Rachel M. Murray
Plateaus
"Many a hand has scaled the grand old face of the plateau
Some belong to strangers and some to folks you know
Holy ghosts and talk show hosts are planted in the sand
To beautify the foothills and shake the many hands
Nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop
And an illustrated book about birds
You see a lot up there but don't be scared
Who needs action when you got words
When you've finished with the mop then you can stop
And look at what you've done
The plateau's clean, no dirt to be seen
And the work it took was fun
Nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop
And an illustrated book about birds
You see a lot up there but don't be scared
Who needs action when you got words
Many a hands began to scan around for the next plateau
Some said it was in Greenland and some in Mexico
Others decided it was nowhere except for where they stood
Those were all just guesses, wouldn't help you if they could
Nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop
And an illustrated book about birds
You see a lot up there but don't be scared
Who needs action when you got words"
- Curt Kirkwood, 1984
----
Going through my mum's stuff to decide what to take back home with me after her funeral, I realized that the one thing I thought of was this book on birds I got her a while back. She always loved birds, and had a bunch of them (budgies and canaries). Memory being what it is, I realized it was the same as one of my favourite songs, "Plateau" by the Meat Puppets. In times of stress I find myself putting on the Meat Puppets and going somewhere calmer, known, safe - a plateau, I guess. My mum never listened to them - she was definitely more Classical than Rock! - but I think she would have liked their mix of interesting lyrics and soothing music, especially Curt's guitar solos on their second album, from where this song is from. For some reason when I hear those solos - and I'm NOT a big guitar solo person - I relax, become calm, and recentred.
I hope wherever her spirit is, that there's lots of music playing, and plenty of birds to sooth her spirit.
Plateaus
"Many a hand has scaled the grand old face of the plateau
Some belong to strangers and some to folks you know
Holy ghosts and talk show hosts are planted in the sand
To beautify the foothills and shake the many hands
Nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop
And an illustrated book about birds
You see a lot up there but don't be scared
Who needs action when you got words
When you've finished with the mop then you can stop
And look at what you've done
The plateau's clean, no dirt to be seen
And the work it took was fun
Nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop
And an illustrated book about birds
You see a lot up there but don't be scared
Who needs action when you got words
Many a hands began to scan around for the next plateau
Some said it was in Greenland and some in Mexico
Others decided it was nowhere except for where they stood
Those were all just guesses, wouldn't help you if they could
Nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop
And an illustrated book about birds
You see a lot up there but don't be scared
Who needs action when you got words"
- Curt Kirkwood, 1984
----
Going through my mum's stuff to decide what to take back home with me after her funeral, I realized that the one thing I thought of was this book on birds I got her a while back. She always loved birds, and had a bunch of them (budgies and canaries). Memory being what it is, I realized it was the same as one of my favourite songs, "Plateau" by the Meat Puppets. In times of stress I find myself putting on the Meat Puppets and going somewhere calmer, known, safe - a plateau, I guess. My mum never listened to them - she was definitely more Classical than Rock! - but I think she would have liked their mix of interesting lyrics and soothing music, especially Curt's guitar solos on their second album, from where this song is from. For some reason when I hear those solos - and I'm NOT a big guitar solo person - I relax, become calm, and recentred.
I hope wherever her spirit is, that there's lots of music playing, and plenty of birds to sooth her spirit.