We sing to the dogs or whoever

I'm trying something different this week: I didn't end up writing a new song, so I'm posting a cover of a musician I like and admire and will write a bit about him and what it is about his music that moves and inspires me. If this is successful, I might start doing it more frequently, as filler for when I don't manage to write my own song.

The musician I'm writing about this week is Josh Ritter. (I'm going to marry him some day!)

Front row, whoo!

Josh Ritter is a remarkable musician, yes, but in my opinion he is, first and foremost, a masterful story-teller. The stories he weaves through his songs are exquisite, heart-breaking, inspired, and so human--human, yes, even if it's a love story between a mummy and an archaeologist, or a conversation between Sir Galahad and the angel Gabriel. Boyish good looks and great musical ability aside, I think that what I love most about Josh Ritter is his lyrics. I truly envy his way with words.

It's hard to describe exactly what it is about Josh Ritter's lyrics that are so captivating, so I'll let them speak for themselves. Here are some examples of beautiful Ritter lyrics...

The stain of the sepia of the butcher Crimea
Through the wreck of a brass band I thought I could see her
In a cake walk she came through the dead and the lame
Just a little bird floating on a hurricane
(To the Dogs or Whoever)

I'm inside with my friends
We build fires and pretend
That the night could just bend on forever
While outside in the frost
Are the wolves and the lost
And we sing to the dogs or whoever
(Empty Hearts)

(Yeah you read that right...the title of one song appears as a lyric in another. I've never really been able to figure that out.)

I was thinking 'bout my river days
I was thinking 'bout me and Jim
Passing Cairo on a getaway
With every steamboat like a hymn

Out on the desert now I'm feeling lost
The bonnet wears a wire albatross
Monster ballads and the stations of the cross
Sighing just a little bit
(Monster Ballads)

Then one night you found me in my army-issue cot
And you told me of your flash of inspiration
You said fusion was the broken heart that's lonely's only thought
And all night long you drove me wild with your equations.
(The Temptation of Adam)

I've got a girl in the war, Paul, her eyes are like champagne
They sparkle bubble over and in the morning all you've got is rain
(Girl in the War)

It's a Bible or a bullet they put over your heart
It's getting harder and harder to tell them apart.
(Thin Blue Flame)

These are by no means my sole favorite lyrics or songs that he's written, because that's a really hard call to make. (If I had to pick a favorite song, it would probably be "Good Man" or "Wolves.") This man somehow comes up with these beautiful phrases that paint such vivid pictures--some of those words used are so simple, but put them together and they tell a wonderful story. The great thing is that he doesn't try to over-tell the story or explain too much: he gives exactly as much information as is necessary to understand the premise, and through that it suddenly becomes utterly complex.

My favorite example of this is "The Temptation of Adam," a song about a man and a woman who fall in love living in a missile silo. The context is not entirely clear, but you get the idea that there's some sort of nuclear war going on, and the man's job is to launch the missile when the signal is given. None of that is explained in the song, though: Josh Ritter seems to be a great believer in the rule of "show, don't tell," and he uses this to great effect. He doesn't waste breath on a chorus explaining "Tra la la, there's a nuclear holocaust, World War III, the government has assigned me to this task, etc." Instead he uses phrases like "army-issue cot" and "ransack[ing] the rations" to indicate the official nature of this mission, and lines like "You would keep the warhead missile silo good as new / And I'd watch you with my thumb above the button" to describe the living situation.

(Incidentally, one of my favorite Josh Ritter lyrics appears in this song: in describing his feelings for the woman, the narrator sings, "I never had to learn to love her like I learned to love the bomb / She just came along and started to ignore me.")

I'm rambling, I know, but if I was to put my feelings about Josh Ritter in the simplest possible terms, I would say that I wish I could write lyrics the way he does, and capture that kind of emotion.

Anyway, the song I've covered is called "Wolves," which I previously mentioned as one of my favorite songs of his, did you notice? It's a really fun song to play and has such fantastical imagery (wolves in the piano, wolves underneath the stairs!). I see blue when I hear this song--the dark blue of the night sky, the silvery-blue of the light around the moon, the ice blue of the snow at night.

Okay then. I do have an original song in the works, but it's coming very slowly--a few lines jotted down here and there, every few days. Hopefully at some point in the next week I might have some kind of inspiration dump that will help me finish it and post it, but if I don't get it done in time for next Thursday, I'll probably make another post like this one. 

Here, have another Josh Ritter video, BECAUSE THIS VIDEO IS GORGEOUS.

What are you, new? Go to the first post to find out what this blog is all about!