The Curse
June 6, 2010 12:12 PM Subscribe
"The Curse," by Josh Ritter. SLYT music video (5:05) with marionettes, about an archaeologist and a mummy and what it is to fall in love. Via Archaeopop.
Loved it.
posted by bonobothegreat at 12:23 PM on June 6, 2010
posted by bonobothegreat at 12:23 PM on June 6, 2010
Nice. It reminded me of The Professor's Daughter.
posted by Smart Dalek at 1:01 PM on June 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Smart Dalek at 1:01 PM on June 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
That's really beautiful. I must say I'm impressed with how Ritter has evolved from his beginnings in the 90s.
posted by bardophile at 1:05 PM on June 6, 2010
posted by bardophile at 1:05 PM on June 6, 2010
Josh's drummer Liam Hurley, also a puppeteer, created the video.
Ritter is my favorite singer/songwriter these days. I caught his show at the 9:30 Club in D.C. last month, and I'll be seeing him in Richmond on Thursday.
posted by emelenjr at 1:31 PM on June 6, 2010
Ritter is my favorite singer/songwriter these days. I caught his show at the 9:30 Club in D.C. last month, and I'll be seeing him in Richmond on Thursday.
posted by emelenjr at 1:31 PM on June 6, 2010
fantastic. I wonder why Egypt is such a recurring theme in Ritter's music...
posted by reverend cuttle at 1:43 PM on June 6, 2010
posted by reverend cuttle at 1:43 PM on June 6, 2010
I fell in love with that song when I heard it about a month ago. Thanks for the link.
And also, thanks for the pointer to archaeopop. Where has that blog been all my life? <3
posted by ursus_comiter at 2:25 PM on June 6, 2010
And also, thanks for the pointer to archaeopop. Where has that blog been all my life? <3
posted by ursus_comiter at 2:25 PM on June 6, 2010
Fucking josh ritter. No matter how objectively good his music has become, to me he'll always be that kid sitting on the quad talking about what a sensitive artist he is, and then playing some dave matthews to get into girls' pants.
posted by Jon_Evil at 3:04 PM on June 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Jon_Evil at 3:04 PM on June 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
@Jon_Evil: I can't speak to the getting into girls' pants part of that, but yeah. It's kind of hard for me to wrap my head around the whole notion of "Josh Ritter, folk artist." I think: dude who used to sing really out of tune at the Cat. Pretty banal lyrics too. But as I said, his music really has evolved.
posted by bardophile at 3:07 PM on June 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by bardophile at 3:07 PM on June 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
Nice video, but the song is a bit like Andrew Bird after a stroke.
posted by benzenedream at 4:18 PM on June 6, 2010
posted by benzenedream at 4:18 PM on June 6, 2010
I'm not really a fan of this vein of sensitive/singer/songwritery expression, it's just a wee bit precious for me, but that puppetry was excellent, and I really enjoyed the video. Liam Hurley is very talented. If you're gonna have a song like that, heck, it should definitely have a video like this, as far as I'm concerned.
I'd love to see Hurley's puppetry tailored to some old Clarence Ashley banjo tune, or Geeshie Wiley's dark, minor blues: you know, something cloaked in blood and mystery and evocative of what Greil Marcus called the old, weird America. This song by Ritter, with its creatively dark subject matter, has a taste of that, but the delivery is just not my personal cup of aesthetic tea.
Actually, someone did something similar (though not with marionettes) with one of Dock Bogg's tunes, which I'll link to here, cause it's kinda coming from the same place: Pretty Polly.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:51 PM on June 6, 2010
I'd love to see Hurley's puppetry tailored to some old Clarence Ashley banjo tune, or Geeshie Wiley's dark, minor blues: you know, something cloaked in blood and mystery and evocative of what Greil Marcus called the old, weird America. This song by Ritter, with its creatively dark subject matter, has a taste of that, but the delivery is just not my personal cup of aesthetic tea.
Actually, someone did something similar (though not with marionettes) with one of Dock Bogg's tunes, which I'll link to here, cause it's kinda coming from the same place: Pretty Polly.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:51 PM on June 6, 2010
Really heartfelt, loved the blend of song style and marionettes
posted by digdan at 4:58 PM on June 6, 2010
posted by digdan at 4:58 PM on June 6, 2010
flapjax, I usually don't care for that kind of thing either, but I really connected with this one, having clicked a couple of links away from checking up on a specific development in Egyptology. I always wanted to be a long-haired lady archaeologist.
I might add that although I had never heard "Pretty Polly," I knew immediately that she was going to be murdered, because I know the kind of song you mean.
posted by Countess Elena at 5:56 PM on June 6, 2010
I might add that although I had never heard "Pretty Polly," I knew immediately that she was going to be murdered, because I know the kind of song you mean.
posted by Countess Elena at 5:56 PM on June 6, 2010
I got to spend the better part of a day with Josh a few years ago. He was touring for "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter," and did a members-only concert for my radio station's listeners, a show/interview that I got to host, in our performance studio. I will always remember how gracious he was, how genuine he was, and how he was totally grateful for the opportunity to play music for people. I bet he hugged me six times that afternoon, for no reason other than that he was happy to be there.
When the concert was over, he stuck around and talked to each and every member of the audience, all of whom wanted to pick his brains about lyrics and storytelling and whatever, and he had the patience of a saint. He wasn't put out by any of it - he took however long it took, listening and engaging with each member of the audience, always concluding with a big hug and a big smile. This guy truly loves what he does, and he truly loves the people that enjoy his work.
