This is the fifth in a series of blog entries about the songs on the upcoming album “Hello Cruel World”, to be released January 2012. Originally posted at www.gretchenpeters.com/blog.
Savannah, Georgia, 2010
I got no use for harps and wings
I got no time for foolish things
There is no heaven, there is no hell
There’s only you, my dark angel
There are people who come into your life who seem too pure for this world. For them, the membrane that separates our protective delusions from the cruel world is paper-thin. They feel too acutely, empathize too much. Often, and perversely, they’re the ones who come into the world with the heaviest burdens. They wear a halo of vulnerability, but conceal a deep strength, too. They are the old souls.
Maybe they’re the real angels. Maybe heaven, and hell, are here, now. In pursuit of some idealized version of the future, and of ourselves, we overlook what’s staring us in the face. Our ragged, imperfect selves, living in our ragged, imperfect present. Each others’ angels, each others’ saviors.
faand if there is no hereafter
and there is only here
life is still a beautiful disaster
ah, but we both know that, my dear
BeliefNet.com has featured “Dark Angel” as their Song Of The Week. Click on the link to preview the song. Many thanks to Rodney Crowell, who sings the duet vocal on “Dark Angel”.
“Dark Angel” by Gretchen Peters
© 2011 Circus Girl Music (ASCAP)
from the upcoming album Hello Cruel World
photo by Gretchen Peters (all rights reserved)
