Unlikely Candidates for Spiritual Consolation (2)

must be your skin that i'm sinking in

must be for real cuz now i can feel

and i didn't mind

it's not my kind

not my time to wonder why

everything's gone white

and everything's grey

now you're here now you're away

i don't want this

remember that

i'll never forget where you're at

don't let the days go by

glycerine

i'm never alone

i'm alone all the time

are you at one

or do you lie

we live in a wheel

where everyone steals

but when we rise it's like strawberry fields

if i treated you bad

you bruise my face

couldn't love you more

you got a beautiful taste

don't let the days go by

could have been easier on you

i couldn't change though i wanted to

could have been easier by three

our old friend fear and you and me

glycerine (repeat)

don't let the days go by

glycerine

bad moon white again

bad moon white again

and she falls around me

i needed you more

you wanted us less

i could not kiss just regress

it might just be

clear simple and plain

that's just fine

that's just one of my names

don't let the days go by

could've been easier on you

glycerine

Glycerine by BUSH


Picture this... A concert of magnanmous proportions. All the biggest stars are there to perform, from Maddonna to Elton John. Its an open air stage in a park, Mtv Spring break in some remote beachy location. And it rains. Every one chickes out, wisely enough ofcourse, water and all the electronic gadgetry that goes into making these things successful is not a safe combination. Mtv stands to loose millions. The crowd that has paid the hefty cost of attending this lil show of showmanship is ofcourse preturbed, still lingering and booing in the fucking bombardment from above. Everything in disarray, riots feared, already small fights are breaking out, random objects find thier way on to the stage where a hapless representative from MTV is trying to apologize for Mother Nature. Amongst all this chaos, this cocophony of anger and resentment rises the opening riff of a song that has hardly been heard before, but will never be forgotten again.
With rain pouring down on him like god's fury, and an occasional spark eminating from his amplifier, Gavin Rosedale sang. You can see him whince now and again from the short circuiting. You can see him stagger now and again... but you choose to ignore these slight difficulties as the magnitude of what he chose to do that evening dawns on you with full force. There were no immediate cheers from that huge crowd, just silence. First stunned, then reverent. They understood that rainy night, that this man wasn't out in the rain singing for them or for mtv or for some deluded sense of responsibility... he was singing for the music. For the passion that he felt and needed to share. For a shot at a legacy. It was the perfect moment... Glycerin. He sang. Glycerin, and there remained not a single dry eye in the house. And no it wasn;t form the rain. The sheer tenacity, the temerity of one man, to stand up against nature and steal the night for himself... sure he won no war, he saved no lives. But he stood his ground. FIngers burning, voice cracking here and there, he sang on.
Eventually ofcourse his band mates joined him, they came out cowering, from the safety back stage and helped him carry the flame. But the torch remains his forever.
Regardless of that moment in time when a man built himself a legacy, this song is a potent one. The lyrics alone are enough to make you whince, add to that Rosedales melancholic voice that binds a bitter understanding and a profound pain, and the magnefecient melody that makes you raise your head and grit your teeth a little every single time you hear it. This song is a milestone. Once you hear it you either relate or you wish to have had a moment in your life so you could relate. Its such a wonderful expression of the pain of helplessness to the choices we make and the ones that are made for us. Choices that lead us to loss and anger and despair. He's long since settled down, choosing for his mate an equally majestic companion in Gwen Stefani, but this song along with another which will soon find its way on this blog remains a hallmark in a career that has never even tried for fame and fortune. He's a n artist, as trully as a musician can be, and this song is his Masterpiece.
Glycerin. Don't try to understand it, let it show you what it means.