Jinx & Jams
Unlike some other songs I’ve written that have very esoteric origins, this song’s backstory is quite physical in nature. It was probably the first song I wrote after the first Ruby & Rose album.
A dear friend of mine who is a witch had, briefly, a jam business. I even helped her prepare one of the batches, a delightfully tart passionfruit with pimenta-de-cheiro. Very bitter and fragrant with a slight hint of spice. For most, a bit harsh to spread on toast, but wonderful for making sauces and marinating things. She also produced a Brazilian blackberry jam that was to die for. I’m quite fond of jams. I could just sit around and help my beloved friends make delicious jams, and consume these with them as they are ready. I believe that would be my ideal job, if no one would bother me for it. Unfortunately, life has a pesky habit of throwing obsessions and fixations your way, making it so that making and eating jam with dear friends suddenly becomes a much more complicated affair than it should be. What’s an innocent jam session among friends?
I stole some words off of T. S. Elliot’s “Portrait of a Lady”, but I’m sure he doesn’t mind. Besides, if you read that poem, you’ll see how the themes end up intertwining with another song or two on the same album as this one. The bleakness and feverish obsession with someone who might be a horrible, horrible idea to become obsessed with have been a mainstay in my writing, as much as it could be an embarrassment to admit that. i am unashamed, though, because at least i do not pretend to hide that proclivity of mine.
A repurposed, original Jinx & Jams jar as seen on the Make Me A Magic Spell music video.
Oh no, I think we have a problem
I think you have a problem with me
I know where the chain leads
Just as certain as the dead leaves
That pile up on your door
It leads back to you
Even still, I think we have a problem
It’s a matter of my dignity
Not a case of destination wrong
I know I’ll like it if I end up in your hand
Kneeling down in a tobacco trance
Let us take the air
Let me write about your face
The world looks good from your hands
You go down in history
And I go back to Jinx and Jams
Yeah!
Grey and smoky, yellow rosy
Spark my light with dead precision
Take your raincoat, baby
You will need the heat
I know how stone cold you are
And I’m prepared to warm you up
If I may, please lead the way
I’m overheating
Oh, God, I think we have a problem
It’s a matter of your winding ways
The stone on your ring
Matches the one I carry all around
To mark me as the chosen one for your affection
Let us take the air
Let me write about your face
The world looks good from your hands
You go down in history
And I go back to…
Let us take the air
Let me write about your face
The future looks good from your hands
You go down in history
And I go back to — come on, baby
You’re the right way
You’re the right way
You’re the right way
Let us take the air
Let me write about your face
The world looks good from your hands
You go down in history
And I go back to
Let us take the air
Let me write about your face
The future looks good from your hands
You go down in history
And I go back to
