Wayworn: lyric

Bruised and muddied, torn
and bloodied, and now
you'd like to pretend that these wounds
will quickly mend

I'm gonna rise up, and then
I'm coming after you:
did you really think we were through?
Did I scare you? When love cuts
in like a knife it takes
a thousand miles of that road to heal
it's true,
and I'm wayworn and
I'm bloodied and I'm torn.
Did you really think it had nothing to do with you or
Did you really think it was all about you?

He's got nothing I won't
give and I bet what I've got
that fellow'll never live, say
you won't have me but that teardrop
in your eye says a whole lot
more than that lie
and I'm wayworn and
I'm bloodied and I'm torn.
Did you really think it had nothing to do with you or
Did you really think it was all about you?


Set me up then
you made off with the loot then
you sent me off without a boot what kind of
partner did you think
that I would be that
I would leave you in that
hole and walk off free?
And I'm wayworn and
I'm bloodied and I'm torn.
Did you really think it had nothing to do with you or
Did you really think it was all about you?

-- 12.viii.07

Commentary:

This piece has three main inspirations: my emotional struggle relative to my estranged wife (who happens also to be a great fan of all things cowgirl); my emotional struggle relative to my romantic partner at the time I wrote the poem (who happens also not to be my wife); and the television show Firefly.

I was introduced to Firefly by two friends in July of 2007, and it was a great revelation to me. I think it's one of the most brilliant science-fiction works ever. My rationale for this probably belongs properly somewhere else, but I'll just say briefly that Whedon's imaginary world does precisely what Tolkien argues (in "On Fairy-Stories") the best fantasy must have: a close relationship to the laws of the Primary World. The more far-out elements of the story-telling in Firefly, such as the "experimental" origins of the Reevers, are still perfectly sensible, once one grasps the principles involved. The notion of the Alliance based upon a merger of the People's Republic of China and the United States of America is also perfectly valid predictively. But, let's also recognize the richness of character development, which is absolutely astonishing considering that the show lasted only a single season on the tube, and something like four episodes (some of the best, in fact) never aired.

Whereas with some other fine science-fiction shows (I won't name any, but it's not hard to search for examples) season after season passes with virtually no character development, but plenty of exposition of possibly reasonable physics, say, or slightly concealed topical commentary, Firefly presents realistic characters in realistic situations (okay, we have to give kudos to the brilliant meta-text of Wash's "this isn't science fiction" and Zoe's rejoinder, "you live on a spaceship"): why, this is a futuristic world in which, gosh-darn it, one of the main characters is a Christian minister (or at least pretending to be one: and yes, I suppose one could argue that despite the explicit reference to Noah it is possible that Book's "symbol" is not the Christian Bible, but why bother?). And let me just say, too, that when I first heard the theme song -- which, for those of you who are non-initiates, is a kind of c&w piece with a fiddle break -- I realized this was a daring project (and for those of you who are initiates, I was introduced to the show through the boxed set of DVDs, and I watched "Serenity" first, not "The Train Job").

Anyway, "Wayworn" is a kind of homage to Whedon and company. This could be sung by several of the characters sensibly. The idea suggested at several points of betrayal within a company of thieves is a link to the show. The music for "Wayworn" is maybe not exactly c&w, but it certainly points in that direction.