Well, thanks to a friend’s note on Facebook the other week I had the chance to go down to Cape Girardeau, Missouri to see a band I like greatly for the first time in concert and begin to catch up with their music. Amanda was there for Sandra McCracken, I was there for Waterdeep, though the other acts, especially Derek Webb, were pretty cool. Derek Webb was pretty tame in his political / social commentary (basically he simply commented at the happy irony of having an African American family moving into the White House, which was partly built by slaves), but his limited commentary and humor largely seemed to be lost on the southern Missouri crowd, even in a United Methodist church.

My Waterdeep catalog only extends to the Albums Sink or Swim and Everyone’s Beautiful (oh, and I do have this too), both of which I find lyrically quirky, yet powerfully moving in song after song. In Waterdeep, the husband and wife team of Don and Lori Chaffer each write songs and then sing their own songs on their Waterdeep albums. Their lyrical and musical (though I am not the greatest judge on this) styles are different, but the combination works pretty well. Don’s lyrics are perhaps the most intriguing (though I must say, at times, too subjective and dense for my tastes) as he connects things and makes juxtaposition in ways that are fascinating. Not surprisingly, Don and Lori each have a number of solo and side projects and have also made some worship music, which many of my friends love but which I have not listened to much.

Over the last week, I have been listening almost continuously to Heart Attack Time Machine. I am enchanted by the music on the album, even when I don’t understand the lyrics fully. “Close the Door” is my favorite track, but I cannot find a version of that online, so this post is about the song “Diana” (lyrics below) instead, which I just figured out is a lovely little character study of a bereft little girl who seems to have lost her mother and is being taken care of by Diana (perhaps it should be on the soundtrack to this movie).

This song is currently available on Waterdeep’s Myspace page and I encourage a listen. “Good, Good End” is also on there and is musically really cool. And “Life of the Party,” which I believe is on their upcoming album which I am excited to hear soon, is also there and is a fun listen.

Diana
CHORUS
Diana stays with me tonight
Then tomorrow
Then tomorrow
Who will tell you if I cry
O, my sorrow
O, my sorrow

I hardly ever knew her face
And here she is, taking your place
You have gone so far away
For all I know it’s outer space

La, la, la, la, la, la, la
Pining for yesterday
La, la, la, la, la, la, la
Feeling like an empty plate

He went away today
And I don’t know when he’ll be back
Before he left he held my face
And told me he was gonna crack

La, la, la, la, la, la, la
Kick your legs and bend your knees
La, la, la, la, la, la, la
Stare up at the apple trees