Tuesday 8 September 2015

THIS MORTAL COIL

“To sleep perchance to dream…” - William Shakespeare, “Hamlet”

“To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;”

'Mortal coil' is a poetic term that means the troubles of daily life and the strife and suffering of the world. It is used in the sense of a burden to be carried or abandoned, most famously in the phrase “shuffled off this mortal coil” from “Hamlet”. Apropos, I feature the eighties British pop group “This Mortal Coil”

The track “Song to the Siren”, originally written by Tim Buckley, is sung by Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins; it was released as a single and brought the “It’ll End in Tears” (1984) album to prominence. The music is considered Goth, as the songs have been described as haunting and harrowing, yet ultimately uplifting or even timeless.

Song to the Siren

On the floating, shipless, oceans
I did all my best to smile
Till your singing eyes and fingers
Drew me loving into your eyes.
And you sang
"Sail to me, sail to me,
Let me enfold you.
"Here I am, here I am
waiting to hold you.
Did I dream you dreamed about me?
Were you here when I was full sail?
Now my foolish boat is leaning,
Broken lovelorn on your rocks.
For you sang
"Touch me not, touch me not,
Come back tomorrow."
Oh my heart, oh my heart shies from the sorrow.
I'm as puzzled as a newborn child.
I'm as riddled as the tide.
Should I stand amid the breakers?
Or shall I lie with death my bride?
Hear me sing:
"Swim to me, swim to me,
Let me enfold you.
"Here I am, Here I am, waiting to hold you."

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