Sunday September 27, 2020 “Proxima B” Ben Gibbard
We’ll come back to covers because they’re fun but today we are heading to the outer limits.
Ben Gibbard is better known as the founder of the group Death Cab for Cutie which ironically was a solo project that Gibbard started before there were any additional members of the band. The group's name comes from the song "Death Cab for Cutie," written by Neil Innes and Vivian Stanshall and performed by their group the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, not even going to touch that name.
In the world of urban myth piled upon conspiracy theories, I am going with the unfounded suggestion that “Death Cab for Cutie” comes from a tabloid headline chronicling the “death” of Paul McCartney supposedly in a taxi cab accident on November 9, 1966. Not to worry though, Paul is not dead, I know because I met him once, but that’s another story.
Back to Ben Gibbard, a singer songwriter with some interesting perspectives that have dealt with the afterlife, Wuthering Heights and stalking all covered in a delightful and even romantic way. This tune “Proxima B” was inspired by the 2016 discovery of an exoplanet located approximately 4.2 light-years from the earth which scientists feel has the potential to be habitable.
Maybe not the most lyrically optimistic of songs, Gibbard doesn’t frequent poppy tunes or themes, but it is still a tantalizing concept. He is a dedicated long distance runner and has completed marathons very respectably, in under four hours.
We know they're out there and scientists are getting closer to identifying where ‘there’ is.
Stay safe and well...and open to the possibility of life beyond Cleveland.
