Ezekiel 7[1] and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace[2][3]
Lyrics
The clouds explode and then the desert blooms
Someone will need to mop this floor for me
When I emerge I find my car
Like a cathedral in a dream of the future
Drive till the rain stops
Keep driving
Pull over and blast off when I get the chance
Clear as an insect's wings in sunlight
Flip on the high stakes radio
Try to sing the words right
Drive till the rain stops
Keep driving
I had his arms tied up[4] behind him
We were together all day[5]
Maybe make Culiacán[6] by sunset
Try to anyway
High as the clouds now
Flying
Drive till the rain stops
Keep driving
Banter
- Because when you torture a person to death, who do you really torture? Yourself. That's the lesson of Catholicism. It's the lesson I've come to share. (2012-09-01)
- This song continues my general theme of transcendence through physical torture. (2012-10-13)
- This is a song about a unique friendship between two guys, one of whom is tied to a chair and will be dead by the end of the song and the other, who has no name and won't ever have one. (2012-12-17)
- By special request of Mr. Peter Hughes: Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace. Originally entitled 'Jesús Malverde and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace,' but I got superstitious. (2013-06-14)
- As an American, I spent a lot of time thinking about people torturing one another to death in the desert, so that's what this song is about. (2013-10-07)
- This is a song that you may find cause to sing if you are the person whose job it is to torture a stranger to death in the northern deserts of Mexico. (2013-10-13)
Live Performances
Footnotes
1. Ezekiel 7 (read the King James Version translation here ) is described by Annotated TMG (accurately) as "A lengthy prediction of destruction and judgment." It includes such bangers as "Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none." The God in Ezekiel 7 is not a God who fucketh around. ↩
2. In an aside, John describes the protagonist as a "torturer/enforcer" for an "international crime syndicate". (Tumblr, credit Annotated TMG) He references Ezekiel 7:25 (see previous footnote) as well: "I think “Ezekiel 7” presents a fairly complex picture, and concludes where it belongs: with a sound that mimics the heartbeat of the victim, and with the narrator driving aimlessly through the desert, trying in vain to find peace." ↩
3. Efficacious grace is a teaching in some branches of Christianity, particularly Calvinism, which states that some individuals are predestined to be granted the grace of God and eternal salvation. (Credit: Annotated TMG)↩
4. "tied tight"(2014-06-15) ↩
5. "together in the car all day" (2013-06-07) ↩
6. Culiacán is a city in Sinaloa, Mexico. ↩