Lydia, I almost hope you aren’t reading my blog.
I put my iPod on shuffle this morning on the way to work. I have no idea why. I never do that unless I’m headed to the beach or farther. But nothing jumped out at me on the way back from COA and I lazily told the little device to pick music for me.
As I came down the last bit of US-17 before I turned down MacArthur and finally looped back around the other way on Ehringhaus to work, Regina Spektor came on. I’m not a huge Regina fan, and must admit that I once even turned down tickets to see her at the Norva (which is the place to see anyone). The only song I have of hers on my iPod is The Call, the song from the movie Prince Caspian, for which I had to buy the entire soundtrack on iTunes as the song isn’t available as a single.
As a musician, and as a (albeit terrible) songwriter, I don’t like telling people my interpretation of lyrics or even hearing (and potentially being influenced by) other people’s. I feel like part of the art form, and part of any art for that matter, is the interpretation by the individual exposed to the final product. I feel like the best artists of any kind are those who can both convey a specific message and yet leave it vague enough on the surface to be able to connect with and mean something to anyone who takes the time to appreciate and feel it.
So just know how much this struck me, both that I’m even writing this about a Regina Spektor song of all possibilities, and that I’m even writing it.
The lyrics, which probably can’t be legally reprinted here, can be found here (and this post will make a lot more sense if you either know or glance over them).
Driving along in Elizabeth City after being at COA and headed to Albemarle Music, two very different environments than, say, Quito, Ecuador, it was probably the “Just because eveything’s changing…” part that caught my attention. But upon further inspection, the entire thing can be applied to leaving Ecuador and coming here. Which I’m not going to do. I feel like I’ve done enough of that for a fortnight straight, and tend to sound a lot more negative than I intend when I do so.
Just the first part of the song (which is to some extent- musically- hard to listen to and yet lyrically brilliant in its simplicity) I relate it to faith. I’ve seen a lot of comments about the song on the internet, and depending on how literally it’s taken, some people insert what they think the “word” might be, with suggestions ranging from “love” to “Jesus.” And even though I point that whole paragraph (I think of it in written terms) to “faith” I wouldn’t insert it so directly. I think of my word as a perspective to go along with the lyrics, and each line as a step in a journey, and her “word” as one of those steps.
As an obvious, identifiable stage at a specific point in time, I would say (broadly, with no academic backing) all of our faiths began as an emotion. Be it guilt, joy, or wonder, at some point in your life you feel something that points you Heavenward, and should that be or grow to a hopeful sense of assurance, you began to think and know God on your own. The biggest leap here, at least for me, even more so than getting to the personal thought part, is that “word,” speaking Truth to others, and even more so the “battle cry” in strength and confidence.
Much like a lot of her other stuff, this song is way darker on deeper inspection. In a word of extremes and absolutes, forgiveness vs sin, faith vs doubts, the world vs the Church, the Trinity vs the Enemy, (and especially in such terms) it should be so much more evident how important it is to know who your fiends are as you head off to the war. (Has anybody actually noticed the pattern? If you’re really that coffee-deprived, I’m italicizing the lyrics).
The less and less vague you get, the less and less anything I write will mean personally to anyone who reads this. So we come again to my musician’s dilemma, and this is about where that side of me wins and I (as usual) let you connect the dots.
And I said I wouldn’t relate this to where I am and where I’ve been (physically) but I’m the author and I can do whatever I want, including reneging on whatever I like. And I’ve read and listened to the lyrics at least a dozen times in a row now and I’d just like to point out that it says “I’ll/You’ll Come Back” “When it’s over/when they call me/you.” That’s all.
