Because the Night - A Tribute to One Hell of a Girl Goddess

 

"Take me now baby here as I am
Hold me close, try and understand
Desire is hunger is the fire I breathe
Love is a banquet on which we feed
 
Come on now try and understand
The way I feel when I'm in your hands
Take my hand come undercover
They can't hurt you now,
Can't hurt you now, can't hurt you now

Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lust
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to us
 
Have I doubt when I'm alone
Love is a ring, the telephone
Love is an angel disguised as lust
Here in our bed until the morning comes
Come on now try and understand
The way I feel under your command
Take my hand as the sun descends
They can't touch you now,
Can't touch you now, can't touch you now

Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lust
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to us
 
With love we sleep
With doubt the vicious circle
Turns and burns
Without you I cannot live
Forgive, the yearning burning
I believe it's time, too real to feel
So touch me now, touch me now, touch me now

Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to lust
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to us
 
Because tonight there are two lovers
If we believe in the night we trust
Because tonight there are two lovers
Because the night belongs to lust
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to us"

- The lyrics to Because the Night by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith, 1978. Translatable lyrics.

***

Because the Night was Patti Smith's first and last (commercially) Big Hit, but, listening to it today, it seems less like a mere pop tune and more like an ectoplasmic incantation worthy of the Eleusinian Mysteries. And, Patti Smith, like one of the key figures in those Mysteries - Persephone, the girl Goddess, beloved by her mother, betrothed to the King of the Dead - guides us through the Underworld to the Temple of Love; the gateway of immortality. That an almost pagan chant would be popularly embraced - and there have been a number of covers throughout the years as well - is not all that unusual. Love is our primary motivation; Love is our night-blooming flower (Sub Rosa) and that its power unfolds in darkness is a very primal conception. Eros, the God of Love, was born of darkness. We are all born of darkness: the womb, the birth tomb (with its secret passageway outwards).

Patti Smith has always struck me as a kindred spirit. She and I were both born during the last days of December, for one, and, regardless of whether you're astrologically literate or not, I find that people who are born at the turning of the year share specific traits... specifically, we're very often outsiders, and outside of time as well; as if being born on the cusp of a year endowed us with the ability to slip through time's cracks. And we have a strange relationship with death. Once again, we seem to be psychically placed at a portal. Psychologically, on the other hand, we're like Peter Pan; we can't really "grow up." We grow inwards.

(Inset right) is a photograph of Patti by Robert Mapplethorpe which appeared on her 1988 album, Dream of Life.

In any case, I'm guessing that for many an outsider artist, Smith's unexpected emergence into the rock world of the late 1970s was a many-splendored thing. She was the wild child of her time... and she never resorted to playing the gender card. It wasn't as if she couldn't, but, like an androgynous little kid - and we all start out that way - it quite possibly never occurred to her...

Heart Full of Soul

 

 

 

 

Moving backwards again... to the latter half of the 60s. I seem to be mysteriously drawn to that decade these days. There was so much great music; a Big Bang of musical styles and interpretations which immediately branched out into a multitude of directions until the atmosphere was so saturated with new sounds, one got the impression something majorly transformative was about to occur across the field of human endeavor.

That delusion.

 

The music featured in this post emerged in the middle of the decade in the States, having first traveled from the UK; a period known as the British Invasion.

Directly above: The Yardbirds (featuring legendary Jeff Beck).

I've just learned Count Five (above) were actually from California... but they were obviously influenced by the Brits. Incidentally, this song has been covered by numerous bands. Tom Petty's harp in this live Heartbreaker's cover is excellent, but for a spot-on portrayal of psychosis, I recommend The Cramps.

 

More below the jump.

Running Forward

  

 

 “Is there anyone left with any integrity? Anyone at all? I ask myself that on an almost daily basis,” she says, despairingly." 

-  Shirley Manson from a Spin review of Garbage's 7th (2021) release: No Gods No Masters. (Note: Louis Auguste Blanqui, a 17th century socialist and anarchist, coined the phrase “ni dieu ni maître”—neither god nor master—in reference to the "world order" he envisioned. After that, it became a slogan used by different groups and individuals throughout history. See: the Wiki entry. )

Another quote from Manson:

"If they ever kill me for anything that I ever say, just know I lived in truth."

