Josh Ritter - The Curse

The Curse - A song from the Josh Ritter's new album 'So Runs The World Away'


He opens his eyes
Falls in love at first sight
With the girl in the doorway
What beautiful lines
Heart full of life
After thousands of years, what a face to wake up to

He holds back a sigh
As she touches his arm
She dusts off the bed where til now he's been sleeping
Under mires of stone
The dry fig of his heart
Under scarab and bone
Starts back to its beating

She carries him home
In a beautiful boat
He watches the sea from a porthole in stowage
He can hear all she says
As she sits by his bed
And one day his lips answered her
In her own language
The days quickly pass
He loves making her laugh
The first time he moves it's her hair that he touches
She asks "Are you cursed?"
He says "I think that I'm cured."
Then he talks of the Nile and the girls in ?bull rushes?

In New York he is laid
In a glass covered case
He pretends he is dead
People crowd round to see him
But at night she comes round
And the two wander down the halls of the tomb
That she calls a museum
But he stops to rest
Then less and less
Then it's her that looks tired
Staying up asking questions
He learns how to read
From the papers that she is writing about him
Then he makes corrections
It's his face on her book
More come to look
Families from Iowa
Upper West-Siders
Then one day it's too much
He decides to get up
Then as chaos ensues he walks outside to find her
She is using a cane
And her face looks too pale
But she's happy to see him
As they walk he supports her
She asks "Are you cursed?"
But his answer is obscured
In a sandstorm of flashbulbs
Rowdy reporters

Such reanimation
The two tour the nation
He gets out of limos
Meets other women
He speaks of her fondly
Their nights in the museum
She's just one more rag now he's dragging behind him
She stops going out
She just lies there in bed
In hotels in whatever towns they are speaking
Then her face starts to set
And her hands start to fold
Then one day the dry fig of her heart stops its beating

Long ago on the ship
She asked why pyramids
He said "Think of them as an immense invitation."
She asks "Are you cursed?"
He says "I think that I'm cured."
Then he kissed her and hoped
That she'd forget that question

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Josh
• Ritter
• The
• Curse
• So
• Runs
• World
• Away

[bobhhoffmann]

We are all immigrants and transients on this earth.

[SailorMarie]

I think the lines

Often he stops to rest and then less and less, then it's her that gets tired and starts asking questions.

Since he is resting '"less" and she is resting more, I believe he is living off of her youthful energy, thus leading to her death (or a much quicker death). That, I think is the real curse.

[NoldorianElf]

Found it by accident. The lyrics are something to listen twice at least. Very Poetic and a bit morbid.

[roseartlefty]

Josh is AMAZING!

[lebrons890]

Not bad

[dudepsd]

unreal!

[canyonthelizard43]

The beauty of music is that is is open to interpretation. Rather than ask people online what a song means, listen to it and figure out what it means to you.

[ThatOneMustache21]

Actually. He's cursed. She takes on his curse and she starts dying as he becomes reanimated. He gains his life back as she slowly gets it taken away. He's not immortal.

[FPSPhil1337]

@bechlioulis BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO­OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[FPSPhil1337]

@flower92009 I dont really think it matters

[flower92009]

Is Josh Ritter Christian?

[niburcire]

@WillieBaas

Additionally, (and I'm not sure if this was intended), the word "beating" is a two-syllable word. It has a rhythm like a heartbeat. In contrast, the word "beat" has only one syllable. Maybe, Josh Ritter intended for the word "beat" to feel like half of a heartbeat--something that only happens when someone dies. Probably not, but I'm confident about the first thing (the unexpected break in rhythm and rhyme thing)