This one also feels less like a direct response to JD and more like its own little beast. Although I do think it fits into the spirit of “setting a scene, putting ghosts in it, and then getting excited about the ghosts.” I’ve mainly had the themes of a movie I haven’t seen, but would like to see flitting around in my head. Unrueh (or Unrest in English) is about the advent of industrial clockmaking in the small Swiss town of Saint-Imier and the dawn of the labor movement and European anarchism. As I said, I haven’t seen the movie, but those few details were enough for me to make my own little horologer affinity group. They are up to ✨shenanigans✨.
I’m a day late on this one and I hope I will catch up to my schedule even though this one started being written on time. I tried to stick with the formula JD mentions in the book, I feel like it makes things instantly relatable regardless of actual experience. Small, but relatable.
The weather rolls in like it owns the place.
Thick silent flakes cover the roads.
The cars slow down, way down.
And the clouds keep rolling and rolling.
Not a lot to say about this one except that it comes from the heart. I think this is one of those that I can see working very well as a song. Unfortunately my musical skill leaves a lot to be desired. To be fair, that also didn’t stop early Goats JD, so maybe I should just give it a shot. Very cool to read about some of JD’s poetic influences today. Czeslaw Milosz is great, but my favorite polish poet from the post-war years is Wislawa Szymborska. Give her a read!
Today is more of a vignette that tries to play a bit with the wonderful body horror of the song. To me, body horror has always been vaguely comforting. A reassurance that these things are mutable. I think that comfort is one the song echoes. I always feel like I write best and I feel the most present in the world when I let my borders of self ease up or let them go entirely. It feels visceral.