Clark Gable

I wasn't named for Gone With The Wind, but since I do share a name with the heroine, I've always loved it. I was watching the movie a few months ago and got to the part where Clark Gable says to Scarlet(t): "...You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how. " and I had one of my classic, "A-ha!" moments. You know, where I finally hear the line of the movie or song and it makes so much sense to me. Or I finally hear it for what it really is and it strikes some chord in me and I totally fall in love with it again. I do this a lot. I'll love a song for years and one day, something changes and I hear it differently, like it's new to me and I'm obsessed with its new meaning for me.

So the other day I was listening to Mailtunes 1.1. This was my second time choosing the theme and I picked "clapping songs" so every song on the disc is based on, or has clapping in it. It's turned out to be an awesome mix, if I do say so myself. "Clark Gable" by The Postal Service was one of my additions and the other day I had an "A-ha!" moment when I heard this line: "That I've been waiting since birth to find a love that would look and sound like a movie."

I know a lot of people don't buy into the Ben Gibbard hoopla, but I have a lot of "A-ha!" moments with his stuff and I will readily agree that it's the Girl in me who relates to it all. Serena and I were talking about this the other day. How we wonder if guys sit around obsessing about stupid things or conjuring up scenarios that would only ever happen in the movies. Combine an active imagination with a tendency to daydream and that is what you get. I have to remind myself a lot that while I would love for my daydreams to become reality, I just can't get my hopes up for such fantastical situations to occur.

Okay, so on to the song. I was never one for analyzing books in English. In fact, I hated it and tried to be obstinate about symbolism and meaning whenever I could. If there had been a class on analyzing song lyrics, though? I would have aced it. And no, I'm not going to "analyze" this song. Heavens no. I'm not an emo-wussy-baby.

I was waiting for a cross-town train
In the London underground
When it struck me
That I've been waiting since birth to find
A love that would look and sound
Like a movie
So I changed my plans
I rented a camera and a van
And then I called you
"I need you to pretend that we are in love again"
And you agreed to

I want so badly to believe
That "there is truth, that love is real"
And I want life in every word
To the extent that it's absurd

I greased the lens and framed the shot
Using a friend
As my stand-in
The script it called for rain
But it was clear that day
So we faked it
The marker snapped
And I yelled, "Quiet on the set!"
And then called, "Action!"
And I kissed you in a style
Clark Gable would have admired
(I thought it classic)

I want so badly to believe
That "there is truth, that love is real"
And I want life in every word
To the extent that it's absurd

I know you're wise beyond your years
But do you ever get the fear
That your perfect verse is just a lie
You tell yourself to help you get by?