Tag Archives: Nostalgia

The Saturday Shed: Summer of ‘69

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Image source: pixabay.com

Flash Fiction from the Saturday Shed.

Fred shut the windows and drew the curtains, but the sound of next door’s party still thundered around the room.

“Bloody kids,” he muttered as he slid under the duvet.

Joan appeared in the doorway. “You’re only young once, darling. And they did give us plenty of warning.”

“When did they get so loud?” grumbled Fred. “I’m sure we were never that annoying when we were teenagers.”

“I think we were,” Joan smiled. “Remember the night we met?”

“That was over fifty years ago. But how could I forget?” Fred tucked his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. “Me and my mates were passing by, we heard the music—”

“Courtesy of my old Dansette record player.” Joan kicked off her slippers.

“And we snuck in the back door.”

“Where my then-boyfriend tried to throw you out.”

“But someone locked him in the kitchen cupboard,” Fred laughed at the memory.

“That was my sister,” Joan admitted. “And it was her fault what happened next.”

“She winked and gave me a glass of cider,” said Fred. “Strong enough to strip paint.” He sniffed as if he could still smell the tart aroma of fermenting apples. “And you and I ended up in a bedroom, snogging under a pile of coats and jackets.”

“Glory days,” said Joan, draping her dressing gown over the foot of the bed. “No point trying to sleep. We might as well read.” She picked up a Jilly Cooper paperback.

“I have a better idea.” Fred got up and padded out of the room. He returned five minutes later with a wicked grin, an armful of coats and two cans of Blackthorn. “Fancy reliving the past?”

“And we can go all the way tonight!” The book and Joan’s nightdress hit the floor.

Song Lyric Sunday: Verdi Cries

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Jim Adams is the host for Song Lyric Sunday. This week’s theme is a SONG that made a great closing track on an album.

In 1987, 10,000 Maniacs released their third studio album, In My Tribe. This was categorised as alternative rock, folk rock, and soft rock. And the music is atmospheric and, well, pretty. Then come the lyrics.

This album references child abuse, the Beat Generation, depression, illiteracy, failing relationships, alcoholism, peace, war, a traditional wedding with a feminist twist, greed and exploitation, and homelessness. Not bad for 46 minutes of music.

But it’s the last track that packs a punch. Verdi Cries is an introspective, semi-autobiographical song, dripping with nostalgia and a yearning for times past.

And here’s the inspiration behind this haunting piece of music.

"When I was a tender ingénue, when I was 20 years old, I was taken to Spain for the first time, to the wild frontier, and I had a very romantic holiday in the Balearic Islands, the island of Mallorca. And we stayed in a little hotel perched on this massive rock overlooking the Mediterranean. I repeat, very romantic.

There were a lot of different Europeans there, mostly Germans, Dutch, French, English, and it was very E.M. Forster, you know, the communal dining area on the terrace and the communal bathroom, one per floor, and the walls were very thin.

There was one older German gentleman who seemed a bit obsessed with one opera, which he listened to over and over. Every morning he would listen to this opera. And, I don't know about you, but certain songs can be very evocative of periods in my life and that first trip to Spain is always associated in my mind with Verdi's opera 'Aida' and the song that I wrote after called 'Verdi Cries.'"

                         Natalie Merchant, VH1 Storytellers Special, 1998

The man in 119 takes his tea all alone.
Mornings we all rise to wireless Verdi cries.
I’m hearing opera through the door.
The souls of men and women impassioned all.
Their voices climb and fall; battle trumpets call.
I fill the bath and climb inside, singing.

He will not touch their pastry
but every day they bring him more.
Gold from the breakfast tray, I steal them all away
and then go and eat them on the shore.

I draw a jackal-headed woman in the sand,
sing of a lover’s fate sealed by jealous hate
then wash my hand in the sea.
With just three days more I’d have just about learned the entire score to Aida.

Holidays must end as you know.
All is memory taken home with me:
the opera, the stolen tea, the sand drawing, the verging sea, all years ago.

Songwriter(s): Natalie Merchant
© Elektra/Asylum Records and WEA International.

PS Their cover of Peace Train by Cat Stevens was cut from later US CD releases. When Stevens, now a Muslim convert under the name of Yusuf Islam, appeared to condone the fatwa against Salman Rushdie. How odd that someone could write a song about peace and then support a call to murder.

PPS For REM fans, Michael Stipe provided vocals on A Campfire Song. (That’s the one about greed and exploitation).