Matrimony Looms

I'm down to my final days as a single man. Oddly, and I say this with a bit of hesitation, something of a stammer, and a hint of a shudder, I'm not feeling too nervous about it. I'm not sure if this means that the reality of it hasn't sunk in: what with the herculean maneuvers it's taken to get this close to actually making this thing legal, and the fact that the wedding itself is a very small, very simple affair, forgetting that I'm getting married, and all that entails, I suppose, is a possibility.

As the clock ticks, and as we wait for the taxi that will take us to the train that will take us to the plane that will take me to a pretty radical shift in my person, I'm sitting here listening to music, in search for something that'll make the moment poignant, something that speaks. Is it, perhaps, the Velvet Underground's 'Heroin'? Perhaps. The Twilight Singers' 'Follow You Down'? Maybe. Super Furry Animals' 'Herman Loves Pauline'? Pretty close. But no ... it's none of these great songs. The song of the moment, our song -- mine and Katrien -- the one we sing while washing dishes and folding laundry and all those other banal moments of the purest love, is Whiskeytown's 'Matrimony'.

I've been saving this dress for my wedding day
Mama wouldn't have it any other way
She says when she married her waist was 23
I guess I'll never wear it anyway

I don't believe I plan to marry
Although I cannot explain exactly why
Somehow it seems to me that matrimony is misery
Simply a faster way to die

Saving all my money for my wedding day
You know my mama wouldn't have it any other way
She says when she married she didn't have a dime
I guess I'll spend that money some other way

I don't believe I care to marry
Although I cannot say exactly why
Somehow it seems to me that matrimony is misery
Simply a faster way to die

I've been saving my best thing for my wedding day
Because my papa wouldn't have it any other way
He says if I lose it early I'd have thrown my life away
But I swear I'll use my cherry my own way

I don't believe I care to marry
Although I cannot explain exactly why
Somehow it seems that matrimony is misery
Simply a faster way to die

So ... off to Belgium for the week. I'll check in periodically.