Earthbound

David Sylvian

Too many thoughts this even­ing, this dusk, this night. Over­whelmed by them. So over­whelmed that they merge into a single, tan­gible thought that beats like a human heart ripped untimely from its bloody cham­ber, yet no less treas­ured because of that.

You know how it is. You always do. Yes, I’m address­ing you, even though I still can’t look you dir­ectly in the eyes. Maybe that is one thing I’ll never man­age to do. But I am talk­ing to you. All of you. Each of the lun­at­ics, lov­ers and poets who I am priv­ileged and hon­oured to call friends, some­times con­fid­ants, those who under­stand. Me. This. Life. Exist­ence. Whatever we are cal­ing it this week, this even­ing, this dusk, this night. You are all in my thoughts, for dif­fer­ent reasons.

Because I am miss­ing you intensely. Because we share the same mind­set. Because I am meet­ing you soon and put­ting a face and voice to the words. Because I want to get to know you more, dis­cover more, uncover those hid­den depths. Because I may never meet you, and yet that some­how doesn’t mat­ter at this moment in time. Because I never want to lose that con­nec­tion. Because we can laugh and cry about those things that no one else would laugh and cry about. Because we have that secret code. Because we’ve been through the same, yet dif­fer­ent. Because your words cause fire­works to explode in my mind. Because I’m happy for you. Because I’m sad for you. Because.

Because those are a lot of becauses for a very small num­ber of people. But I would rather have one single voice than a mil­lion chat­ter­ing noises, any day and in every way under this sun and above this earth on which we’re bound.

In my dreams I want to invite you in, sit you down, not say a word, dim the lights, take your hands in mine and play this song to you over and over again. As I have been play­ing it to myself tonight. Because I under­stand. Because you will too, I know. Because, because and because. Because you are the lun­at­ics, lov­ers and poets.

Hope is import­ant, if you listen. If you just listen.

“Down in the base­ment
Among her things
I opened her boxes
And I found her rings
I offered her money
She said ‘They’re not for sale’
She guards her secrets well.”

• David Sylvian
• Lyr­ics to Earth­bound

Comments: 14

    Oh you are writ­ing nice things today Mr Unreliable.

    andre | 03.29.07, 20:26

    love

    imogen | 03.29.07, 21:11

    i listened to the song. then i read the words. for the past half hour i have been read­ing and listen­ing. again and again and again. now i am in tears. your thoughts are as extraordin­ar­ily beau­ti­ful as the way you give them voice on the page.

    mizyake | 03.29.07, 23:18

    As a teen I used to go to sleep with ‘Ghosts’ play­ing on walk­man cas­sette head­phones because it took me away from the earth and stopped me crying.

    Angelalala | 03.29.07, 23:38

    Hmm. Inter­est­ing song choice, Angela. I find many songs fea­tur­ing David Sylvian’s voice sooth­ing, relax­ing, escap­ism — but strangely not ‘Ghosts’. I’ve always found that track to be rather unnerv­ing, actually.

    An Unreliable Witness | 03.30.07, 08:43

    As I read this, I felt spe­cial and I wished I was there in the dark listen­ing to this song while you — the face­less you that I only know through t’internet — held my hand. Very power­ful words those.

    Ariel | 03.30.07, 11:37

    This post of yours Mr Unre­li­able Esquire
    con­firms it for me

    we were sep­ar­ated at birth!

    Annie | 03.30.07, 11:56

    Alas, mr wit­ness, real life was so unnerv­ing that that song became my release.

    These days I prefer releas­ing to Mika and his ilk.

    Angelalala | 03.30.07, 12:41

    Ariel — Thank you. Thank you for under­stand­ing. Your com­ment was very moving.

    Annie — Sis­ter! It’s been too long! Have you seen our mother?

    Angela — I know the feel­ing. Indeed, I remem­ber it. (I won’t com­ment on Mika, how­ever; I listened to the album once and then wished I hadn’t. Sorry.)

    An Unreliable Witness | 03.30.07, 13:56

    Brother!

    No, I haven’t seen our mother.

    But the mind boggles!

    Annie | 03.30.07, 14:10

    After a sleep­less night this per­fectly cap­tured that loneli­ness, long­ing and joy that goes through your mind as you battle the night. Thanks–

    Pam | 03.30.07, 16:42

    A lot of what you have writ­ten reflects a lot of what has been going on in my life recently.

    Cheers.

    Brom | 03.30.07, 17:42

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