this beautifully tragic song on public television. Thought it was a real comment on today’s nihilism, a sort of Eliot’s Wasteland done folk-style.
We Are Nowhere and It’s Now
by Bright EyesIf you hate the taste of wine why do you drink it till you’re blind? And if you swear that there’s no truth and who cares, how come you say it like you’re right? Why are you scared to dream of god when it’s salvation that you want? You see stars that clear have been dead for years but the idea just lives on in our wheels that roll around as we move over the ground. And all day it seems we’ve been in between the past and future town. We are nowhere and it’s now. We are nowhere and it’s now.
And for a ten minute dream in the passenger’s seat while the world was flying by, you haven’t been gone very long but it feels like a life time. I’ve been sleeping so strange at night, side effects they don’t advertise. I’ve been sleeping so strange with a head full of pesticide. I’ve got no plans in all this time. I feel too restless to unwind. I’m always lost in thought as I walk a block to my favorite neon sign where the waitress looks concerned but she never says a word, just turns the juke box on and we hum along and I smile back at her. And my friend comes after work when the features start to blur. She says these bars are filled with things that kill. By now you probably should have learned.
Did you forget that yellow bird? How could you forget your yellow bird? She took a small silver wreath and pinned it on to me. She said this one will bring you love. And i don’t know if it’s true but i keep it for good luck.
