More Songs About Fire and Canyons

I’d never really thought about it before, but one could say I have a thing for wandering around in canyons.

Like here…

or here…

For Bodhairim, I’m writing a piece about my experience in Rio Pinturas Canyon here…

…which looks a bit like Crooked River Canyon at Smith Rock. For the uninitiated, Smith Rock State Park looks something like Disneyland for rock climbers and hikers. At times, it feels so remote that it’s easy to forget how close civilization is. At this time of year, the crowds are a bit more manageable and I wanted a little inspiration, so I loaded up the car and the iPod and headed off into the high desert.

 

Welcome to the garden of earthly delights,
welcome to a billion Arabian nights
this is your life and you be what you want to be,
this is your life and you try it all,
this is your life and you be what you want to be,
just don’t hurt nobody, unless of course they ask you…

There’s such tender wolves
round town tonight,
round the town tonight,
go on, go on and scream and cry,
you’re miles from where anyone will find you,
this is nothing new,
no television crew…

I never give you my number,
I only give you my situation,
and in the middle of investigation,
I break down…

Up on Cripple Creek she sends me,
if I spring a leak she mends me,
I don’t have to speak she defends me,
a drunkard’s dream if I ever did see one…

Southern Pacific,
take me to meet,
whatever is hunting,
for me…

Like the record spins on the trails we blaze, the walls are closing in but that’s okay,
because I’ve been waiting all week to feel this way and it feels so good, so good
I’m on top of the world, the coolest kid in the neighborhood…

Its my war, his eyes are open,
his eyes are open,
my body tells me no,
but I won’t quit cause I want more…

I have spoken with the tongue of angels,
I have held the hand of a devil,
it was warm in the night,
I was cold as a stone…

You think you’re gonna take her away, 
with your money and your cocaine,
You keep thinking that her mind is gonna change, 
but I know everything is okay…

Sad, sad thing, I’m so far away now,
how can I say why she won’t talk at all,
she holds the deck of cards,
she wants to be alone,
she still drinks in the dark,
the radio is left on late…

It’s the end of the world as we know it (it’s time I had some time alone),
and I feel fine… 

If I’m doing my job right, I’ll be back next week with the ends of my wandering. Stay tuned…

 

On the iPod: Garden of Earthly Delights, XTC; Star Witness, Neko Case; You Never Give Me Your Money, The Beatles; Up on Cripple Creek, The Band; Southern Pacific, Josh Ritter; Starry-Eyed Surprise, Paul Oakenfold; My Body, Young the Giant; I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, U2; Listen to Her Heart, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; Poor Little Girl, X; It’s the End of the World as We Know It, REM