Last week was a pretty deep dive into an obscure pastime, so let’s make this week the opposite: a shallow dive into a universal emotion. Namely, love.
On May 13, 1924, a woman named Zelmyra married a man named Herbert in North Carolina. They remained married until 2011, when Herbert died at age 105. Zelmyra followed two years later, also at 105.
That’s 86 years of marriage. To put that into more perspective than you likely require, here are some facts:
- When the Second World War ended, they had already been married more than 20 years.
- As of this writing, Morgan Freeman has not been alive for 86 years. And he seems old enough to basically be immortal.
- When the first astronauts walked on the moon, Zelmyra and Herbert had already been married for 45 years. In fact, their wedding day was a full six years before Neil Armstrong was even born.
- On Zelmyra and Herbert’s wedding day, the country of East Germany wouldn’t exist for another 25 years. By the time the Berlin wall fell and East Germany was no more, Zelmyra and Herbert still had 21 years left together.
- In their home state of North Carolina, public schools were still segregated on Zelmyra and Herbert’s wedding day. In 2010, the first Black president of the United States wrote them a commendation for their enduring relationship.
Once their marriage was certified by Guinness, the couple were asked the usual ridiculous, unanswerable questions of the “what’s your secret” variety. The answers were simple, and included:
- Marriage is not a contest. Never keep score.
- There’s no secret. We just did what was needed for each other and our family.
- We are individuals, but accomplish more together.
- We were best friends before we were married. A friend is for life.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. The song’s heartbeat is the rhythmic, one-note bounce on the bass that lasts virtually the entire length of the track.
2. Thirdstory’s strength is their vocal harmonies. I first encountered them through a video of their cover of a Sufjan Stevens song, in which the main captivating feature was the blend of their voices. Each of the three singers is an individual, but they accomplish more together.
3. The build-up that begins at 2:30 is intense, but rather than bursting into some mind-bending outro, it goes back to the steady, heartbeat rhythm that’s carried the song all along.
Recommended listening activity:
Going on a date together in the oldest clothes each of you owns.