From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V3 #85 Reply-To: shindell-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk shindell-list-digest Wednesday, March 14 2001 Volume 03 : Number 085 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [RS] SOTW: Ascent [Rongrittz@aol.com] RE: [RS] SOTW: Ascent ["Clary, John (CLRY)" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 21:07:09 EST From: Rongrittz@aol.com Subject: [RS] SOTW: Ascent OK, we've had a couple of requests for a jump start of Song of the Week, and a couple of back-channel requests for this song in particular. So here we go. For those of you who might be new to the list, Song of the Week (SOTW, although that doesn't necessarily make a good acronym) is this little exercise we do as a list conversation starter. We kinda sorta randomly pick a Richard Shindell song and, well, discuss it. From all kinds of vantage points. Lyrically. Musically. Instrumentally. Whatever rows our collective boats. Tell us what you thought of it when you first heard it. Whether you like it more or less than you did then. Whether it's a song you're likely to skip TO when you put on the CD, or a song you're likely to skip OVER. If you're a musician, is it a song you like to perform? If you've tried to turn a friend onto Richard, is it a song you're likely to play for him/her? Just like the knife fight in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," there are no rules. So, here we are with "Ascent." Probably one of Richard's more obscure songs. I mean, I've never heard anyone shout for it at a concert, and out of all the times I've seen him, I've only ever heard him perform it once. But since I'm likely to gravitate to maudlin, minor-key songs that involve death, I like it lots. Sort of always seen it as a sequel to "By Now," as if it's about our not-so-friendly driver after the authorities find Mary Ann. Or what's left of her. Ewwww. RG ASCENT I have no explanation I cannot be of help But you see my situation I don't recognize myself It happened without reason It happened just like that I've no more information Beyond the simple fact There was never any warning There was never any sign It's just that I woke up this morning And eternity was mine Search my family history And analyze my dreams Expose my contradictions Reduce me to the mean What you find might be revealing It might very well be true But you don't know what you're dealing with You haven't got a clue There was never any warning There was never any sign It's just that I woke up this morning And eternity was mine God knows I don't deserve this After all the pain I've caused But do me one last service Before I take that walk Before my soul flies from this chamber And heaven beckons me across Read me what the Savior said To that thief upon the cross There was never any warning There was never any sign It's just that I woke up this morning And eternity was mine ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 18:40:36 -0800 From: "Clary, John (CLRY)" Subject: RE: [RS] SOTW: Ascent Ascent might not have bothered me so much a year or two ago. Gosh, I was still believing then that we are saved by grace alone. I can't help thinking this song brings up some theological debates. The protagonist wakes up and finds that although his life was spent inflicting pain (or at least a part of his life was spent that way), and he's now paying the "ultimate" price of surrendering his life for his crime(s), he in now aware that "eternity is mine." Although he doesn't say it's an eternity in heaven or hell, I suspect from his tone that he's feeling like he got what he expects the "good" people to get. He believes he's going to heaven. Simple story of grace in action if you believe in it too. The song rubs me the wrong way. But I suppose I could turn the tables on him if I were given the chance to talk with him before his soul flew from the chamber and tell him that I believe he has been hallucinating and is suffering from pre-execution delusions. The lover of justice in me wants him to suffer until the end. I am irked that he has found some peace before he dies. Awfully selfish of me, I must admit. Who am I? I don't even know his crimes. I don't believe the death penalty is just punishment for any crime, but still I want to deny him his peace. Hmm, which is the more cruel punishment, to deny peace or life? Suddenly I feel loathing for my dear friend Greitzer for making me think about it too deeply this evening. =) - -- john andrew clary home mailto:john.cleirigh@juno.com work mailto:clry@chevron.com "the music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. there's also a negative side." ~ hunter s. thompson ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V3 #85 **********************************