Double Edge of Love
Song lyrics
Things that most attract us can hurt us or can heal
Shine like sterling silver or cut like carbon steel
Accidents can trip you when you’re barely out the door
You can blow a tire down the drive, break a glass on the kitchen floor
And that’s the shiny double edge of love
Love has that power; you’re always takin’ a chance
It can warm you through the ages or burn you with a glance
Sink in deepest water, soar in skies above
And that’s the shiny double edge of love.
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Solid as a rock till an earthquake shakes your town
Steady as the stars till the meteors rain down
Smooth as vinyl records till the needle starts to scratch
Binding as a contract till your lawyer finds the catch
And that’s the shiny double edge of love
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Love has that power; you’re always takin’ a chance
It can warm you through the ages or burn you with a glance
[It can raise you by the bootstraps or kick you in the pants]
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Sink in deepest water, soar in skies above
And that’s the shiny double edge of love.
Two kids in the garden find a juicy pear
Take a bite, turn out the light: I think it started there
Ages mold a mountain, hours dig a hole
Love can build a life, but just one night can mark your soul
And that’s the shiny double edge of love
Love has that power; you’re always takin’ a chance
It can warm you through the ages or burn you with a glance
Sink in deepest water, soar in skies above
And that’s the shiny double edge of love.
Meng Chiao, Impromptu
Keep away from sharp swords,
Don’t go near a lovely woman.
A sharp sword too close will wound your hand,
Woman’s beauty too close will wound your life.
The danger of the road is not in the distance,
Ten yards is far enough to break a wheel.
The peril of love is not in loving too often,
A single evening can leave its wound in the soul.
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A.C. Graham, trans., Poems of the Late T’ang (New York: New York Review Books, 1977) 67.
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My song: How I love the opening lines of this poem ... one of the inspirations for this project since to me it rang of country soul. What fun to work it into a sassy song. My musical inspiration here is Western swing. I am a big fan of Bob Wills band, and the somewhat more ‘hip’ band of Bob’s brother Billie Jack in the ‘50s. But this arrangement harkens to Spade Cooley’s “Crazy ‘Cause I Love You,” which reached #4 on the country charts in 1947. That same song, and mine, are constructed on a snatch of the traditional fiddle tune “Old Joe Clark,” energized with a lot of swing. At least, that is what I hear.