the cape

A nice surprise when I played with the Cameron Family Singers last weekend, was learning the Guy Clark song The Cape. At first I assumed it might be about Cape Cod and rolled my eyes. It’s not about Cape Cod. A brilliant song about a kid jumping off a height, secure in the fact he is wearing a cape like a super hero. The song’s message extends into adulthood and the type of person who risks what others might not, secure as long as they have what they take in life for a cape. He further twists the allegory about how people can choose to agree with critics or sometimes grasp better mental health from one’s capacity to ignore them.

All these years the people said
He’s actin’ like a kid
He did not know he could not fly
So he did

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