The Social Act was one of the first local bands I interviewed when I started writing for the Illinois Entertainer. I think it was following a show they did at Park West, but after all these years, my memory could be foggy. Lead vocalist Ellis Clark was already a veteran of Chicago’s alt-rock scene by that time, having been a founding member of Epicycle. After The Social Act broke up, he went on to various projects, including solo efforts and a stint with The Handcuffs. These days, The Social Act is back in action, and Clark performs with Ary Paloma from Amazing Heeby Jeebies as a psychedelic country duo called Big Hair Big Trouble. They also front the George Harrison tribute act My Sweet George, which has performed on the Apple Jam Stage at Fest For Beatles Fans - Chicago.
“Heaven Is Waiting” is from Uber Der Berlin Wall, a 1990 ambitious 17-track album that came with an illustrated lyric booklet. Its seemingly benign sentiments are set to an incongruous and haunting arrangement that suggests God and Goth are closely related. At the very least, he has a deep voice with an ominous echo. “Heaven is waiting,” Clark/The Almighty beckons as the percolating beat continues. “All aboard the train/Heaven is waiting/No time for delay.”
When he specifically invites a Mrs. Jones to make the trip, we picture an old lady like the one Ruth Buzzy played on Rowan And Martin’s Laugh-In. It could be the song is taunting a neighborhood busybody who goes to church every day but peeks out at her neighbors from behind her living room curtains. Or maybe the final line is what’s meant to scare us the most: “We all got to go sometime.”
No comments:
Post a Comment