Overheard at Booth 4: Criminalizing Dissent

Criminalizing Dissent
The very name of the law itself—the Homeland Battlefield Bill—suggests the totalitarian credo of endless war waged against enemies within “the homeland” as well as those abroad.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/criminalizing_dissent_20120813/
 Copyright © 2012 Truthdig, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

Overspoken at Table 4: He Still Dreams of Mercury

from 366.

223.

He stank of the black bowl
at his bedside,
but only ever spoke
of his 57 Mercury Cruiser
and the redhead
he thought was still riding shotgun.

Overread at the Counter: from 366.

from 366.

222.

I can not photograph this
only try
to memorise
through the lens of my eyes

the dark, subtle beauty
of your silhouette,
as the sun
tiptoes away
down into the lost line of the ocean
somewhere far behind you.

Overheard at Table 2: Hallelujah

The song "Hallelujah" - beautiful song.  For my money it's the only decent song Leonard Cohen ever wrote.  God I hate Leonard Cohen.  What a putz.  Never had an inkling of the talent of any of his contemporaries.  But I digress:  "Hallelujah" is simply a beautiful song.

Most people like Jeff Buckley's version, but that kind of throws me, too.   Jeff Buckley is one of those artists who died too young, meaning he died before his star faded - actually before it completely rose.  So, when you're in that rising star phase, and you die, then you're left with a small but hard core pack of devoted fans who think you are the absolute most perfect artist ever and nobody will ever come close.   So there are people who believe his version of "Hallelujah" is the final word.

Me, I heard the song first on the Shrek soundtrack.  Yes, that's right, the Shrek soundtrack, it was Rufus Wainwright's version, and mind you I'm not much for Rufus' total flame-y Liberace approach to songs, but this one he nailed the total emotion of the song, this complete biblical soul-tearing angst about what we can do to each other in relationships, how we can just tear the other person's heart out, and drive a nail through it, wow!  Wainwright's version is the absolute tops for this song.  Voice perfect, piano perfect, mood perfect.

Here are the lyrics, but they really don't do it justice.  This is a song that's got some great lines, a little syrupy on the poetic angle, but it's the performance that really brings it all together.


I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
And remember when I moved in you
The holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Maybe there’s a God above
But all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
It’s not a cry you can hear at night
It’s not somebody who has seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well, really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light in every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah


Then for you chordies out there, I've found someone's transcription:

Standard Tuning

Intro: C Am C Am

  C                 Am
I heard there was a secret chord
     C                   Am
That David played and it pleased the lord
    F                G               C        G
But you don't really care for music, do you?
        C                  F           G
Well it goes like this the fourth, the fifth
    Am                 F
The minor fall and the major lift
    G            Em             Am
The baffled king composing hallelujah

Chorus:

     F           Am          F           C    G   C
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelu-u-u-u-jah ....

          C                        Am
Well your faith was strong but you needed proof
    C               Am
You saw her bathing on the roof
    F              G             C            G
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
C                   F       G
She tied you to her kitchen chair
    Am                        F
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
    G                  Em            Am
And from your lips she drew the hallelujah


     F           Am          F           C    G   C
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelu-u-u-u-jah ....

C              Am
Baby I've been here before
     C                       Am
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
  F             G             C          G
I used to live alone before I knew you
C                          F      G
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
    Am                    F
But love is not a victory march
       G               Em          Am
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

     F           Am          F           C    G   C
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelu-u-u-u-jah ....

     C                         Am
Well there was a time when you let me know
       C            Am
What's really going on below
    F             G               C        G
But now you never show that to me do you
      C             F        G
But remember when I moved in you
        Am            F
And the holy dove was moving too
    G               Em            Am
And every breath we drew was hallelujah

      C               Am
Well, maybe there's a god above
    C             Am
But all I've ever learned from love
    F                G           C          G
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
     C                  F       G
It's not a cry that you hear at night
     Am                 F
It's not somebody who's seen the light
       G               Em          Am
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah
  
     F           Am          F           C    G   C
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelu-u-u-u-jah ....


And some links to vids:   Buckley's version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AWFf7EAc4

And here is Wainwright's version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB67HO8tkQs

and finally, Cohen's version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Fkuq5Lf0Q

Overheard at Booth 1: Love over Coffee

Let my hands have
the pleasure to
worship you,
just as my eyes
have had the joy
of adoring you.











220.

from 366.

Overheard at Table 1: Atheist Missionaries

. . . saw this post the other day somewhere, showed a icture of starving kids and said, "Yep, God sure loves the little children!"

Sounds a bit harsh.

. . . I understand it, though.  It's the old argument: how can a loving God let children suffer?   But man, for a moment there it just made me mad, because I'm thinking, yeah, for all the suffering, I don't see any atheists out there pooling their money so they can send missionaries to dig wells and give medicine?   I don't see any Muslim organizations trying to build homes in third world countries?   I don't see Buddhists trying to stop malaria or educate people on basic personal health.

You might be taking it a bit too hard.

. . . well, I suppose because the same poster had put up a picture that showed three "extremists."  First panel, "Muslim Militant Extremist" had a guy with a gun and explosvies strapped to his torso.   Second, "Christian Militant Extremist" showed a guy outside an abortion clinic with a gun, and the last one "Atheist Militant Extremist" showed some hippie-lookin' dude with a beer.   It just seemed so patently silly.

Then why does it bug you?

. . . because the only thing anybody knows about Christianity these days is those gay hating freaks from Kansas, or all the send-you-to-hell money grubbing evangelicals!

Overheard at the Counter

When it gets right down to it, I mean at the base core, and this is gonna sound harsh, and you ain't gonna like it, but brother, man it's the truth - if you really need an answer as to why God allowed Aurora to happen, or why He allowed Columbine to happen, or why He allowed all the misery and murders and child molestation to happen, is because He allows it to happen the same way He allows people to fall in love, how He allows you to hold up your newborn baby and realize you love that child more than your own life, the way He allows you to paint a beautiful sunset, or sing a beautiful song, or realize that every day is something you gotta hold on to, the way He allows you to remember the sweet smells of some Thanksgiving dinner your Grandma made when you were a kid.

He allows all these things to happen, the good and the bad, to let you know that this is a whole great big world you live in, and that it's complicated, and that it's beautiful as well as ugly, and that you are a part of it, and you can impact it in a bad way, or you can bust your ass to make it better.

Other people are making their choices all the time.   What are your choices going to be?