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| Castle Beach, with my daughter, 1990 |
One: The first sounds of summer are not song, exactly,
but I can't ignore them. They are too entwined in this experience of life. My
strongest sounds of summer are primordial: waves that wash slow over quartz
pebbles and medium grain sand; chirrups of split tail birds; the breeze idling
though a full-leafed tree. After this I think of beach chatter: what you hear
when your eyes are closed in full sun, when the beach is busy, that blend of
every human social vocal. There are human musical sounds that evoke summer
things too, though, stuff you could put on a mix tape. There are:
Two: Kelly Marie. I Feel
Love. Because disco works best
in the heat, because this is the song I associate with going on the Waltzers at
the travelling fair. Sequins, candyfloss, coloured light bulbs spinning.
Walking in a wonky line with innocently sticky knees; everything smells of
sugar, onions, cigarettes, fruity lip gloss.
Three: Janice Joplin. Summertime. An obvious title, but I love it. The ease of a
fine summer and the emotive gravel of voice. There's never been a time when it
didn't work for me.
Four: Nina Simone. Feeling
Good. August 2007. My friend Ian
sang this while I was walking down the aisle of a former slate mine. Mr was
waiting at the end of that aisle. (And when his nearly bride stepped up on the
staging to stand by his side she whispered 'Don't look at me' because she
didn't want to cry. So they giggled instead.)
Five: Kate Bush. The Red
Shoes. I think this album was an
autumn release, but the eponymous song was one I danced to frequently, in my
kitchen of course, with a coffee pot close at hand, the year I was finishing my
clever degree. Dancing plus coffee equals Ideas. And did I leave college to get
myself a securely salaried job? Nope. The red shoes do not quit.
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| Castle Beach, date unknown. I grew up here :-) |
Beautiful. You realize, don't you, the dragon began in the form of that forested outcropping at Castle Beach.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post. I love the top photo, and your first entry. Music didn't arise out of a vacuum. The sounds of the seasons came first.
ReplyDeleteThe first appearance of Kate Bush on the bloghop! Awesome. Dancing plus coffee DOES produce ideas. :-)
ReplyDeleteJanis Joplin was in rare form when she did Summertime; I love that one, too.
Great post!
Cherdo
www.cherdoontheflipside.com
Lisa, this was truly lovely. I immediately got a mental image of you walking down the aisle to Ian's crooning. Excellent selections.
ReplyDeleteSounds like your mix of summer sounds should also include a coffee pot percolatin'. :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful list! And I find it wonderful how your gorgeous descriptions can evoke the songs (and sounds) in my head more effectively (and more intimately) then a linked YouTube video. That's what they call "good writin'!"
I adore Kate Bush. And of course summer and the beach go together. I don't blame you for including the sounds of nature. Good call. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post! As always, your words paint wonderful images, especially in your first entry. Beautiful! Great choices all the way around.
ReplyDeleteBeach waves - now that's a great choice. They can sound like music.
ReplyDeleteI am going to have to go and listen to all of these songs. But as it is, I really loved your descriptions. :)
ReplyDeleteDisco always takes me back to childhood, especially songs like I Feel Love. My mom worked for a record company and she'd bring home demo albums. Most of them were disco, so I spent a lot of time listening to disco in my bedroom on my record player when I was a tween.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for the fun of the blog hop and your always appreciated commentary- sorry for the group response I am having some hardware trouble that will hopefully be resolved in August- till then everything is running stubborn and slow (but at least it is running!)
ReplyDeleteAlso getting The Novel closer to being presentable :-)
Oh! You're right about the sounds of summer. I can't believe I didn't think of that. Listening to the waves on the shore as I fell asleep at my grandmother's house every summer... Aww. I miss that.
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