We have been huge fans of Field Report ever since their predecessor-in-name Conrad Plymouth’s song Fergus Falls felled us with its majestic axe in early 2011.  We still can’t resist its charms.  Last year Milwaukee songwriter/singer Chris Porterfield reconstituted his band as Field Report and decided to let his mantra be this:  I am not waiting anymore.  That same mantra became a title for a song off of their fantastic eponymously-titled 2012 album, one of our Best Albums of 2012.   Now comes (via NPR) the official video for the album’s I Am Not Waiting Anymore, as evocatively directed by Manny Marquez.  As you’ll see below, the video depicts a homeless and hurting man in various stages of his life, who is  ultimately comforted and cared for by an angel in white.  As you may know, we are grovelers for grace and redemption in song, and this video and song have it in spades.  The song’s lyrics follow the video.

Porterfield recently told NPR:  “The song is about getting over past mistakes and circumstances, and embracing our own agency in life. We all have choices to make daily. The video treatment that Manny and his team gave it created a whole new rich narrative layer while staying true to the theme, which I feel is that, when you give your ghosts permission to stop haunting, you can take the next step forward.”  Check out the video below, and make peace with or step away from any ghosts that still haunt you.

I Am Not Waiting Anymore

I am red in tooth and claw God’s favorite child, bloodied from the brawl
This bitterness was killing me all along I am not waiting anymore I am not waiting anymore

Blowing through time like nickel slots in a windowless room, on a credit card: flash it like a semaphore- a vague, drafty metaphor- I am not waiting anymore

I’ve been a keen eyed observer of the movements of concentric parts of bodies of bones and breasts and unmapped chambers of hearts

Sand in hand has turned to glass a Jeroboam filled with a life that’s passed
Toss it off the balcony and listen for the crash I am not waiting anymore

I spent eight long years working on my screenplay it’s a teen movie with young actresses that plays to the middle aged

I have read between the lines I have been wrong every time
It burned up on the alter, but I am fine
I am not waiting anymore
I am not waiting anymore
I am not waiting anymore