This week has tested me in ways I really don’t feel like ruminating on so I’ll be talking about techno of dubious quality instead.

I took a break from writing for personal reasons (I earned it), but then realized that things aren’t quite going the way I want them. Taking a break feels indulgent, so I’ll be wrapping up #KingdomCalling in the next week.

Song of the Week: “Geordie” by Gabry Ponte (2009)

This video might cause some distress. I had no idea what the hell was going on. There’s a poorly animated elf running through the woods to a pretty decent melody while getting attacked by the Travelocity gnome.

The melody was so pleasant, I figured it had to be based off something. Gabry Ponte samples the refrain from “Geordie” by Fabrizio De Andrè which is an Italian cover of “Geordie” by Joan Baez from 1962. The song is quite lovely! The story in it is really good, but there is a large difference between the English and the Italian.

The English version is more forlorn, I think. It’s about a woman pining for her geordie who is getting hanged for stealing six deer from the king. She tries to plead for his life with all she has, but he’s getting hanged anyway. It’s kind of melancholy because geordie in this piece wanted to make a better life for himself and his girl.

The Italian version is super salty. While the woman still pines for her dying love, she’s really bitter that he wouldn’t steal anything for her. So the king can have him, but save the pretty bits because, apparently, that’s all he was ever good for.

These differences are an important interpretation of a similar story. I mentioned falling down a rabbit hole and here we are.

ICYMI: Writing is Hard Part 3: Graduate School

Actively Reading: Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett