music video

Song Lyric Sunday Theme 2 – 9 – 18 FAST CARS by Tracy Chapman

/ Tournesol / 9 Comments

Songs are like time charts mapping out life’s milestones, joys and heartbreaks. The joys remembered the first bars of a song and our brain is wisked back in time with the same elation.  The heartbreaks pull you back  with a heavy heart but not a hopeless one, since you did manage to survive it.  The hard lessons in life are marked by songs as well…so much of our lives are frozen in capsules with musical notes.  Wouldn’t it be amazing writing one’s autobiography through song alone?  And with technology today, the visual would be outstanding!

The first thought that came to mind when I saw the theme for this week’s SongLyricSunday was Fast Cars by Tracy Chapman. The time was February 1995.  It was at that time a 28 year relationship fell apart.  It was a difficult time for all…especially our children.  Teens need stability in their lives and they were being served a huge bowl of chaos.

I had  had Tracy Chapman’s CD for a few years even though it came out in 1988.  I tend to find some singers or bands when I need “that sound” or “that song”. Good music is timeless!   Tracy Chapman, for me, was like my Phoebe Snow.  Their lyrics moved me every time I played them.

I always listened to music but around that time, they kept me company, wrapped me up in a comfy duvet and when it was hot and uncomfortable they felt like Egyptian cotton. I worked at two part time jobs then, and was completing my degree evenings as well. So I lived in my car a lot!  Tracy Chapman carried me through some difficult passages of but also sang along with me as I drove on the highway towards my new life. Fast Cars spoke to me about me and my inner self…transforming slowly.   We were a team and finally, I “…I had a feeling that I belonged, I could be someone…”  Tracy helped me turn the wheel on my new route.

I hope you enjoy this song and if you do, perhaps have another listen to that entire album…each song hits the heartstrings.

 

[Verse 1]
You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere
Any place is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we’ll make something
Me myself I got nothing to prove

[Verse 2]
You got a fast car
I got a plan to get us outta here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
Won’t have to drive too far
Just ‘cross the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
Finally see what it means to be living

[Verse 3]
See my old man’s got a problem
He lives with a bottle that’s the way it is
I say his body’s too old for working
His body’s too young to looking like his
My momma went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
Said somebody’s gotta take care of him
So I quit school and that’s what I did
[Pre-Chorus]
You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so we can fly away?
We gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way

[Chorus]
So I remember when we were driving
Driving in your car
Speed so fast it felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arms felt nice wrapped around my shoulders and
I-I had a feeling that I belonged
I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

[Verse 4]
You got a fast car
We go cruising to entertain ourselves
You still ain’t got a job
I work in a market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
You’ll find work and I’ll get promoted
We’ll move out of the shelter
Buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs

[Chorus]
So I remember when we were driving
Driving in your car
Speed so fast it felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arms felt nice wrapped around my shoulders and
I-I had a feeling that I belonged
I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

 

[Verse 5]
You got a fast car
I’ve got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bars
See more your friends than you do your kids
I always hoped for better
That maybe together you and me would find it
I got no plans I ain’t going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving

[Chorus]
So remember when we were driving
Driving in your car
Speed so fast it felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arms felt nice wrapped around my shoulders and
I-I had a feeling that I belonged
I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

[Outro]
You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so you can fly away?
You gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way

© Tracy Chapman ‘1988

https://genius.com/Tracy-chapman-fast-car-lyrics

 

Posted for Song Lyric Sunday Theme 9 2 18  

those empty rooms (haibun)

/ Tournesol / 4 Comments

Today I sit thinking of my cousin who is like my kid brother. He lost his lifelong partner last Wednesday. I’m a phone call away and an hour and a half drive away but still… For now there will be children and grandchildren visiting; aunts, uncles and cousins too and friends bringing him comfort as well as a casserole or two. The busyness goes on like a whirlwind for those who grieve and then after the services it slowly stops. Let the grief truly begin. There is no right way or wrong way to mourn, nor is there an expiry date…no indeed, it stays fresh, raw and painful for the time it does…and I know he aches today and will tomorrow. His children and grandchildren will miss their mother and grandmaman who lived life with such passion. She laughed with such enthusiasm and loved with all her heart.

(American Sentence)

Walking through each empty room, he looks longingly theough his liquid blues.

©Tournesol’17/12/08

Daily Moments December 8, 2017

The Friday Reminder for Saturday and Prompt SoCS “liqu”

Sweet dreams of love (solo no renga)

/ Tournesol / 2 Comments

decades
of love affairs
reminiscent dreams

Marvin Gaye reminding me
how sweet it is

thinking of you
lightheaded and giddy
breathing in your scent

help me before I fall in love
all over again

melancholy dreams
a case of you so bittersweet
my soul still bleeds

©Tournesol’17/10/28

Daily Moments – October 18/17 -Reflections of loves come and gone, sweet love and bitter heartbreaks

under a spell (Friday Music @MindlovemiserysMenagerie)

/ Tournesol / 4 Comments

At  Friday Music we are given a beautiful Québecois song for our inspiration. The song is even more special since it is by a Québecois singer/songwriter,  Alex Nevsky [formerly Alexandre Parent) from Granby, Québec which is in the Eastern Townships where I was raised. I decided to write a haibun concluded with a tanka. I have not added the English translation as the literary translation does not do the song justice.

