eels - "Dead of Winter"

Working on a new mix CD.. a "winter" theme. It's been a while since I've done a mix so i want to try and put one together. I couldn't think to do a "winter" mix without eels' amazing "The Dead of Winter". It captures something incredibly powerful and human. Standing outside in the freezing cold, trying somehow to come to grips with a loved one's devastating illness. That feeling of helplessness and grief - the silent, lonely moments when we try and contemplate what is happening and the fact that we can't change it. The emotion is frozen by a stark moment of clarity.

Eels' 1998 album "Electro-Shock Blues" is one of the most difficult to listen to out of all my collection, but it's perhaps the most gripping in it's raw portrayal of human emotion. And it also happens to be sublimely beautiful. There are moments, like "Dead of Winter", that are starkly painful. But there are also moments of whimsy and humor, nostalgia and hope. The name of my blog obviously comes from this song. Life is indeed "the unfinished line" whether our storyline is over, or not.

Standing in the dark outside the house
Breathing in the cold and sterile air
Well I was thinking how it must feel
To see that little light
And watch it as it disappears
And fades into the night

So I know you're going pretty soon
Radiation sore throat got your tongue
Magic markers tattoo you
And show it where to aim
And strangers break their promises
You won't feel any
You won't feel any pain

And the streets are jammed with cars
Rockin' their horns
To race to the wire
Of the unfinished line

Thought that I'd forget all about the past
But it doesn't let me run too fast
And I just wanna stand outside
And know that this is right
And this is true
And I will not
Fade into
Fade into the night

Standing here in the dark