It's still rather magical to me how the internet can take me from here to here to here and then instantly, transcendently, bam! To 1987, age 20 (half my lifetime ago), wandering through campus in the drizzle and the dark at 2 am with It'll End in Tears by This Mortal Coil in my Walkman, mourning (to put it mildly) my lost love up on the 9th floor of Tingelstad Hall. Ironically, this music helped me keep my sanity during one of the lowest, most self-absorbed times of my life. The raw power of music in youth. The exponential power of the world wide web. Here's to the future: Gary (my lost love and now my found friend) and his wife Allison are expecting twins!
lyrics to "Song to the Siren" by This Mortal Coil
On the floating, shapeless oceans
I did all my best to smile
til your singing eyes and fingers
drew me loving into your eyes.
And you sang "Sail to me, sail to me;
Let me enfold you."
Here I am, here I am waiting to hold you.
Did I dream you dreamed about me?
Were you here when I was full sail?
Now my foolish boat is leaning, broken love lost on your rocks.
For you sang, "Touch me not, touch me not, come back tomorrow."
Oh my heart, oh my heart shies from the sorrow.
I'm as puzzled as a newborn child.
I'm as riddled as the tide.
Should I stand amid the breakers?
Or shall I lie with death my bride?
Hear me sing: "Swim to me, swim to me, let me enfold you."
"Here I am. Here I am, waiting to hold you."
2 comments:
I listen to a lot of music, and still, the lyrics “did I dream you dreamed about me” are among the most haunting (in a good way) I know. I love when a song can take you back in time and am always amazed by how vivid the past can be. Associations between music and memory are particularly strong for me; that whole It’ll End In Tears album (see, we really did listen to it in the 80’s) is better than a picture scrapbook for me.
Speaking of song lyrics about dreaming, I’m also very fond of Built to Spill’s “Car” in which he pleads “I want to see…movies of my dreams” over and over, which is a sentiment I’ve had from time to time as well.
Many thanks for the opportunity to reminisce and sorry again about the long walks in the cold rain listening to This Mortal Coil (at least the music was good).
gary
Thank YOU!
I'll check out "Car" tonight, right after I have one more listen to "Song to the Siren".......
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