10-2-11 - "Ulysses" ~ Josh Garrels

My cousin posted this on Facebook the other day (yes, Facebook is evil, but we're in too deep at this point... discussion for another day.)  The song is rife with intricately woven metaphors drawn from Homer's "Odyssey" - 'Ulysses' is the Latin version of the Greek name 'Odysseus'.  If you've read the Odyssey, seen a film adaptation, or are otherwise at least familiar with the tale, you'll catch the aspects of the epic tale... storms, shipwrecks, and sirens.


The lyrics about being tied to the mast and pointed home resonate.  If you don't know of the "Siren song", it was an irresistible melody sung by the mythical creatures which lured many sailors and their ships to doom, smashed on the rocks of the Sirens' lair.  Odysseus had his crew plug their ears so as to not be lured by the song and lash him to the mast so he could hear the song but not act on the temptation to seek it out.  Thus, he heard the beauty of the song without succumbing to the trap.


You know by now that I'm a piano guy, and I love the album version which is piano-driven, but I just might love the acoustic guitar version with no other instrumentation even more.  That's the version I heard first, and it lets the emotion in the vocals really shine through... let me know which you prefer.


Album Version:

Live in NYC:

"So tie me to the mast of this old ship and point me home…"