Reading this thread, it comes as a surprise to me that he might have been douchey at one time, because you'd never imagine that if you met him now. But then again, I shudder to think what I was like to be around ten years ago. I just know what the Josh Ritter I know is like, and I know that he's a stone-cold genius, and that "So Runs the World Away" is probably the best album so far this year, and that I cannot wait to read "Bright Passage."
posted by jbickers at 6:51 PM on June 6, 2010 [6 favorites]
When the concert was over, he stuck around and talked to each and every member of the audience, all of whom wanted to pick his brains about lyrics and storytelling and whatever, and he had the patience of a saint. He wasn't put out by any of it - he took however long it took, listening and engaging with each member of the audience, always concluding with a big hug and a big smile. This guy truly loves what he does, and he truly loves the people that enjoy his work.
Reading this thread, it comes as a surprise to me that he might have been douchey at one time, because you'd never imagine that if you met him now. But then again, I shudder to think what I was like to be around ten years ago. I just know what the Josh Ritter I know is like, and I know that he's a stone-cold genius, and that "So Runs the World Away" is probably the best album so far this year, and that I cannot wait to read "Bright Passage."
posted by jbickers at 6:51 PM on June 6, 2010 [6 favorites]
I can't tell how much of it is the lyrics and how much of it is the video now, since the video was how I first experienced the song... but that is some gorgeous storytelling.
posted by catchingsignals at 7:58 PM on June 6, 2010
posted by catchingsignals at 7:58 PM on June 6, 2010
When I saw him touring for The Animal Years, it was hard to imagine how anyone on stage could possibly be having more fun.
Douchebaggery is ernestness without self-awareness.
posted by ropeladder at 8:04 PM on June 6, 2010
Douchebaggery is ernestness without self-awareness.
posted by ropeladder at 8:04 PM on June 6, 2010
It also sorta reminds me of Joanna Newsom's Monkey & Bear, another story with similar themes, gorgeously told.
posted by catchingsignals at 8:12 PM on June 6, 2010
posted by catchingsignals at 8:12 PM on June 6, 2010
I like Ritter's mummy love story, but not as much as I like his missle silo love story.
(Unfortunately, my link is to one of those awful youtube fan videos where it's all pictures slideshowing over the original track. The video on Ritter's official video page has a lyric change from the album version that I just couldn't support.).
Still, good on him for bringing Mummy As A Love Interest into the public space with such an awesome video.
posted by redsparkler at 9:51 PM on June 6, 2010
(Unfortunately, my link is to one of those awful youtube fan videos where it's all pictures slideshowing over the original track. The video on Ritter's official video page has a lyric change from the album version that I just couldn't support.).
Still, good on him for bringing Mummy As A Love Interest into the public space with such an awesome video.
posted by redsparkler at 9:51 PM on June 6, 2010
Wow, Thank you so much for introducing me to Josh Ritter. Little did I know our generation had its very own Bob Dylan :)
posted by evabungle at 11:04 PM on June 6, 2010
posted by evabungle at 11:04 PM on June 6, 2010
jbickers: Thank you for that update. It's really nice to hear that some people (possibly many?) do actually grow up and become nicer. :)
posted by bardophile at 1:53 AM on June 7, 2010
posted by bardophile at 1:53 AM on June 7, 2010
redsparkler: What's the lyric change on The Temptation of Adam and Eve that you couldn't support?
posted by crazymonk at 1:26 PM on June 7, 2010
posted by crazymonk at 1:26 PM on June 7, 2010
Wow, that's haunting. I'm not sure if there's a musical term for this, but there's something incredibly moving to me about a song that's repetitive and slowly builds in intensity by adding another instrument or voice. It's like the song builds up emotion like a house of cards, and eventually there's one addition that makes it all come crashing down around you.
In this song, it's was the marionette playing the trumpet that made me burst into tears. Oh, that little trumpet just killed me.
posted by oh yeah! at 8:49 PM on June 7, 2010
In this song, it's was the marionette playing the trumpet that made me burst into tears. Oh, that little trumpet just killed me.
posted by oh yeah! at 8:49 PM on June 7, 2010
Never mind, crazymonk. I gave it a very close listen, and there was a line
"you would keep the warhead missle silo good as new
and I watched you with my thumb above the button"
And on the album version he sort of drops his voice out on the last part, and my gutter-splashing brain filled in
"and I watched you with my thumb above your button"
Which would just be a gloriously dirty lyric, in my opinion, but closer listening makes it obvious that a fine upstanding gentleman like Ritter would never stoop so low. Or would he?
posted by redsparkler at 10:34 PM on June 7, 2010
"you would keep the warhead missle silo good as new
and I watched you with my thumb above the button"
And on the album version he sort of drops his voice out on the last part, and my gutter-splashing brain filled in
"and I watched you with my thumb above your button"
Which would just be a gloriously dirty lyric, in my opinion, but closer listening makes it obvious that a fine upstanding gentleman like Ritter would never stoop so low. Or would he?
posted by redsparkler at 10:34 PM on June 7, 2010
Achingly beautiful. The expressive nonhuman actors reminded me of a completely different but equally powerful video, for Ramona Falls' "I Say Fever".
posted by Jennifer S. at 11:37 AM on June 14, 2010
posted by Jennifer S. at 11:37 AM on June 14, 2010
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