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# A song by or for David
- URL: https://there-might-be-cupcakes-podcast.ghost.io/a-song-by-or-for-david/
- Published: 2023-06-20T16:20:57.000Z
- Updated: 2023-06-20T16:20:57.000Z
- Description: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
- Author: Carla Pettigrew
- Tags: Newsletter, #Migrated-1738597973835, #Import 2025-02-03 15:53

[Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin](https://bookshop.org/a/6560/9780345806567)

I was randomly listening to music from my college years while organizing my notebooks this morning. Yes, I have multiple paper notebooks—one for the podcast, one for my knitting projects, one as a commonplacebook, and one for each FrizzLit book club/class, so that’s currently a James Baldwin notebook and a Chekhov notebook—because nothing beats thick paper and my choice of pen. This morning it’s my rose gold Faber-Castell fountain pen ✒️ in navy blue ink. Fancy pants.

Ramble ramble. Anyway, I had a lovely synchronicity this morning. Everything’s connected, I always say. I was taking notes from last night’s class on Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room, where we discussed the first part of Part 2, and how there is a…let me be delicate so there are no spoilers…difficulty to let go and love. Push-pull, if you will. And then I heard the protagonist talking to me through my earbuds. It was eerie.

So hopefully Mr. William Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins will encourage you to read this beautiful, tragic novel about someone who doesn’t know how to love. Baldwin’s novels are all about love in some fashion; this one is…well, every coin has two sides, right?

> **Hummer**  
>  
> Faith lies in  
> The ways of sin  
> I chased the charmed  
> But I don't want them anymore  
>  
> And in their eyes I was alive  
> A fool's disguise  
> Take me away from you  
>  
> Shame my tongue  
> Fat with promise all along  
> But when I woke up from that sleep  
> I was happier than I'd ever been  
>  
> When you decide  
> That your life is a prize  
> Renew and revive  
> It's alright honey  
> It's alright, yeah  
>  
> Happiness will make you wonder  
> Will I feel OK?  
> It scares the disenchanted  
> Far away  
>  
> Yeah I want something new  
> But what am I supposed to do about you  
> Yeah I love you, it's true  
>  
> Life's a bummer  
> When you're a hummer  
> Life's a drag  
>  
> Ask yourself a question  
> Anyone but me  
> I ain't free  
>  
> Ask yourself a question  
> Anyone but me  
> I ain't free  
>  
> Do you feel  
> Love is real?

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