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about

A song about a song I heard only once, in 1974, of which I remember only one line. For my old friend Jon Davidoff.

lyrics

my friend Jon
we swapped songs in high school
his were always better
he was likely less depressed
there was one song
about the night sky in December
I remember only one line
I’ve forgotten all the rest

it’s been 40 years this winter
since I heard him play the song
when I close my eyes I still hear
that refrain so clear and strong
soon Orion is swinging around in the sky

it was a waltz
he sang it just like I just played it
the rest of it’s gone hazy
save that fragment that remains
he explained
how Orion heralds winter
how the hunter stalks the starry fox
the angles and the equinox
how he goes from reclining
to stand upright in the sky
and the stars
Betelgeuse and Rigel
and the others everybody knows
the three stars on his belt

week by week he climbs the heavens
chasing pray across the sky
‘til he towers in the darkness
lord of the winter night
December and Orion is swinging around in the sky

but the rest has been forgotten
oh the things I used to know
I am blessed to be the vessel
of this line dropped in the snow
Orion’s march is ceaseless
but it makes for jealous men
‘cause when our arc is over
we don’t rise back up again

my friend Jon
it had been years since we had spoken
the letter from his young wife
the ending of his short life
the disease I did not know
and he was gone
like the shooting stars of summer
one bright line from an old song
nine notes burned into neurons
an earworm across eons
still shining just like him

four decades since his singing
and the line’s still in my brain
how Orion’s up there swinging
can I be all that remains?
was there a tape stuffed in a box somewhere
I asked his family
but the trail it went dark
I guess it’s only me

so when you see
the first weeks of December
the ancient hunter rising
in the cold gray eastern sky
see him stand
and survey all creation
‘til Scorpio heralds springtime
and drives him from the sky

I don’t complain about the weather
pr the depth of fallen snow
I’m still here to see the giant
with the dagger and a bow
it’s winter and Orion is swinging around in the sky

credits

from A Landscape of Ghosts, released March 24, 2018
Guitar, vocal, and bass: Rob Siegel
Fiddle: Tim Roper
Drums: Doug Kwartler
Piano: Rudy Borkowski

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about

Rob Siegel Boston, Massachusetts

Rob Siegel is well-known in Boston folk music circles as an innovative songwriter who draws from his idyllic yet stressed- out middle-class suburban existence and produces memorable, intelligent, well-crafted songs.

His first new CD in 14 years, "A Landscape of Ghosts," will be out in April, with a CD release show at Club Passim on Monday April 30th.
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