The Power and The Gloria
The Power and The Gloria
Gloria
July 8, 2020
Gloria, In All Her Glories
The best new(ish) song out there today is “Gloria” by the Lumineers.
“Glor-i-a, I smell it on your breath,
Glor-i-a, booze and peppermint…”
Is the song—which was released a little more than a year ago—about a man pining for his long gone girlfriend? His ex-wife? The lovely girl named Gloria he never got to know? That last one seems to be closer to the mark. That lovely girl appears to be his alcoholic mother.
“Gloria, will you just decide?
There’s easier ways to die?
Gloria, have you had enough?”
The video is a slideshow of family photos from years gone by with the eyes replaced by black lines. The family celebrated, laughed, loved, grew, and lived, lived, lived, but they did not see.
Gloria casts a long shadow over beautiful music. In 1982 “Gloria” was the name of a song released by Laura Branigan which stayed atop the pop charts for thirty-six weeks. The Lumineers were crying for Gloria, a lost soul who was never quite with the family despite all the love in the world. The Gloria in Laura Branigan’s heart is also sprinting toward self-destruction.
“Gloria, don’t you think you’ve fallin’
If everybody wants you, why isn’t anybody callin’…”
Branigan’s lyrics (which were written by Trevor Deitch) are more of a plea than the Lumineers’ which are a too-late lament. Branigan’s “Gloria” still might be saved and the pop beat makes us think she can, indeed, rally in the end.
“The voices in your head, calling Gloria…”
Branigan died in 2004 at the age of 47.
Van Morrison wrote “Gloria” for his band Them and it was released in 1964. His Gloria is a pure, powerful, unshakeable object of teen lust and rock n’ roll frenzy.
“She comes around here
Just about midnight
She makes me feel so good, Lord.”
Morrison’s desire is so deep and undeniable that he apologizes to God for it. But he doesn’t stop it.
“I’m gonna shout it all night,
Gloria, G-L-O-R-I-A…”
What is about Gloria that makes men scream, women plead, and sons go to bed so sad? Where is Gloria today? Does she have a virus? Is she marching through the streets and toppling statues?
“Gloria, no one said enough is enough.”
Gloria rocks, rolls, and makes us remember. How much of that memory is regret is determined by what you do when the radio or the iPhone clears its throat and lets you know a song about a girl, a woman, and a million moments named Gloria is coming. And you better know the words if you’re gonna keep up. --TK
Wednesday, July 8, 2020