 

   ***

The video above - Garbage's No Horses - borrows from Margaret Atwood's harrowing modern classic: The Handmaid's Tale... a novel I deliberately avoided reading at the time because it represented a dark place I'd already visited in my worse nightmares and had no compulsion to revisit. Moreover, it was loosely based on historical truth... and not a pleasant one!

Basically, in the story, a group of patriarchal, Old Testament religious fanatics take over a country (in this case, America), stripping women of many human rights - reading, writing, owning property, handling money (sound familiar?) - and forcing those few (the Handmaids) who remained fertile - apparently some form environmental pollution caused mass sterility - to bear children for the State.

That story.

Another story:

"At dawn on Friday, 13 October 1307 - a date sometimes incorrectly linked with the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition - King Philip IV ordered de Molay and scores of other French Templars to be simultaneously arrested. The arrest warrant started with the words: Dieu n'est pas content, nous avons des ennemis de la foi dans le Royaume ("God is not pleased. We have enemies of the faith in the kingdom") Claims were made that during Templar admissions ceremonies, recruits were forced to spit on the Cross, deny Christ, and engage in indecent kissing; brethren were also accused of worshiping idols, and the order was said to have encouraged in homosexual practices. These allegations, though, were highly politicized without any real evidence...

... As for the leaders of the order, the elderly Grand Master Jacques de Molay, who had confessed under torture, retracted his confession. Geoffroi de Charney, Preceptor of Normandy, also retracted his confession and insisted on his innocence. Both men were declared guilty of being relapsed heretics, and they were sentenced to burn alive at the stake in Paris on 18 March 1314. De Molay reportedly remained defiant to the end, asking to be tied in such a way that he could face the Notre Dame Cathedral and hold his hands together in prayer. According to legend, he called out from the flames that both Pope Clement and King Philip would soon meet him before God. His actual words were recorded on the parchment as follows:

"Dieu sait qui a tort et a péché. Il va bientot arriver malheur à ceux qui nous ont condamnés à mort"

(God knows who is wrong and has sinned. Soon a calamity will occur to those who have condemned us to death). 

Pope Clement died only a month later, and King Philip died in a hunting accident before the end of the year."

- Via the Wiki entry for the Knights Templar.

 

Happy Friday the 13th!

Running Backwards

 

 

A trip through the past with no discernible destination. More below the jump.

Note: the video which originally appeared directly above ("Doo Ron Ron" by the Crystals) was disappeared by YouTube. I've replaced it.

Note 2: The replacement video - Martha & the Vandella's "Dancin' in the Streets" - has met the same (unfortunate) fate. I give up.

The Dope Show

 

 

 

"The drugs they say
To make us feel so hollow
We love in vain
Narcissistic and so shallow
The cops and queers
To swim you have to swallow
Hate today
No love for tomorrow

We're all stars now in the dope show
We're all stars now in the dope show

There's lots of pretty, pretty ones
That want to get you high
But all the pretty, pretty ones
Will leave you low
And blow your mind 

We're all stars now in the dope show
We're all stars now in the dope show

They love you when you're on all the covers
When you're not, then they love another
They love you when you're on all the covers
When you're not, then they love another

The drugs they say
Are made in California
We love your face
We'd really like to sell you
The cops and queers
Make good-looking models
I hate today
Who will I wake up with tomorrow?

There's lots of pretty, pretty ones
That want to get you high
But all the pretty, pretty ones
Will leave you low
And blow your mind

They love you when you're on all the covers
When you're not, then they love another
They love you when you're on all the covers
When you're not, then they love another

There's lots of pretty, pretty ones
That want to get you high
But all the pretty, pretty ones
Will leave you low
And blow your mind
Go blow your mind

We're all stars now in the dope show
We're all stars now in the dope show"

- The Dope Show lyrics © Songs Of Golgotha, Dinger And Ollie Music, Blood Heavy Music
 

***

What's this? Am I back?

Well, tentatively. It goes like this...