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The Rita Effect

from A Better Version of the Truth by Bow Thayer

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about

Sometimes the most mundane event can spark an epic adventure. We have all heard about the “ripple effect” or the “butterfly effect” - how the flicker of a butterfly wing can cause a typhoon on the other side of the planet and so forth. The Rita Effect lends itself to this idea. If I was to pinpoint a single moment that led me out of city life to the bucolic scenery in central Vermont, it would be my frustration while dealing with finding a parking spot in Cambridge’s Central Square. My cohorts and I always referred to the ever-elusive meter maid as Rita in tribute to the wonderful Lennon-McCartney title on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band. So thanks to “Miss Rita” I pulled up my roots, re-nested on the side of a mountain and my life took off….

lyrics

I finally found a spot in the city parking lot
I took out a quarter and put it in the slot
Of the blinking meter but it got stuck
I said to Miss Rita, can you put away your book?
At least hold off on the flatbed truck
While I go down to the grocer and change my last buck
The air got heavy and the day got long
When I got back my wheels’ were gone

So we moved up here and had a couple of kids
With a couple of misses and a couple of hits
A couple of holes and red-knuckled fists
Moments of hell, moments of bliss
But I never got a handle on what went down
Never got the lowdown on what went wrong
Everything I lost is only what I’ve found
I’m glad I gave it up for the fertile ground

I’ve been thinking in terms of circles a lot
Looking for the hands on the digital clock
Thinking and blinking and a ticking the talk
Wondering what we’re gonna do if time just stops
I’m pretty sure it doesn’t, what if we’re just stuck?
Going around in circles like a spinning top
You start to feel the warble and just before you drop
Someone comes along to pick you back up

So we go back to the beginning at the end of the line
Am I closer to birth or closer to dying?
Do I give up the hard work or keep on trying?
I like to smoke a bit of pot, drink a little wine
I try to get sober, I try and stay high
Try and laugh a little more than I cry
Maybe share a bigger portion of the piece of the pie
It’s a natural conundrum of the average guy
A natural conundrum of the average guy

At the end of our days
Will we burn out like a candle dripping hot wax on the cold ground?
Will we fade away?
Will there be a light on whenever we get home?
Will it all be explained?

You better hold on and don’t let go
It’s a mighty long road and it got holes
It‘s got ice and it’s got snow
Detours where you wouldn’t want to go
It winds and grinds and rolls and flows
It winds and grinds and rolls and flows

Sometimes you follow
Sometimes you’re the leader
But we all got to pay the same damn meter
It got me thinking back to good old Rita
If it wasn’t for her, I’d never be here
If it wasn’t for Rita, I’d never be here

credits

from A Better Version of the Truth, released November 9, 2018

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Bow Thayer Vermont

Bow Thayer's music features his custom Bojotar and fuses experimental elements with Americana, rock, bluegrass, and folk, resulting in a singular, progressive sound that has earned descriptions ranging from “Green Mountain soul” to “modern backwoods music.” American Songwriter says this "onetime Levon Helm compatriot is the best artist to come from New England in recent years." ... more

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