Song Review!!

Song Review

Hey guys its Penelope again. It has been many years since I have seen Odysseus. The other day I came across a song that my friend showed me. I am honored to hear a song dedicated to me and my life’s struggles. The song is called “The Stranger with the Face of a Man I Loved” by Sarah Kirkland Snider. This song comes as one of many songs about my life from Snider’s new album. These songs do have words, but also have powerful orchestral instrumentals. The name of her new album is Penelope.

This song brought me mixed emotions, while I was flattered to hear a song about me and my situation at home, I was also saddened by being reminded of my long gone husband and how the people around Ithaca have much forgotten about him and the great legacy and great name he has made for himself and his family. I do believe that this song shines a bad light on Odysseus. Some lyrics imply that he has lied to me forever and that he just left me here in his palace to die. This is not true.

This song is very much about how I felt when he first left. I never thought that I would be able to get over him leaving and would never forgive him for leaving me and Telemachus in Ithaca for the past twenty years. This song represents my feelings of distrust towards Odysseus when he first left. He told me he was leaving, but once I found out he would be gone for years I felt that he had betrayed me. I am not happy that Odysseus left, but I know that he had to go fight. Any good king of land would certainly not hesitate to go off to war to insure a safer future for the children of Ithaca.  I cannot say I am happy that he had to leave, but this is the truth of the lives of all leaders. They must go to war.

The song is very powerful. My favorite part of the song is when it pauses and goes into a very scary tone. The whispering voice in the background of the song makes it even more haunting. I believe this part is meant to be very crazy and haunting because it represents how I was not fully all right after Odysseus left for war. My favorite line of the song is when a whispering voice proclaims “He left me here Half a life ago But this is where he came The stranger with the face of a man I loved”. This may not seem very important, but it illustrates that one of the last things that I have to remember my husband by is his palace and all of the fine artwork and riches that live inside of it.

That is all of the remembrance I can handle for one night. I hope that you enjoyed my post. If you are interested listen to the album Penelope by Sarah Kirkland Snider and it will give great insight as to how my life has been since Odysseus left. Thanks for reading. Good night.