Light Of A Rainy Day
I'd planned to spend tonight writing and working, but my man Garrett stopped by to drink a bit and there was no way I was going to send him home. He's currently in the middle of a six-year commitment to the Army that will see him leave for Somalia as an 11-Bravo (infantryman) early in 2014.
We started off by playing the stuff we always play --- most notably, Coheed & Cambria's "Welcome Home" --- but then I broke out the Martin D-41 and the Korina Collection ASAT bass --- and tried something else. "Bread Stealing Bird" is the second track on Sam Beam's "The Creek Drank The Cradle". Now, I understand that Sam Beam as a performer is known as "Iron and Wine" but that just seems odd to me. It would be like having "Blood And Thunder" as my byline in a magazine. F**k it. Let's respect the man. Iron and Wine it is. I bought the album earlier today and decided that "Bread Stealing Bird" was the song I wanted to play.
Tell me baby tell me Are you still on the stoop Watching the windows close I've not seen seen you lately On the street, by the beach Or places we used to go
I've a picture of you On our favorite day by the seaside There's a bird stealing bread That I brought out from under my nose
Tell me baby tell me Does his company make Light of a rainy day How I've missed you lately And the way we would speak And all that we wouldn't say
Do his hands in your hair Feel a lot like a thing you believe in Or a bit like a bird stealing bread Out from under your nose
Tell me baby tell me Do you carry the words Around like a key or change I've been thinking lately of a night on the stoop and all that we wouldn't say
If I see you again On the street, by the beach In the evening Will you fly like a bird stealing bread Out from under my nose
I&W performs it as a loosely non-tempoed acoustic chunk with a bit of pedal steel on top. For the sake of difference, I've recast it as a kind of alt-pop bopper. Annoyingly, the video recorder clips/buzzes a few times when I let the ASAT hit low "E" but I didn't re-record it because I think Garrett has suffered enough lately. He gamely strums through the song, which I appreciate.
Afterwards, he said, "That's kind of a nice song" and then we played something by Third Day, I think. After he left, I picked up the D-41 and played it alone, slowly, thinking about it a bit more. There's nothing to the song --- it's three chords and a cloud of sorrow, Capo I --- but I respect it. For the sorrow, I think, and for the simplicity of it. "Does his company make / Light of a rainy day?" How many people can really do that for anyone? Oh well. Time to go to work.