Penelope

Description

The Odyssey has stood the test of time as a literary titan. Yet, for a story that revolves around women, they are too often neglected and belittled. As Emily Wilson notes, the act of translation itself imposes many such judgments, such as the common tactic of referring to 'handmaidens' as what would be better described as slaves. It takes a cautious eye to catch the problematic lenses through which most of us have read the story, and I wanted to use my music to bring attention to feminist critiques of the story, such as Wilson's, and in the process, humanize one of literature's most brilliant women.

Throughout the Odyssey, Penelope's thoughts are rarely explored in depth. While she is often touted for her virtuous fidelity in staving off the suitors, Odysseus is away romancing other women, such as Circe. Yet, Giula Sissa posits that Penelope's trials for the suitors were not merely deceptions to buy time, but rather legitimate competitions for her enjoyment. What makes this story so captivating millennia later is that it is a story of Penelope on the verge - Odysseus is almost out of time, thanks to his trysts. We don't know what would have happened had his Odyssey taken a day longer.

This song attempts to encapsulate the weight that distance bears on the mind. In the age of globalism, we are more connected than ever before, and yet this can paradoxically make us feel further from those dear to us. When the tides pull us across distant waters, it is stories like these that remind us why we persist.

Lyrics

Penelope

Penelope

Tell me that you'll wait for me

To cross the sea

then I will be your everything

Penelope

the thought of you will strengthen me

just wait and see

I still hear your melody

Penelope

Why would you wait for me

to set you free?

When you could've been anything

Penelope

Don't give in to jealousy

Don't give in

When holding on for a sign

is all that keeps you alive

and now that my hands are tired

from weaving all these lies

I cannot follow your lead

Fates-a-tied, ripping you from me

Can you bear the weight of the twine

As it strings me up again to toe the line?

Are they next to you?

Do they feel like me?

Even if they don't,

do they try to be?

And I know what it means to say,

'cause I go through this every day;

Does your fight feel this lonely?

Tying knots we know will break

We keep on making the same mistakes

Cast adrift within the wake

Go insane or share the ache

I can't tell what's real or fake

As the shroud conceals your face

I don't think of it as fate

Just the patterns time creates

Hear the vow I swear to make

If your love, I did forsake

Like the venom of a snake

to the grave, I know I'd take

You're not one of my mistakes

You're the thread I can't replace

Just return before too late

And the pattern is erased