One Track Mind: "Wishbone" by Clutch

I once heard a story that Jerry Garcia used to close his eyes when he listened to Carlos Santana, and see what images were conjured in his mind. I can't remember what images he talked about, but I'm sure rainbow colors were involved. The point is, the only time I ever tried that was while listening to Clutch. The image that I see in my head is a tank, rolling over piles of debris, crushing stone and steel and concrete, plowing ever-forward. Riding on top, is a mad priest, dressed in black, shouting and spitting at nothing in particular, speaking in tongues and making supplications.

It's not religious fervor that makes me equate Clutch with a crazy old padre. It's the idea of the mystical, that small, innocuous things may lead us to ask large and profound questions, maybe even questions that the original things have no part in creating. Like all great art, Clutch doesn't provide us with easy roads to understanding. Nowhere is this truer than on "Wishbone", a complex and mysterious song that also happens to rock my face off.

"In the morning the weathercock was heard
asking what he had learned of the Earth.
"Is it a round place with deserts and oceans,
housing as many winds as one might wish?"
We were standing by the gate.
He said, "Oh my, it's getting late!"
Then he took off flying to the south
with a black snake in his mouth."

I have no idea what that "means". I think it might be about the end of the world, heralded by changing of the wind, or the flying of a mighty bird. I think it also might be about the perils and pitfalls of trying to predict or control the future, and the sorrow we feel when the future goes so opposite to what we want. I suppose it also could be about family, and the way in which our lives are always, in part, decided by our kin.

"For Thanksgiving we had 'tatas,
succotash and rudebagas.
Then came turkey from the oven.
Broke the wishbone.
Covenants were sealed and set."

Who knows? I don't have an answer, and neither does Clutch. There's a CD extra on "The Elephant Riders ", from which this track comes, where Neil Fallon explains his reasoning in writing every song on the album. But truthfully, I've had way more fun pondering over the lyrics, trying to find meaning in them, playing out the different stories they tell in my head. Add to that, that the song has one of the most pummeling rock riffs on the album, and a tasty groove breakdown to cut it all into nice pieces. It's not preaching to me...it's more like scripture, where meaning comes between and behind the words, and from the world you live in that you apply them to.

Actually, forget all that. Just go and buy "The Elephant Riders " and crank it up.