I have a
plethora of songs in my head that could be in a mix like this and i even made
up a sort of 'back to mine' disc for a significant birthday a while ago and
gave each of my guests a copy as their present from me to them on that
momentous occasion, so there are many songs rich in meaning for me...
but if forced
to be pithy and choose a single track with a personal story to go with it i
think i'd go for:
"edie
(ciao baby)" by the cult
this is a
beautiful, strongly rocked out track that hit home to me as i drove up to
sydney along the dual carriageway of the hume on a magically sunny morning
about twelve or thirteen years back with the cult's 'sonic temple' in the
borrowed car's cd player turned up loud (as it should be). i was on the way to sydney for the
funeral of a friend. he had been a
closest friend of a previous partner and whom i had come to know well and love
for his own sake. he [stupidly] died in an epilleptic fit having eschewed his
medication, far far too young for the fine, razor intellected and soft-natured
man he was. i had photographed him
for a study in my photography course a few months before and i think that
showing him prints had been the last time i saw him. i knew the song well but it resonated at this playing in a
way i'd never before imagined of it.
'edie' powerfully mourns the too-early loss of edie sedgwick, a warhol
girl, with its beautiful imagery and the, to me, heart-stopping refrain, 'why
did you kiss the world goodbye?': a question to which i had no answer and which
echoed and exploded in a chasm churning inside me as i drove with tears welling
more and more until i had to pull over, play it again, and drive on to make my
last visit with his earthly frame.
i can't hear or even think of the song without it bringing to mind the
last time i saw david, in a box, in a perfect corpse pose, a peaceful visage -
a signal to me to live life fully.
ciao, baby...
Artwork by Karin
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment