nathanael.ink

I love music. I really do. I also love good writing. Let me take a moment just to appreciate a place where both of those things coexist: Levi Weaver’s song “We Married Strangers.”

He opens up describing a scene in a piece-meal kind of way (which makes the audience feel most smart when they notice it) from a first person perspective. Pulls us in with:

The blood that trickles towards my elbow 

Um, intrigue much? So there is blood trickling. On your arm. Do tell.

Looks like a map of Anaheim

Ok well that is super visual. Damn. Such a concise way to describe the way blood drips and intersects with itself. The detail of referring to a specific place makes this more personal too.

What used to be the bathroom mirror
Is speckled red with highway five

…hold the freaking phone. You just punched the mirror didn’t you? Oh yeah, the blood dripping down your forearm. Also, let me just point out that the metaphor of blood being like streets was never explicitly established. That happened in the head of the listener, and it sooo did happen in my head. “Blood trickling, looks like a map” oh that must be like the streets? “Okay, hold on to that. Now… Highway five is on the mirror.”  ..Well f*k me! That is so strong. Just. He let our brains do so much of the work to construct the narrative and then just trusts it worked the way he wanted it to and then drives it home.
Here is a map of Anaheim btw. Freaking hwy 5…

You look for eyes to reassure you

Okay, so now we have another character “you” to consider. This is the first clue we get regarding who this work is intended for (written to).

I’m staring holes into the ground

Damn. So they’re looking at you and you’re looking at the ground. They are looking at you and this damn broken mirror and the blood on your arm and they want reassurance. This is a letter to that person then isn’t it? And we, the audience, are just eavesdropping. #extrapersonal
Such a strong scene all established from a first person, super intimate, perspective that lets the audience sort out for themselves exactly what is going on. 

You’ve fifty faces there to choose from
But none of us can make a sound

…ouch. Now you’re just going to attack the person who is staring at you after you broke the mirror? Saying they have “fifty faces”. Ah well I guess you guys probably just had some blow out fight and that’s why you broke the mirror and you’re still pissed. Got it. But yeah, now no version of yourselves knows what to say in a moment like this. Yep.. that sounds like real life for sure. #preach

[Okay I’m just going to let you read the rest. You got this. It’s pretty straightforward.]

So let’s begin, oh, let’s begin again
To fall in love, to fall in love again
Let’s begin, oh, let’s begin again

…Actual tears on my actual face at this point…

We married young, we married strangers
In front of family and our friends
No warning signs about the changes
No one told us we’d forget
The love I see there on our faces
In all those photos in the hall
That smile I couldn’t seem to straighten
A hope that swore we’d never fall

So let’s begin, oh, let’s begin again
To fall in love, to fall in love again
Let’s begin, oh, let’s begin again

So help me out, I’m quickly losing myself
Help me out, I think I’m losing you

[sobbing uncontrollably]