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Like Boo Radley Did

from Trepanning by Edward Morneau & Folksonomy

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about

Ryan Walsh, good friend and member of Boston’s enchanting Hallelujah the Hills, handed this lyric over to me for a melody a few years before Hurricane Katrina hit. I knew a little about the personal context of the poem at the time, and I really loved the way he used Harper Lee’s Boo Radley as a framing device for this unrequited yearning.

After Katrina, I picked it up quite accidentally and saw something else in the song, something that connected to the fate of New Orleans as something entirely unrequited, but also something that refused to capitulate to the forces of nature, political indifference and the sorrows of loss itself. The parallels were too alarming for me not to connect: the literal references to a hurricane and toxins, the wrinkles of time writ on trees and people, and the grudging admiration of fortitude and stubbornness; even the witless gesture Bush made about one day sitting on Trent Lott’s porch again, had some bizarre resonance. Ryan’s words evoke something beyond its own conceit. I may have corrupted them, but that’s the beauty of poetry.

lyrics

Like Boo Radley Did

Buildings, boxes, paper foxes—

Logs and leaves look like your mother’s smile
Go ahead and try to beguile

How many minutes are in a while?

I wish I could admire you and still remain hid—
Come to your rescue when you need it

Just like Boo Radley did.

Inches, wormholes, deadly toxins—

Is this only a hurricane?

Go ahead and try to explain

Why people will stand out in the rain

I wish I could be a shut in, keep it all under lid—
Leave you presents in a tree trunk
Just like Boo Radley did.

Letters, old flames, tiny board games—

I wish you would call me home

Go ahead and try to toss the stone

At the man who refuses to hit the road,

I wish that I had known you when you were just a kid—
Hold your hand on the front porch
Just like Boo Radley did.

(Words by Ryan Walsh; Music by E. Morneau)

credits

from Trepanning, track released January 1, 2008

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Edward Morneau Salem, Massachusetts

Edward Morneau has been a musician and songwriter most of his life. His focus on multiple genres and interest on sound collage experimentation makes his music hard to classify. His muses range from Beatles, Brian Wilson, Randy Newman, XTC, Kinks, Iris DeMent to Mahler, Shostakovich, Penderecki & Zappa. His background as an English & Film teacher gives humor and striking imagery to his songs. ... more

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