I Suppose I'm Alive

Weng Peijun (Weng Fen) - Staring At The Sea [No 4] (2003)

Writing without conflict is narration and conflict without meaning is melodrama. This track wears conflict realistically like the rest of us, more like everyday socks than stiletto heels. The folk familiarity heats our toes while trapping country dust and concerns to scratch against our skin on the daily walk home. Its pleasant cotton and argyle harmonies are as exciting as we usually get, until the carefully woven structure begins to unravel and the cold seeps in. Even then, the end of the track is little more dramatic than the stillness of disappearance. It seems strange to be comfortable in a humble fabric whose consequences are present, real, and inevitable throughout - but this is the conflict that is our reality. He said, pointing a gun at a baby.

Utah Carol - Come Back Baby (mp3) [the album "Rodeo Queen" is released this week]