This is the second in a series of blog entries about the songs on the upcoming album “Hello Cruel World”, to be released worldwide in early 2012.
Most nights I come home from work and I pour a glass of wine
Sometimes it’s three or four before I stop
And Jesse makes a sandwich if I sleep through suppertime
And she leaves me on the couch to sleep it off
I know this woman. I see her in line at the grocery store, pouring coffee at a diner, stopped at a traffic light at rush hour. Part of me pities her, part of me admires her, part of me is her. There but for the grace of god. She’s caught at the crossroads where the struggle to come to terms with one’s mortality meets the urge to slip into unconsciousness. The hell with it; have another cigarette, another glass of wine, another piece of pie. Feeling the weight of her past, and watching it as it bears down on her own child.
But she’s a heroine, not a victim. It takes more guts to survive than to give up. To admit your mistakes, to acknowledge the hard truths and keep going. To persevere, to endure.
Somehow I’ve let myself go gently down the stream
A fine example I have set
Between the working and the livin’
and the ghosts that haunt my dreams
I’ve got five minutes, and I’m gonna smoke this cigarette
To view a clip from the recording of “Five Minutes”: Five Minutes string session with Chris Carmichael and David Henry
“Five Minutes” by Gretchen Peters
© 2010 Circus Girl Music (ASCAP)
from the upcoming album Hello Cruel World
photo by Gretchen Peters (all rights reserved)
Wonderful song. In fact, every single track on this very special album is spellbinding.
Can’t wait to see the live performance on March 7
Ian
x
I recently heard via BBC radio 2,that which I can only describe as the voice of an angel, singing such meaningful words(to me and about me??!!)that I stopped to listen,because as Ian said(Feb 28)it was truly spellbinding.I managed to quickly write down “5 minutes” and the name “Gretchen”.I cannot describe how pleased I am to have persevered with Y/tube(easy for some,yet very difficult for others)and found the Best Album I have heard for years.”Matador” was the next song that I listened to,which I immediately shared with my daughter in Spain,knowing she would connect with it in many ways, especially where Art and Creativity appear to be(to me),in conflict with (at odds with)the way in which we can some times behave,no matter what reasons we give and tell ourselves during and after the event. Leaving acting and behaving aside,what about some of the “stuff” that we “say” to each other,or “whisper” to each other,under our breath sometimes, in haste or in anger or in whatever? Where have the Loving Words,whispers,feelings “gone” then?It can take a “lifetime”to build a “relationship”and only “moments”to “unbuild” or seemingly “destroy” “one”.
That which is “precious”,not “special000″,”Precious Forever”. Why,I ask myself,why and why are so many people asking these same questions at the same time?too many YYYY’s and the more I ask myself the more I find myself “listening” to “that which pleases my ear”,simple as that.The more I do that,(which is not always as easy as it sounds,I realise,but so important)the more “cheerful” and optimistic I become,(and that’s putting it lightly.) Gretchen,you have more than touched my heart,you have opened it up and I thank you more than words can say.
Christine x
Cannot wait either to see her LIVE appearance on Thursday April 5th @ The Glee Club, Nottingham,this just happens to be the “Birthplace” of my husband Frank.We are fast approaching our “20th” Wedding Anniversary,so I shall have to leave it there for the time being. Christine x
brilliant