words

I got an email from someone (hi Micah – thanks.) asking for the lyrics to the WIP version of the Throwing Muses song, “City of the Dead”. The song was only ever formally released on one of the Firepile singles, but for obvious reasons it’s been in my head lately, too.

It was written on a Throwing Muses tour and the story it tells is a “real” one, meaning not necessarily true but told in different versions by many people, like a folk song.

I’m not nuts about seeing lyrics printed without hearing the music, so we’ll put the track up on the Free Music page in the Throwing Muses section.

City of the Dead

Some honeymoon
Your body without you
How’d you do it John?

He left the levee on his own
The crab and gators come and gone
So I laid a heavy stone across his head

I’m making him a city of the dead

Some honey sun
You’re lucky to be gone
Crawfish claw your eyes out beyond
How’d you do it John?

I think of all the dead girls
Swimming ’round you now
So I sew my name across your vest

I think of all the dead girls
Swimming ’round you now
So I sewed your name into my chest

I won’t stay married ’cause you won’t stay buried
So stop your talking in my dreams

I won’t stay awake if I can’t kiss your fingers
The Creole quarter misses you but I don’t
It’s like St. Peter said in the city of the dead
The Creole quarter misses you but I don’t

It’s like St. Louis said in the city of the dead

Love,
Kristin

We’d like to thank you for the overwhelming response to the email Kristin sent out yesterday regarding the CDBaby New Orleans benefit program.

Due to the incredible demand for CDs, we’re temporarily sold out of the 50FootWave mini-album and Kristin’s “Live at Noe Valley Ministry” discs.

More CDs were shipped out today and should be back in stock by very early next week.

If you still want to help but couldn’t find the titles you wanted, please check back soon.

Our CDBaby store is here.

Many thanks,

ThrowingMusic

As many of you may know, we have many deep and close ties to the City of New Orleans. Some of our best times have been spent recording music and living among our dearest pals down there. It is home to us and it is family to us. At times like this, the most difficult part is the sense of helplessness.

I just wanted to share this link with you (thanks to Orrin) — good information about how to help.

We’ll try to get back to normal here when things settle down.

Stress in the Wave camp while we try to track down some of our New Orleans friends. We’re guessing that nobody’s underwater, as they tend to take evacuation seriously in our experience, but nevertheless…we worry. We’re urging some of our dearest people from the days of Kingsway Studio to find their way to our house (even when they’re allowed back home, no one can assure them that they’ll have power or, ironically, water), but we haven’t caught up with everyone yet.

In the meantime, our hearts go out to Rob who lost his birth mother yesterday. She was a wonderful woman with Rob’s easy smile and heart of gold. I’m glad he found her when he did; they were close for many years and it was beautiful to see them together on our visits to Seattle. She is missed.

So I was out walking my dog at about 11:30 at night, chatting with Bernard on my cell phone, watching fireflies and traffic and absentmindedly discussing production on the new songs, recording and touring schedules, whose couches we should sleep on, New Orleans vs. LA, vodka vs. tequila, kids vs. dogs, summer vs. fall etc….and he just as casually drops this particular bombshell:

He is engaged!

To be MARRIED!!

Yep. Bernie landed himself a woman (a bombshell!). So all you fine gals (and guys) with Bernie-on-the-Brain-itis have from now until the zany, madcap bachelor party we throw him, to sew him up some wild oats before it’s…

TOO LATE FOREVER!!!!

I’ve just read today that apparently, because he’s living in The Days of Jebus, Bernie now has the option of an “Intelligent Design” wedding ceremony (really – swear to you-know-who) as opposed to the standard – what? – Darwinian ceremony!? which mentions Evolution, ever-so frequently.

It should probably make me angry, hearing the word “intelligence” used to mean the lack of – and I feel for science teachers, school administrators and Christians who aren’t wacko, but I can’t help thinking that Intelligent Design as a theory is just a big, fat missed opportunity to synthesize solid science and spirituality.

How is there (relatively) so much space between our atoms? What’s the glue that holds them together – that keeps us from blowing apart? Will? A tendency to be? Intelligence? A guy on a cloud? Discuss.

I don’t understand why adaptation and intelligence are supposed to be mutually exclusive or, for that matter, why science and spirituality are. I’ve never understood how spirituality and religion ever got together in the first place. Seems like going to school for breathing: redundant and confusing.

Am I pontificating? About religion?! Oops. Sorry, Jebus.

Anyway, back on planet earth… We love you Bernie.

Congratu-ma-freakin’-lations. Happy forever, friend.

K