losing my religion

note: volcano tantrum post on the way later this week.

I'm embarrassed to say I'm behind on the times regarding Patrick Wolf's videos. I probably forgot to look up his new ones (now old) after seeing a big feathered outfit he'd lined up for one of the songs off 'the Bachelor' and thought, meh.

I feel terrible that I've missed the one for 'Damaris' especially b/c OMG, this is quite the story:

Although Wolf handled all the arrangements on previous albums, this time he called upon Fiona Brice to orchestrate tracks like "Theseus" and "Damaris." The latter song was inspired by a visit to a graveyard in Brede, a southern English town where most of Wolf's ancestors are buried: "There are about 80 graves there from my family, and in the corner, under the shade of a tree, there was this small wooden cross with 'Damaris' on it."

Inquiring at the church, Wolf was given a leaflet recounting its history, including the centuries-old story of Damaris' ill-fated love affair with a vicar's son. When the holy man forbade his son to marry a Gypsy girl, Damaris took her own life and assumed her quiet place in local history.

"It could have been really easy to write a song where I was telling that story in some kind of mad Bob Dylan narrative — well, not easy, but that would have been the most obvious choice," says Wolf. "But it struck such a chord in me, for anyone who has ended a relationship and lost contact with something they really cherished, so I wrote it from that point of view emotionally. And that whole battle of the church versus a true love that sees past religion and race and creed."

Damaris might well have been pleased: The song is unabashedly passionate, especially on the chorus in which her bereaved lover intones, "God damned Damaris."

"A lot of people who heard it in the States are like, 'Why is it God damn Damaris?', which I guess is quite a rude thing to say in America," notes a bemused Wolf. "But it's 'God damned Damaris. It's quite hard to sing, actually, God damned."

you can read more at the Colorado Springs Independent. I've loved this song since the first time I heard it, but even more so now that I know the story behind it. wow. I didn't think it was possible to love Patrick any more...but there you go. and it's a beautiful video, showing off Patrick Wolf as the Beautiful Creature he is. I consider myself quite lucky having seen him live 3 times.