Jeter un sort, par Alex Nevsky Cœur de pirate

Lyrics for Jeter un sort by Alex Nevsky feat. Cœur de pirate

Qu’importe le temps et les promesses
Si longtemps ce n’est que maladresse
Et j’attends de toujours ton regard

Qui se pose sur mes lèvres en retard

Qu’importe le bleu de l’océan
C’est le vide que je vois finalement
Pris ici et rien pour s’arracher
De nos coeurs si intimement liés

J’ai jeté un sort
Sans trop savoir ce qu’on deviendrait
Corps à corps on disparait
À travers l’aurevoir

Et j’ai tout donné à cette cause
Cette fois c’est assez
Laisse nous au moins partir
Laisse nous au moins vivre

Laisse moi au moins vivre

Qu’importe la beauté du pardon
Aucun n’oiseaux ne mourra si nous partons
Chacun pour soi vers les jours malheureux
Tout nous déçois, mais veux-ton vraiment mieux

Est-ce nécessaire de regarder
Loin devant soi
Pour comprendre qu’on c’est égaré
L’horizon n’est peut-être plus dans tes yeux
De précision, mais plus jamais de feux

J’ai jeté un sort
Sans trop savoir ce qu’on deviendrait
Corps à corps on disparait
À travers l’aurevoir

Et j’ai tout donné à cette cause
Cette fois c’est assez
Laisse nous au moins partir
Laisse nous au moins vivre

J’ai jeté un sort
Sans trop savoir ce qu’on deviendrait
Corps à corps on disparait
À travers l’aurevoir

Et j’ai tout donné à cette cause
Cette fois c’est assez
Laisse nous au moins partir
Laisse nous au moins vivre

Laisse moi amusions vivre

Sitting in the café, she lifted her head and rubbed her neck from writing for so long. Her eyes turned towards the fireplace. A young man was reading, with his head leaning against the ear of the armchair. She could vaguely read the title…Bonheur d’O… She wondered if this was fate…this handsome man reading one of her favourite love stories by Gabrielle Roy, Bonheur d’Occasion.

She lowered her head slightly to return to her writing and only slightly tilted her head…she was fascinated to see a man read such a romantic book and now she was curious. Was he a professor or a grad student?

Then he turned towards her direction…

plunged in liquid blues
swimming in transcendence
breath held a moment
time’s at a standstill
bliss multiplied by two

©Tournesol’17/04/08

More about Gabrielle Roy in English from The Canadian Encyclopedia 

Alex Nevsky

Written for Friday Music at MindLoveMiserysMenagerie

summertime (haibun)

/ Tournesol / Leave a comment
Image result for trapeze sailing

Sailing Magazine

 

They felt like lovers again for twenty four hours. The children were at their Nanny’s and so they took advantage of the sunny day with that steady breeze from the South. Sailing in the morning was heaven. The breeze picked up in the afternoon, so they suited up with their trapeze harnesses for an afternoon of pure exciting bliss. They had smeared their bodies with sun block but she ran into a surprise that evening.

sailing rendezvous
babe swaddled in her harness
sun kissed face
painfully learns the hard way
her lips were on fire!

It was only then, she discovered Zinc clear sunscreen SPF 50 for lips was the wise choice for sailors and lifeguards.  They still went to Old Montreal for a late night dinner, walking on the cobblestone streets and when the fire started to be unmanageable, he searched among pharmacies to give her relief.

cooling her lips
serves her ice chips all night long
warming her heart

© Tournesol’17/01/26

Carpe Diem #1132 ‘The wrong answer will indicate the right one.’ (Petrus)

I was going to share Kiss of Fire by Louis Armstrong, but I discovered this singer last week and Summertime seems appropriate for this haibun.  I hope you will enjoy Andrea Motis as much as I do

divine love (troibun)

/ Tournesol / Leave a comment

Listening to Al Green’s lyrics totally inspired her. For the first time she listened to these same words she’s played for years but today, she heard a different meaning. Not willing to share with anyone in case they would think she had lost her mind…in case they would say she was going to too many retreats to see her Guru, Amma, has somehow washed her brain and she was thinking only of compassion and The Great Spirit.

No, she could not share with her family and friends…but she was bursting with so much love…

speaking to her
for the first time she felt,
that warm glow inside

speaking to her
divine declarations
professing His Love

for the first time she felt,
she will never ever
be alone again

that warm glow inside
love so pure filled with grace
fed her soul

There were times she was distant although she believed, she was led astray. There were times she felt empty and that glow was missing for many years. How beautiful to hear this song and feel her skin tingle, her heart so light filled with such a pure love only babes must feel when mothers nurse them.

despite her absence
He would never give up on her
pledged His endless love

Feeling blessed with this divine unconditional love that nurtures her abundantly.

©Touronesol’17/01/4

Daily Moments – divine love (troibun) January 4, 2017

AL GREEN LYRICS
“Let’s Stay Together”
I’m… I’m so in love with you
Whatever you want to do
Is all right with me…
‘Cause you… make me feel so brand new…
And I… want to spend my life with you…

Let me say that since, baby
Since we’ve been together
Ooo…
Loving you forever
Is what I… need…
Let me… be the one you come running to…
I’ll… never be untrue…

Ooo baby…
Let’s, let’s stay together…
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad
Ooooo… Oooo… Yeah…
Whether times are good or bad, happy or sad

Why, somebody, why people break-up
Ohhh, turn around and make-up
I just can’t deceive
You’d… never do that to me… (would you, baby?)
Stayin’ around you is all I see

(Here’s what I want us to do)

Let’s, we oughta stay together
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad… Come on

Let’s, let’s stay together
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad
And if you mess with me, you can’t set me free

Woman let’s, let’s stay together
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad
And if you mess with me, you can’t set me free

Woman let’s, let’s stay together
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad
And if you mess with me, oh woman, don’t go away

Let’s, let’s stay together
Loving you whether, whether
Times are good or bad, happy or sad
And if you do me wrong, I just might leave you alone