Stories in Song # 4 The Go Betweens

 

Haven't been to this spurious series for a while. I put this on my headphones on Friday morning and it took me to a place. I posted the song on Facebook and one friend commented that it was like a Carver short story. Another said that The Go Betweens were like a fine wine that continued to mature. They were both right. It's incredibly evocative and Grant McClennan was an enormous talent. I don't like all his songs but when he got it right there was no-one better.

 

'A white moon appears
Like a hole in the sky,
The mangroves go quiet.
In la Brisa de la Palma
A teenage Rasputin
Takes the sting from a gin,

When a woman learns to walk
She's not dependent anymore
A line front her letter May twenty-four
And out on the bay
The current is strong
A boat can go lost.

But I didn't know someone
Could be so lonesome
Didn't know a heart
Could be tied up
And held for ransom.
Until you take your shoes
And go outside, stride over stride.
Walk to that tide because
The door is open wide.

Turned the fan off
And went for a walk
By the lights down on Shield Street.
The birds in the trees
Open their wings
He goes home again.

He dreams resistance,
They talk commitment,
Things change over long distance.
Took the shirt off his back
The eyes from his head
And left him for dead.

But I didn't know someone
Could be so lonesome
Didn't know a heart
Could be tied up
And held for ransom.
Until you take your shoes
And go outside, stride over stride,
Walk to that tide because
The door is open wide.

Little lies, they'll take your pride.
Until you take your shoes
And go outside, stride over stride,
Walk to that tide because
The door is open wide.
Stride over stride
Walk to that tide.
Bye bye pride.
Because the door is open wide.
The door is always open wide.
The door is always open wide.'

 

C McClennan