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Rothko

from Bury The Lede by Dessa

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    Release date: 9/29/23

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about

There’s a quote often attributed to painter Mark Rothko: “There is only one thing I fear in life, my friend: One day the black will swallow the red.” I don’t think he actually said that—I think it was written into a play that chronicled his life—but it’s an arresting line all the same.

The idea of snuffing out of something vibrant seemed like a very presentable metaphor for the story I'm telling here, which is an old and simple one: I like you way more than you like me.

The pigment cadmium red, mentioned at the end of the song, is an artists’ favorite for its brilliance. But it’s also toxic—good for the painting, tough on the painter. The lyrics also reference a caduceus, the symbol for the healing arts that features two snakes wrapped around a staff:

Me without a hill to die on
guess I’ll have to heal from this
Pool cue and a pair of pythons
make my own caduceus

lyrics

You see shapes inside the paintings
but all I see is black
at a chapel here in Houston
where we’re standing back to back
Questions here are useless
nothing answers back
But I can’t stop my mind from trying
all it wants to know is why

Other people’s prayers
hanging in the air
between you and me and everything
we’ve kept unsaid so carefully
I don’t want to care so much
for someone I can barely see
But I can’t stop my body pining
all it wants to do is try

Me without a hill to die on
You without a ring to kiss
With nightfall comes that fool Orion
who never swings so can’t be missed

A machine with no sense is just a wheel to spin
For all we try to invent we wind up here again

Me without a hill to die on
guess I’ll have to heal from this
Pool cue and a pair of pythons
make my own caduceus

We seem to be ending
before we begin
It’s like losing the feeling
in a phantom limb




We choose which fools
to suffer
And they choose
to suffer us

We lose all use of
color
Just water
on the brush

But you and me
we could be
cadmium
cadmium red
cadmium
cadmium red

credits

from Bury The Lede, released September 29, 2023
Lyrics and Vocals by Dessa
Produced by Lazerbeak and Andy Thompson
Drum loop by JT Bates

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Dessa Minneapolis

Dessa is a writer and touring musician based in Manhattan and Minneapolis. Quick wit, sharp pen, soft heart.

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