Every now and then I think about the best opening tracks ever on an album, and this is one for sure. Maybe the finest call-to-arms for bandmates ever put on tape, and a perfect kick-off for the album that defined British folk-rock.
This one could go on forever, and it still wouldn't be long enough.....
So I am sitting at my computer, writing a witty and insightful blog post on the significance of “Beauty and the Beast,” and thinking about death, redemption, vigilance, the meaning of life, and other absurdest notions.
And my computer crashes.
Not just crashes, but fried completely, hard drive kaput.
And this is the song that was playing:
A prescient moment or merely coincidence?
“Meet on the Ledge” was written by a 17-year-old (!!) Richard Thompson. Betrayal, loss and heartbreak, along with a streak of black humor, populate his work. But there is nothing funny about this song, just a knowingness that we are headed for the same unquestioned fate. But I’ve always wondered – are the lyrics about gathering to end our days or gathering after crossing the border?
The rising popularity of this song at funerals seems to indicate the latter, but the ledge is also a symbol, literally or figuratively, of someplace that is the last stop before the final decision. Either way, mortality is at the core of “Meet on the Ledge,” and I do like the hopefulness interpretation.
And it would make a fine song for my funeral as well, just as it did for my lousy computer.
P.S. I really love this solo performance of the song, which gets to the heart of the matter in a most direct way.
In honor of Thanksgiving, here is an apropos tune (be sure to check out an incredibly young Richard Thompson). And it's also a song to be thankful for, to be sure.
When the stone is grown too cold to kneel
In crystal waters I'll be bound
Cold as stone, weary to the sounds upon the wheel
Now be thankful for good things below
Now be thankful to your maker
For the rose, the red rose blooms for all to know
When the fire is grown too fierce to breathe
In burning embers I'll be bound
Fierce as fire, weary to the sounds upon the wheel
Now be thankful for good things below
Now be thankful to your maker
For the rose, the red rose blooms for all to know
