Goodness knows what I'd make of this if I weren't into trivia.
I recently downloaded the song "Martha (Cincinnati, 1914)" by one of those very many power-pop indie-bands I like, The Corner Laughers. From the title, I expected lyrics about a First World War romance. And the first time I listened to it, I was only kind of listening to the words, but that's what I thought I was hearing.
The second time around, I puzzled over the words at the beginning and then abruptly realised what the song was really about. It was far more obscure than I'd realised.
In 1914
In Cincinnati
I saw you in my mind
In a gilded age
In a gilded cage
You were the last of your kind
Once you darkened the skies above
Now I'm mourning like a dove
Why is my spring so silent?
Where are the songs we once heard?
Why is the sky
So empty I could cry?
How could this ever have occurred?
When did you fall from glory?
What if this is the end?
Who's left to tell the story?
When will I see you again?
When did you fall from glory?
What if this is the end?
Who's left to tell the story?
When will I see you again?
So goodbye, my one true love
Farewell, my turtledove
I'll never see you again.
I'll never see you again.
The last of the passenger pigeons died in 1914, and her name was Martha. I seem to recall this was at a zoo in the U.S. - I'm guessing in Cincinnati. The clever references to birds and Rachel Carson were there for a reason.
All in all, I don't believe I've ever heard a bouncier song about species extinction.
The second time around, I puzzled over the words at the beginning and then abruptly realised what the song was really about. It was far more obscure than I'd realised.
In 1914
In Cincinnati
I saw you in my mind
In a gilded age
In a gilded cage
You were the last of your kind
Once you darkened the skies above
Now I'm mourning like a dove
Why is my spring so silent?
Where are the songs we once heard?
Why is the sky
So empty I could cry?
How could this ever have occurred?
When did you fall from glory?
What if this is the end?
Who's left to tell the story?
When will I see you again?
When did you fall from glory?
What if this is the end?
Who's left to tell the story?
When will I see you again?
So goodbye, my one true love
Farewell, my turtledove
I'll never see you again.
I'll never see you again.
The last of the passenger pigeons died in 1914, and her name was Martha. I seem to recall this was at a zoo in the U.S. - I'm guessing in Cincinnati. The clever references to birds and Rachel Carson were there for a reason.
All in all, I don't believe I've ever heard a bouncier song about species extinction.