Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Set the Fire to the Third Bar

Spoiler Alert: Dinna read unless you have finished VOYAGER.

I recently added the song "Run" from Snow Patrol to my "A Breath of Snow and Ashes" playlist... and realized how much I love this band where the Outlander series is concerned. Their lyrics are similar to a lot of Diana Gabaldon's writing in a strange way. A lot of nature. Snow. The cold ground. Bones. Praying.

And my favorite thing about both the series and this band's songs: undying, relentless, urgent need to be with the one you love.

The band sounds like the books - if that makes ANY sense whatsoever.

Anyway... I found this song and had to blog about it. It makes me think of Jamie in Edinburgh the night before Claire comes to him.  He's had a long day of printing and smuggling.. and he's laying on his cot,  happy to be free. Free of Laoghaire. Free of the crown. Free of everything... Everything except his pain - and yearning for Claire. And little does he know that she is there...in his time... trying to get to him... trying to find her way to him... Oh god I can see it unfolding right before my eyes. It's from both of their perspectives. Give it a listen and take a look at the lyrics below.

"Set The Fire To The Third Bar"
(feat. Martha Wainwright)

I find the map and draw a straight line
Over rivers, farms, and state lines
The distance from 'A' to where you'd be
It's only finger-lengths that I see
I touch the place where I'd find your face
My finger in creases of distant dark places

I hang my coat up in the first bar
There is no peace that I've found so far
The laughter penetrates my silence
As drunken men find flaws in science

Their words mostly noises
Ghosts with just voices
Your words in my memory
Are like music to me

I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
I, I pray that something picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms

After I have travelled so far
We'd set the fire to the third bar
We'd share each other like an island
Until exhausted, close our eyelids
And dreaming, pick up from
The last place we left off
Your soft skin is weeping
A joy you can't keep in

I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
And I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms

I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
And I, I pray that something picks me up
and sets me down in your warm arms

7 comments:

  1. Cool song....kinda like Jaimie and Claire singing it together. Nice find, Carol. I'm going to look more into Snow Patrol.

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  2. Ooooohhhhhhhh....love it! And the line "your soft skin is weeping / A joy you can't keep in" gave me goosebumps!

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  3. oh yeh goosebumps ... and thats just reading the words without listening to it yet
    :-)

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  4. Oh lassies I love it so much. I went to sleep humming it last night. I'm telling you - so many Snow Patrol songs have lyrics that will remind you of Diana's writing...

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  5. Yee! I love it Carol. I didna actually see the connection til you made it and I'm a huge fan!
    But also, I can't hear susan boyle now without connecting her to outlander, also thanks to your site :-))))

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  6. OMG Sirena - I have Sirius radio, so I actually hear Susan Boyle singing "I Dreamed a Dream" once in a while in the car - and I have a slight meltdown in my head while driving and end up in tears seeing the whole "movie scene" play out in my head!!

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  7. Ooh, I realized I actually have that song in my iTunes. Hadn't listened to it enough to listen to the lyrics.

    But yes, PERFECT for Jamie and Claire. :)

    --by Sassynach, who's having trouble commenting for some reason

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