I almost feel half bad writing this blog but relevance it's relevance and not only is the following artist relevant to my life but he's becoming increasingly relevant in the public eye, finding himself the darling of NPR and Paste magazine in recent years.
I'm talking about Josh Ritter, a man who has been featured on The Hot Half Life no less than four times this month, pushing him dangerously close to Okkervil River territory. I can't help it though. Not only has Ritter released a nearly flawless LP this month but he's also made youtube all the more wonderful with his video for a "Southern Pacifica" duet with his wife and now, "The Curse", a track I fawned over in the past and have listened to over fifty times according to iTunes, has been made into what might be the most perfect music video ever made, and can be seen on the aforementioned Ritter loving NPR.
The song's lyrics, perhaps the best example of Ritter's impeccable storytelling from his no-short-of-prolific career, lend itself to a very straight forward music video, telling the tale of a beautiful young archaeologist who, in Egypt, unearths a mummy who awakens. It's love at first sight as the two travel back to the U.S. before the mummy is placed in a museum. Eventually, he grows tired of his confinement and that's when things not only get interesting and whimsical but also so beautifully heartbreaking that I cried the first time I heard the track. And I'm so tough that I can literally count how many times I've cried in the past year on one hand. So the fact that Josh touched me so deeply is saying quite a bit. And the fact that the song made me, a girl who has never wanted a serious boyfriend much less to fall in love, want to experience the type of adoration that Ritter sang about is saying even more.
The video for "The Curse" is acted out just as it's sung only instead of using actors (Although the song would lend itself perfectly to a twist on the classic Karloff Mummy movie), the video is produced with marionettes that were crafted by Ritter's multitalented drummer, Liam Hurley.
I didn't think that "The Curse" could get any more endearing than it had but Hurley has managed just that.
Anyone who hasn't taken a chance on Josh Ritter's music owes it to themself to set aside five minutes to watch "The Curse".
You won't be sorry.
