In the middle of last January, Dacey and I took advantage of a long weekend to escape to Douthat State Park.
I had recently finished writing "My Name is June", and was feeling the momentum of a new songwriting spree. "Blue", my second song in the "Letters from Gilead" series, was born while I was noodling on the guitar in our cabin. Dacey started adding harmonies even before I had finished writing all the lyrics. We made a rough recording of it back home, a week or two later:
This song was inspired by the opening scene in episode 2 of season 1 of "The Handmaid's Tale". The slowly spinning camera is focused on the blue ceiling and a chandelier, with June's voice-over saying: "Blue. I let it take me. Blue moon. Rhapsody in Blue. Tangled Up In Blue. Blue Oyster Cult. Blue Monday..."
Lyrics:
Blue, blue
I focus on the blue
I float far away
To survive another day
I focus on the blue
Blue like a summer sky
Blue like the wings of a damselfly
Stray cornflower in a field of rye
And blue like the sea
I keep my eyes focused on the ceiling
Go blue to avoid all feeling
I fly to another place
To get through the ceremony
This monthly rite of matrimony
And if we pray and if we believe
I will conceive and I'll have a baby
So for me it's blue
I focus on the blue
I float far away
To survive another day
I focus on the blue
Blue violets in spring
The box that held my wedding ring
Indigo of a bunting's wing
and blue like the sea
I keep my eyes focused on the ceiling
Go blue to avoid all feeling
I fly to another place
To get through the ceremony
This monthly rite of matrimony
And if we pray and if we believe
I will conceive and they'll take my baby
So for me it's blue
I focus on the blue
I float far away
To survive another day
I focus on the blue
Sunlight through blue bottle glass
Forget-me-nots and blue-eyed grass
The patterned hem of my daughter's dress
And blue like the sea
I keep my eyes focused on the ceiling
Go blue to avoid all feeling
I fly to a better place
To get through the rape and plunder
That tears my body and my soul asunder
And if I pray and if I believe
I'll be redeemed and Blue will save me
So for me it's blue
Wild innocent blue
I drown in blue
Blue like the sea