Beat Your Wings
But something happens on the studio version when it is pumped through headphones. There are just enough little things going on to keep my interest. The bass burbling beneath open chords adds a bit of allure, while Pollard's slightly treated vocal (just a bit of reverb, really) carries the minimal melody more effectively. As the song progresses, the sound expands, with some swirling guitar (likely thanks to Doug Gillard) and a double-tracked vocal that elevate the melody. It's not much, but it's enough.
With my interest piqued just enough, I'm willing to expend the mental energy required to follow the long lyric. It's a pretty straightforward story with just enough of Pollard's trademark obliquity to keep the listener on his toes. It actually feels more like his earlier, more sentimental work (which is echoed more on his more modern songs). The first verse is as close as Pollard has come to truly publishable poetry:
will the wind that scatters dust,
reveal its secrets,
speak to us,
of many things.
in the morning when she comes,
the bird who wakes you with her song,
she'll beat her wings.
she will rise again.
A later verse induces head-scratching, but in a pleasing way:
bless the sunlight,
grab the stakes and make you over,
save the bullet,
price the sandman's head,
this time do not roll over,
beat your wings.
It feels like a song of affirmation and uplift, which perhaps pervades the music itself to give it added appeal:
when the days have come to pass
our journey broken gone at last,
well beat our wings,
shadows take familiar skin,
so recognize them don't give in,
well beat our wings,
we will rise again.
I'll be curious to see if that appeal is as readily audible when it's pumping out of the car stereo as it is on headphones.
Labels: Earthquake Glue