The Curse by Josh Ritter

The general focus of this blog is "Burgh, bikes, bytes" and before I pursue what might seem an off-focus topic, I'd like to establish its firm provenance.

When I'm riding my bike I often listen to music, and IMO there's no better music in Pittsburgh than WYEP. Listening to WYEP while riding my bike is, for me, truly quality time and effective multitasking. So this post is a bike-n-Burgh thing.

While riding my bike over the weekend I heard WYEP play "The Curse" by Josh Ritter. It's an exceptional song that tells a story of relationships, discovery, love, change, and loss - definitely not a pop music song, which is why I heard it on WYEP and not WDVE. The song is about an archeologist and the mummy she discovers.

Liam Hurley (the drummer in Ritter's band) is also an accomplished puppeteer who created a video based on Ritter's song. (NPR story about the video). Hurley uses a new genre (music video) to present an traditional technique (puppetry) to tell an ancient story (The Mummy).

Without further ado, here's Liam Hurley's music video of Josh Ritter's The Curse: