MURMUR: MORAL KIOSK

Moral Kiosk is a song of mixed idioms and metaphors, idle hands are the devil's plaything, bull in a china shop.  And also about myths, the horae, Kahedin's magic pillow.  Not sure about the landslide bit, but there is a novel which revolves around moral themes in which one of the characters is named "Bull."  Coincidence?  Probably.  In any case, this song in chopping up its idioms creates a kind of cool pastiche.  This might be the closest look at the writing mind of Michael Stipe than any other song on Murmur.  If we branch out to the other tunes, they all contain some sort of legend or myth, and they all have their mixed idioms.  Sort of a deconstructed album.  In scattering jumbled idioms about, the mind makes a connection and in their incomplete state helps to make other connections that might not have been obvious or consciously intended.   There is definitely a concerted effort by the band to make their songs re-listenable ... you want to play them again and again and try to make as many connections as possible.  In all likelihood, this song is a response to "Turning Japanese" which has a huge amount of racist implications--an instance of cultural appropriation. That song is perhaps in the Moral Kiosk of a fun tune that is misguided (at the very least) or at the most offensively belittling to an entire culture. So are there racial implications in this song? Of course ... I'm still not convinced Stipe is not saying 'oriental head (or hair)' in the verse and he is DEFINITELY saying something about being oriental in the last break, but it is derived from a spoken word thing he used to do live ... it's indecipherable, but I have approximated for now.


MORAL KIOSK
Scratch those candles in the twilight
China shop, but instead
Idle hands are orient to her
Pass a magic pillow under head

So much more attractive inside the moral kiosk

Inside
(It's so cold)
Moral Kiosk
(It's so ... )
Fire, twilight
(dark)
Inside
(It's so cold)
Moral Kiosk
(It's so ... )
Fire, twilight
(dark)

Scratch those candles in the twilight
She was laughing like a horae
Without me in sour landslide
Take the steps to dash a roving eye

So much more attractive inside the moral kiosk

Inside
(It's so cold)
Moral Kiosk
(It's so ... )
Fire, twilight
(dark)
Inside
(It's so cold)
Moral Kiosk
(It's so ... )
Fire, twilight
(dark)

Oh!

Scratch those candles in the twilight
China shop, but instead
Idle hands are orient to her
Pass a magic pillow under head

So much more attractive inside the moral kiosk

Inside
(It's so cold)
Moral Kiosk
(It's so ... )
Fire, twilight
(dark)
Inside
(It's so cold)
Moral Kiosk
(It's so ... )
Fire, twilight
(dark)

I'm group oriental
Is I'm group oriental?

Inside
(It's so cold)
Moral Kiosk
(It's so ... )
Fire, twilight
(dark)
Inside
(It's so cold)
Moral Kiosk
(It's so ... )
Fire, twilight
(dark)


It is likely that there are 2 guitars at work here playing fairly similar lines.  The way I've laid it out here requires matching up the tab to the rhythm of the song as there are a lot of open and power chords.  The last bit is particularly tricky, so a listen is helpful.

MORAL KIOSK

Intro and Chorus:

e|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-----------------------------|

B|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-----------------------------|

G|-4-2-2-4-2-2-4-2-2-4-----------------------------|

D|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-----------------------------|

A|-------------------------------------------------|

E|-------------------------------------------------|

Verse:

e|-10-10---0-------0--------------------------------|

B|--x--x---0--0----0--0-----------------------------|

G|--7--6---1-3-3-1-1-3-3-1--------------------------|

D|--7--7---2-------2--------------------------------|

A|---------2-------2--------------------------------|

E|---------0-------0--------------------------------|

Bridge 1:

“So much more … “

e|-0-0-0-0-----------------------------------------|

B|-0-0-0-0-----------------------------------------|

G|-2-4-9-4-----------------------------------------|

D|-4-6-9-4-----------------------------------------|

A|-4-6-7-2-----------------------------------------|

E|-0-0-0-0-----------------------------------------|

Bridge 2: Pick last B chord formation

e|-0-0-0-0-0-2-------------------------------------|

B|-0-0-0-0-0-4-------------------------------------|

G|-7-6-4-7-6-4-------------------------------------|

D|-7-6-4-7-6---------------------------------------|

A|-5-4-2-5-4---------------------------------------|

E|-0-0-0-0-0---------------------------------------|

Bridge 3: x4 During final chorus

Only go to the 15/12 part 1^st and 3^rd times through

e|-0-0-0-0-0-0-15-12-15-12--------------------------|

B|-12-10-12-12-0-0-0-0-0-0--------------------------|

G|-0-0-0-0-0-0--------------------------------------|