|
By Just Some Girl Date: 2005 Sep 04 Comment on this Work [[2005.09.04.14.58.18967]] |
|
Do you know that feeling when you realize there has been a distant memory scratching at the surface of now, awaiting its chance to come back to the forefront? During the summers of 1997, 1998 and 1999, I traveled the western part of the country with the one person who would have the greatest influence on me. He always brought mix-tapes along; often named after a part of the country he loved, like "Mt. Shasta Mix" or "Twenty-Seven Songs for Mt. Whitney". Many of the tapes had been made long before we met, but they held significance for him. I learned each song, and they became the soundtrack for our journeys. What I didn't expect was that they would play in my mind like some fractured Ally McBeal sequence for years to come. I remember that during the summer of 1998, we were driving through the California desert, toward Death Valley. The windows were down; the hot, dry air swept us with a constant breath as we gazed at the sand dunes. The Pretenders lulled me to a near-drunken state of bliss with one of their songs. The words of which I share with you now, as a dedication to a distant memory... I FOUND A PICTURE OF YOU, OH OH OH OH WHAT HIJACKED MY WORLD THAT NIGHT TO A PLACE IN THE PAST WE'VE BEEN CAST OUT OF? OH OH OH OH NOW WE'RE BACK IN THE FIGHT WE'RE BACK ON THE TRAIN OH, BACK ON THE CHAIN GANG A CIRCUMSTANCE BEYOND OUR CONTROL, OH OH OH OH THE PHONE, THE TV AND THE NEWS OF THE WORLD GOT IN THE HOUSE LIKE A PIGEON FROM HELL, OH OH OH OH THREW SAND IN OUR EYES AND DESCENDED LIKE FLIES PUT US BACK ON THE TRAIN OH, BACK ON THE CHAIN GANG THE POWERS THAT BE THAT FORCE US TO LIVE LIKE WE DO BRING ME TO MY KNEES WHEN I SEE WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO YOU BUT I'LL DIE AS I STAND HERE TODAY KNOWING THAT DEEP IN MY HEART THEY'LL FALL TO RUIN ONE DAY FOR MAKING US PART I FOUND A PICTURE OF YOU, OH OH OH OH THOSE WERE THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF MY LIFE LIKE A BREAK IN THE BATTLE WAS YOUR PART, OH OH OH OH IN THE WRETCHED LIFE OF A LONELY HEART NOW WE'RE BACK ON THE TRAIN OH, BACK ON THE CHAIN GANG |