Redtree Times

Exile on Main Street– (2020)

I’m going to a town that has already been burnt down
I’m going to a place that has already been disgraced
I’m gonna see some folks who have already been let down
I’m so tired of America

— Going to a Town, Rufus Wainwright

Much to do this morning so I am running short on time. But being a Sunday, I felt the obligation to share a song for my Sunday Morning Music. Checking my blog stats, I have noticed in the past few weeks that the post below from 2021 has been getting quite a bit of attention. I knew the song would be fitting for this moment in time, but went back to it to see if the writing might pertain as well.

It did. And it also reminded me of the shortness of our memories and how often we disregard history, having the hubris to think that we are beyond repeating the tragic mistakes of past eras.

But as often recently as I have felt like singing that chorus– I’m so tired of America— I still maintain the belief that we can and will get through to the other side, fire-tested and grateful for what we can hold on to.

I wasn’t going to display the lyrics above from the Rufus Wainwright song I am featuring here this morning. Saying that you’re tired of America isn’t a popular sentiment at any time and Wainwright says that this song, though one his more popular songs in concert, at times elicits strong response in the form of boos.

It was written in 2007 both as a relationship breakup song and as a protest against the Bush policies of that time, including an escalation of the war in Afghanistan, that Wainwright believed would lead to more and more damage here and abroad. America is symbolized here as being on fire and Wainwright is getting away by going to a city, a town, that has already gone through this experience, as the lyrics at the top point out.

That town is Berlin with its dark history from the Nazi era. A place that had already been burned down, filled with people who live in the long shadow of defeat and disgrace.

People who have stumbled through the inferno and came out the other side.

It’s an interesting song, one as much about rebirth as it is about the fire. It certainly has the feel of the bone-weariness that many folks here are experiencing now, as they can plainly see where things are headed. I know there are many days when I feel like saying that I am so tired of America and wish we could just move forward in time to the point where we are emerging from the fire.

But I won’t because we can’t. Just got to face the fire. Tired as we might be, someone has got to fight through the flames to that point when we start building once more.

Give a listen, if you are so inclined. It’s a lovely song. By the way, for those who don’t know, Rufus is the son of singer/songwriters Loudon Wainwright III and Kate Mc Garrigle and the brother of singer Martha Wainwright.