127. The Mermaid Song (Anna Vogelzang)

DAY ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN

Good morning.

In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Anna Vogelzang and I drove to the coast and sat in her car on a rainy afternoon to write a nd record this song.  I came up with a quick chord progression on the uke, and I gave us a 30 minute writing time limit.  I also gave Anna a list of words that she fashioned into lyrics.  The list of words was:

tunnel

excavate

sea

foam

fire

bleach

rock

buoy

serendipitous

crash victim

gasoline

machine

hypocrite

In Anna’s words:

Things I think are important: the mermaid took on a crazy/manic character to me while I was making words to fit the melody (why do we only write about crazy ladies?!) obsessed with the love/partner/fella or lady who left her, who presumably is on land.  It’s kind of like a really twisted little mermaid. I see her as creating as much destruction as possible, but not in malice, in hope.  She would rather die than be without this person, and she will do whatever it takes (destroy whatever she must, maybe) to get above.  I also came up with the churning-waves-machine from what you said about believing in mermaids, and that it looked like someone was hand-making the waves sometimes.

The Mermaid Song

i’ve been (OR silent? would have to listen to the take) down here digging tunnels now for weeksslowly excavate your heart

easy cuprit, it has grown immune to bleach

i will force my way

i was born into the foam of this brute sea

churn the waves each waning night

spin machines & spark dark fires aimlessly

i will force my way

no matter where you’ve run

i will make my way above

my dear, where have you run?

i will die or tunnel up

buoy broken & i plow it through the deep

i am still your hypocrite

serendipitous, this search party beneath

i will force my way

to you

no matter where you’ve run

i will make my way above

my dear, where have you run?

i will die or tunnel up

i will die or tunnel up

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