Thursday, March 18, 2010

Happy Polish St. Patrick's Day!!!

Okay, I confess: I totally had planned to run this item yesterday, when it was obviously particularly relevant. But then I...forgot.

I regret the error.

In any case, herewith my new favorite song. By an Irish ensemble who apparently have been around and making great music since forever, although I'd never heard a note of theirs until last week.

From their 1992 album Deserters, please enjoy where-have-they-been-all-my-life? folk rockers the Oyster Band and the gorgeous "All That Way For This."




What we wanted was chain lightning
What we wanted was 8 miles high
What we wanted was free fall and our turn to fly

What we wanted was more fireworks
Everlasting 4th of July
What we wanted was more stars in a bluer sky

All we wanted was something worth it
Worth the labour, worth the wait
Then they take you up to the mountain
And you see too late...

In the middle of a good time
Truth gave me her icy kiss
Look around, you must be joking
All that way, all that way for this?
That's about as close to actual poetry as pop music gets or should get; certainly, it sums up the whole existential dilemma of life thing as well as any song I can remember off the top of my head. Not to mention the band absolutely kills in a Celtic modal rave-up sort of way.

[h/t Eric C. Boardman]

4 comments:

Marsupial said...

Ummm... I hate to go all OT here on the first comment, but MSNBC is reporting that Alex Chilton died today.

Anyone else have this from a different source???

steve simels said...

Oh hell...please let that not be so.

Plum Pudding said...

RIP Alex Chilton, sniff

Anonymous said...

OysterBand Irish? Nope. One fifth welsh, one fifth scottish, three fifths english.

(google brought me here, sorry for the delayed arrival. Who the fuck is Alex Chilton?)