'Woman of Mystery'

Bombs were falling on Baghdad.

And I was safe inside the Larkin, in Albany. On a Thursday night in March. Open mic night.

Mother Judge was in the house. Took the stage. First at bat.

She told us that she'd just written a song.

'Woman of Mystery.'

"Revelation 17," she said.

The beast that was not came and in the hour of blame burst into purple flames, she sang.

Oh! Great Babylon! Where have my suitors gone?

Babylon.

So of course, I went home and looked up Revelation 17.

And there it was.

Babylon.

Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.

The Whore of Babylon.

And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Woman of Mystery.

Wow. It was like someone had written Around2 2000 years before me. In eighteen verses.

At that point - we're talking somewhere in March or April - both versions of Around were finished. Would have been nice to have been able to throw in that allusion to Rev 17 during their creation, but I didn't want to go back and muck up anything after the fact.

So I sat it out for a couple of months. Eventually I even contemplated making 'Babylon' the title of the record. Maybe include Rev 17 in the liner notes. Artsy fartsy.

She cut my motor clean

Later that year: August.

The night before the first of two rehearsals with Matt and Bob, I'm riffing on something on the Backpacker. Reminds me of AC/DC.

She was a fast machine, she cut my motor clean...

AC/DC if Angus Young played a Backpacker.

I bring it down to the key of E. And yet again, leaping out of my mouth before I really know what I'm saying:

Hallelujah. Glory glory.

Where did that come from?

Not so much AC/DC anymore.

But I knew this might be something that could work as a seventh track on the record.

So I went to the Bible.

And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

Revelation 17.

And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel?

Knockin' me out with those American thighs.

And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.

And she swings her behind like she knows it's too big for the Planet Earth.

And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Babylon? Baghdad? Washington?

Unreal.

The rest pretty much wrote itself.

(And thanks to John the Revelator, it really was already written.)

Kept it short and simple so I wouldn't have much to teach Matt and Bob the next day.

Revelation 17

1. And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2. With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5. And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
7. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
8. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
9. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
11. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
14. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
15. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
16. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
17. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

See also: Woman of Mystery, by the great Motherjudge.

Peace.