Could you love Owen?

The Sad Waltzes of Pietro Crespi

could you love
someone
enough
after all you've had and you've lost?
it's a simple question
i'm only asking 'cause i don't wanna die
alone

could you love
someone
completely?
and yes, by someone
i mean me
spoiled sick like milk you let sit too long
it's a simple question

as i lie awake
waiting for you to lay beside me
i can almost hear
the sad waltzes
of Pietro Crespi

could you love
someone
who does
whatever he wants to do
whenever i want to
it's a simple question
i'm only asking 'cause i
don't wanna die
alone

It's a beautifully hopeful song based on a beautifully tragic novel written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez named 100 Years of Solitude. Pietro Crespi, mentioned in the title and the lyrics, is a character from the book who installs a pianola in the house of two sisters, Rebeca and Amaranta. The two fall in love with him but Pietro responds to Rebeca and the two are engaged to be wed, much to Amaranta's dismay. As is the case in tragic romances, the wedding is put off several times until finally Rebeca falls in love with another man and unexpectedly marries him. Although crushed by this cruel turn of fate, Pietro recovers and begins to court Amaranta. She plays with his affections but then cruelly rejects him when he proposes to her. Unable to deal with the emotional anguish of losing both sisters, Pietro commits suicide.

Much of the rest of At Home With Owen conveys the same intimate tragedy as the story above. It feels like Mike Kinsella (A.K.A. Owen) opens up his heart to the listeners during the eight tracks of the album with a soft touch that feels almost confessional. The album opens with Bad News, availabale below from Owen's Daytrotter session, and also includes his interpretation of Lou Reed's Femme Fatale.


Owen - The Sad Waltzes of Pietro Crespi : At Home with Owen

Owen - Bad News : Daytrotter Session (studio version on At Home with Owen)

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