I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: JOHN MARTYN-“Glory Box” (1998).

I learn about music from the most random places.  The other night we were watching the British dramedy Doc Martin (starring Martin Clunes and the wonderfully awful Lucy Punch).  Punch’s character was talking to a boy who is interested in her.  She mentions Portishead and how great “Glory Biox” is (true) and then they talk about John Martyn’s cover and how it’s even better (not quite).

I’ve heard of Martyn, but only barely.  The boy says that he has all of Martyn’s albums (which seems surprising as he has a lot).

I can’t guess too much about Martyn from this cover, but I’ll guess he’s a bluesy guy.

The cover captures the essence of “Glory Box” and then runs it in a totally new direction–low and rumbly (voices and guitars).  Interestingly, he shifts the song to the male perspective which makes the entire song have a totally different meaning.  Neat trick, that.

I don’t love bluesy music as a rule, but I really like this version.  Not enough to get his other music–and I do like the Portishead version better–but it’ still a nice discovery.

[READ: August 1, 2013] “From a Farther Room”

This story starts off pretty sanely and then quickly jumps in the realm of Wha??

As the story opens we meet Robert Childress.  He is a married man with children.  His family is away for the weekend and his wife has given him her blessing to go out and have fun.  He meets Stearns, a bachelor who takes him out eating and drinking and drinking.  There is talk of a strip club and lap dances but that idea is nixed.  Nevertheless, Childress is very drunk–so much so that he takes a limo home (at what cost?) and then has the bed spins during the night–with the expected result.

So far so normal.

The weirdness comes when he is awoken by his dog.  The dog who is nudging some… thing on the floor.  Which, when Childress looks more closely, reveals itself to be… alive.  Right where he threw up.  Did he throw up a living creature?

He’s obviously disgusted by this creatures and he quickly gets a box and buries it outside (alive).  But soon after, he feels guilty and exhumes the box (the creature seems excited to see him).  He brings the creature (which he calls You) back inside.  Then he begins to feed it and nurture it.  He even goes to the store (with it in a Prada box) to buy baby supplies.  Seriously, what the hell is going on with this story?

By the end of the story, he prepares for his family’s return and  we are as in the dark as they are about this creature.  Until the final lines reveal not only what has gone on in his mind but what he has decided to do.

The story is clearly a look at a guilt and regret.  But what a weird way to talk about it.  Despite the insanity, I found myself really caring for the Childress and You.