Seguimos respirando un poco más a través de Blacklung. En uno de sus abordajes, los piratas protagonistas encuentran un libro de canciones marineras entre el botín. Entre todos, obligan a Marquis, el único que sabe leer, el profesor y tripulante accidental del barco, a recitarles una de las canciones del libro. La canción-poema que el azar elige es la siguiente:The land is shortThe sea is highNot half as high as the windOur mast is thick Our sails are trueNot true as Ann Garland.
I gave her up to be a manAnd told her, darling dear,There was never a man that went awayWho had so little fear,That he would come back home,That you would wait for himSo he'd have his darling dear.At the end of the dayHe could look at his wifeAnd upon his children dear.
The land is shortThe sea is highNot half as high as the windOur mast is thick Our sails are trueNot true as Ann Garland.
Five years henceHe arrived at the dockNear the home he once had known,With a body that was hardAnd eyes that were keen,He went to greet his very own.But when he came to the doorHe saw the face of a childThrough the window staring at himAnd his heart rose up.He could taste it in his mouthThe fear he'd mocked now had him.
The land is shortThe sea is highNot half as high as the windOur mast is thick Our sails are trueNot true as Ann Garland.
He knocked on the doorAnd prayed to his soulThat the child would not be real.Her sweet lover's eyesExploded in the night And tasted their last meal.A mother she had beenAnd a widow she had beenAnd been also a gentle lover.He put them in a holeAnd he covered up his soulAnd he left his home forever.
The land is shortThe sea is highNot half as high as the windOur mast is thick Our sails are trueNot true as Ann Garland.
La canción encierra a la perfección el espíritu doblemente trágico y trascendente de Blacklung. La primera vez que la leímos, nos pareció que este poema podría estar libremente inspirado en alguna antigua canción marinera o en una murder ballad (composiciones líricas de metro simple sobre asesinatos y sucesos macabros, el equivalente anglosajón de nuestros romances más truculentos), pero no hemos encontrado rastros de ella en la web, por lo que suponemos que se trata de una creación de Chris Wright al estilo antiguo. Como también hiciera Nick Cave en su disco del mismo nombre (Murder Ballads) en 1996, en el que incluyó joyas como ésta.La composición de Wright le deja a uno mal cuerpo, pero tiene su aquel. En otro tono (uno mucho menos desabrido y sangriento) nos recuerda a otra "falsa balada", el "Abigail", de Stephen Merritt y sus The Magnetic Fields, el grupo que más nos ha emocionado y tocado la fibra en estos últimos lustros (que van siendo décadas). "Abigail, Belle of Kilronan" es sólo una de las muchas obras maestras (una de las más conmovedoras) que adornan las tres fabulosas horas de 69 Love Songs. Fundamental: