Admission: when I first heard and liked this song, the meaning was utterly lost on me. I don't think I'd even heard of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter at that time. The song assumes you know the book. So, if you don't know the basic plotline, the song's pretty nonsensical.
A woman has a child by adultery in Puritan Boston. (Her husband is not in the country.) Her punishment is to wear a scarlet letter A for adultery on her bosom for the remainder of her days as a reminder of her sin.
"Scarlet" speaks of such a scarlet letter and a refusal to let it hold the wearer down. "This old scarlet letter won't keep me from holding you. And there is nothing you can do. Nothing you do." Besides it being a reference to the letter and how God will hold us regardless of our sins if we repent, it also brings to mind a scene in the book where the woman casts her scarlet letter aside and forcefully appeals to her former lover to flee somewhere with her for them to be together again, since they still love one another. (The preacher, much-loved by the community as a saint, fears to confess his sin, leaving others in the community unaware that he is the unknown father.)
Dan Haseltine sings with his usual direct voice that I believe is a tenor, with a slight echo at some points in the song. Heavier on the drums and cymbals than on the other CDs by Jars Of Clay—a usual situation on The Eleventh Hour—the song is still very much of the band. The guitar-heavy rock melds with one other major instrument that I can't identify, unfortunately, and the song credits don't name it.
The song's short (for Jars Of Clay), a bit repetitive, and dependent on a knowledge of the book, but despite all that it's still one of my favorites.
(More about The Scarlet Letter can be found at Cliff's Notes, or you can download a free e-book from Project Gutenberg.)
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment