an airplane ride

i'm worn out right now and have to get up early to go teach and do class, but for those of you who haven't heard of a band by the name of the postal service, you have missed out to this point - i give them my highest recommendation. most people who i get to talk to often will know them and will also know this song hopefully. that's not the point. the point is that this is one of the most interesting perspectives and comments on the experience of riding in an airplane. ben gibbard is able to take an experience that many have had and offer the most lucid and interesting/insightful perspective on that experience. i'm not someone who really focuses on the lyrics the first time i hear a song (sometimes not even the fifth or fifteenth) - i hear them, and something sounds good or interesting, but i am very auditory and very interested in music. once i start focusing on the lyrics of songs (for whatever reason), it always amazes me how perfect they can be. ben gibbard is my favorite lyricist (and i find it pretty likely he could remain in this spot for a very long time). he's a great musician also, but that's not my focus here.

the lyrics speak of a common sight - the farms that are slowing eroding/fading into the ocean (the next time you're flying over the great plains and western united states, pay attention to the circles of green on the ground which come from the irrigation projects - my dad has written a book and is still looking for a publisher called circles of green that is the history of irrigation technology and science - that's my special story about airplane views - quite different from the patchwork one sees while flying over the eastern half of the us, but interesting nonetheless and flowing to the ocean all the same, creating hypoxic dead zones and wonderful song lyrics) - the song is lucid - i have this desire to explain the song, but the explanations are simple - the perspective and how he arrived at it - that is what is amazing. my hope is that people will just look for the meaning and inspiration and spark that comes from listening to these songs. for someone studying metaphor, rhetoric, identification, and stuff, i'm overwhelmed by the power of the songs people can write, and not the kind of songs written by industrialized pop songs (industrial not in the nine inch nails sense, but in the nsync/brittney spears sense - written, promoted, and performed by disparate music business people. by the way, i'm not against the music business, just against what it can be in extreme cases, which certainly abound.

for now, i must go to sleep. i wish you the best and hope that you have the greatest time.


I take a breath and pull the air in 'til there's nothing left
I'm feeling green like teenage lovers between the sheets

Ba ba ba ba ...

Knuckles clenched to white as the landing gear retract for flight
My head's a balloon inflating with the altitude

Ba ba ba ba...

I watch the patchwork farms' slow fade into the ocean's arms
And from here they can't see me stare
The stale taste of recycled air
I watch the patchwork farms' slow fade into the ocean's arms
Calm down, release your cares
The stale taste of recycled air