(pt. 2)
With 'Blood never lies' we touch the top of the sweetness: the arpeggio, the voice,
the backing vocals, the strings… everything contributes to brush the heart of the listener,
to lull and warm it…
Every time they come for you
You know it's time to run
Everybody knows it's true
How your love has come undone
Now he has his chance to take
And he will take you out of here
Take you to your secret state,
Where blood is light, blood is clear
Oh the blood is clear,
Oh the blood is clear
Every time they take you away,
He knows you're never gone
You know you stole his heart away,
And he falls into the freezing sun
Now he has to kidnap you,
And keep you bound in endless light
And you know he never lets you leave
'Cause blood is clear, it never lies,
Oh blood never lies,
Oh blood never lies
And you know he never lets you leave
'Cause blood is clear, it never lies
Oh blood never lies,
Oh blood never lies,
And you know he'll never let you leave
'Cause blood is clear, it never lies
Oh blood never lies
Oh blood never lies
Oh blood never lies
Oh blood never lies
A love song, nothing more and nothing less. A complete, intimate, delicate and sweet love
song… but still painful: the woman who he's speaking to stolen his heart, she makes his
blood boil, but the melody is too melancholic for let us think that this is an happy love. On
the other hand, also the lyric is not about an happy love: destabilishing, if at all ("he falls
into the freezing sun")!
Thurston can lie (with us, with Kim and with himself), but his blood cannot: he is fallen
head over heels for a woman. "For Kim!" we had said in happier days… But he says
clearly "he will take you out of here, take you to the secret state, where blood is light,
blood is clear": he wants to bring her somewhere far from indiscreet eyes, a place where
their love can be free… Maybe this is an impertinent hypothesis? At this point maybe not…
And I'd not say that this is just an infatuation: the deep sweetness of the arpeggio, the
emotion coming out from his voice, make me think that he's really in love…
************************************************** ************************************************** ****
Orchard Street is a street in Manhattan where there are many luxurious hotels
(see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchard_Street_(Manhattan) ). Thurston talks about
it as follows.
Milky cement light, radiation boys
Breaking happy heart, blood and liquid noise
I see your searchlight eyes, the stony demons bliss
Wet and drunken desire, dripping tears
Grape stained escape, an immortal kiss
Free jazz hotel, sweet now girl whispers
Crazy crazy crazy night sky orange
Promise and deceit, blindfolds and prayer
Orchard Street is anchored in divinity's shadow
A secret meeting in a hotel room, two bodies desiring each other, with an obsessive
desire: one among the two is betraying his official partner ("breaking happy heart")
and he feels like he was a monster ("the stony demon bliss"). They drink and let them go
("grape stained escape, an immortal kiss"): they feel like they were protected by a good
god who covers them with his shadow… maybe this is the place he was talking about in
the previous track? The blood, the one who never lies, now is even noisy: it is impossible
to make it shut up, so maybe it is better to go along with it. The music is almost oppressive,
like it was permeated by guilt-feelings, and the chaotic ending in crescendo pre-announce
an explosion…
************************************************** ************************************************** ****
The tone gets sweet again with 'In silver rain with a paper key', the saddest song of
the whole album…
There was a time when you could find him
Just by staring at the sky
A perfect stranger out of nowhere
Nothing to do, nothing to hide
And he disappears today
Where he goes he cannot say
The silver rain is all you see
You lost your lover
It used to be so easy baby
Just to find you in the clear
But the streets have ghosts that call you back
Before you get too near
The days that dare to never end
You'd whisper baby, please do it again
Now it's an echo without refrain
You lost your lover
I seem to recall sometimes last fall
Brown leaves crowned around your head
Now I'm back in town and I'm looking around
Will I ever see your eyes again?
Where did you disappear today?
I turn the corner and I see you fade
In silver rain with a paper key
You lost your lover
I don't think I need to add anything: the chronicle has been too much meaningful about
this song.
(end of pt.2)