A lover’s charm －恋人のチャーム－

For those of you who have a partner, can you still remember your first date?  Do you have a story about how your romance blossomed?  Did your eyes meet across a crowded room?  Were you initially more attracted to his or her best friend instead?  In the beginning, were there flowers and chocolates?  Did you chat your partner up with a line like, “What’s a girl/guy like you doing in a place like this?”

My wife still teases me because early on in our relationship, while out on a date, I stopped off at a convenience store and we stood outside, drinking orange juice.  Apparently, she was imagining candle-lit dinners instead.

Here is another way to start off a romance: “Love me, or die!”

I recently heard this song by C.W. Stoneking, an Australian blues musician, although it was first released in 2008.  It tells the story of a man who uses a voodoo charm, or a kind of dark magic spell, to capture the heart of the one he loves.  But, perhaps predictably, not everything works out as intended.  Here is part of the lyrics, with a description of vocabulary at the end.  

An extract from “The love me or die”, by C.W. Stoneking:

I studied evil, I can’t deny,　
It was a voodoo charm called the “Love me or die”. 

I will relate,
The hideous consequence of my mistake,　
All enslaved to passing desire,　
Making the dreaded “Love me or die”.

I said, “Good morning,” I tipped my hat,
All the while I was cunning like a rat.
Smiling gaily, I looked in her eye,
And felt in my pocket the love me or die.

Oh Matilda, darling,　
Why {don’t you} take my wedding ring?

Word broke through the town,
That a fever {had struck} Matilda down,
{At} 9.30 the doctor {arrived},
The priest {came} running, {at} quarter to five.

Standing in the weeds early next day,　
I heard the meat wagon rolling away.　
I saw Matilda laying in the back,　
Her mother wearing a suit of black.

Sound the trumpet, and bang the drum,
I wait for {my} judgement to come.

Flames of Hell lick at my feet.
In the shadow of the jungle I feel the heat.
Matilda’s waiting in Hell for me too,
All {because} she died from bad voodoo.

So when he used the “Love me or die” voodoo charm on her, she didn’t fall in love with him.  She died.  And now he’s waiting to join her in Hell.

Maybe he should have just invited her out to a convenience store for a date instead.

Vocabulary:

charm – attractiveness; romantic appeal

a charm – a magic spell or something with special supernatural power

to chat someone up –to attract someone romantically using skilful speech

to tease someone – to make fun of someone; to laugh at someone’s expense

voodoo – a religion or system of beliefs based in the Caribbean, in which magic and spirit possession are important

to be enslaved – to be made into a slave; to be brought completely under the control of something or someone

hideous – horrible; dreadful

to tip one’s hat – to raise or touch one’s hat as a form of greeting

cunning – sly or intelligent in a tricky way

gaily – cheerfully; brightly

a priest – a religious official

a weed – a kind of plant which is considered undesirable

a meat wagon – This is a slang term for either an ambulance or a hearse; a car which carries the bodies of dead people

judgement – a ruling on someone’s behaviour by, for example, a judge in a trial or God after death