I heard you say you look out for the feet of clay/That someone will be falling next without the chance for last respects/You feel the disappointment when heroes go down.
We all find consolation in our own ways.
Like many others, I finished the Season 5 finale of Game of Thrones deciding not to let myself be abused by it again. Like most of the same people I'll be over it by next year, when it subjects us all to its relentless destruction of everything and everyone we love.
But then, while loading up my iPod late Sunday night, I ran across Suzanne Vega's 99.9 F°, which I hadn't listened to in probably 15 years but I still consider her most underrated album. I couldn't help listening to the whole thing again, then again. On the second time around, as I was singing along to "When Heroes Go Down," I realized that almost all the lyrics seem to be addressing Game of Thrones:
When heroes go down, they go down fast/So don't expect any time to equivocate the past.
When heroes go down, they land in flame/So don't expect any slow and careful settling of blame.
It turns out I'm not the first to wonder about her connection to GoT - she doesn't watch it, but her husband does - but I might be the first to cite this song (someone else made a nice montage of scenes with Daenerys from Seasons 1-4 set to her "The Queen and the Soldier"). It's in heavy rotation during my runs this week, as I mourn the death of [too many characters to single just one out this season].