in my solitude (because everybody else is asleep, including the cats), it feels so good to listen to yesteryear's music. just now i'm about to hear perry como's 'ave maria'. before him, there were the rolling stones with 'as tears go by' and janis ian with 'at seventeen'.
i remember my father with 'ave maria' (he sang this during the weddings of my older cousins, but he vowed not to sing on his children's weddings.
) as for the two other songs, they simply awaken some primeval feelings in me that i can't put my finger on...
the lyrics:
As Tears Go By
(M. Jagger/K. Richards/A. Oldham)It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch the children play
Smiling faces I can see
But not for me
I sit and watch
As tears go by
My riches can't buy everything
I want to hear the children sing
All I hear is the sound
Of rain falling on the ground
I sit and watch
As tears go by
It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch the children play
Doin things I used to do
They think are new
I sit and watch
As tears go by
At Seventeen
(Janis Ian)I learned the truth at seventeen
That love was meant for beauty queens
And high school girls with clear-skinned smiles
Who married young and then retired.
The valentines I never knew
The Friday night charades of youth
Were spent on one more beautiful
At seventeen I learned the truth.
And those of us with ravaged faces
Lacking in the social graces
Desperately remained at home
Inventing lovers on the phone
Who called to say come dance with me
and murmured vague obscenities
It isn't all it seems
At seventeen.
A brown eyed girl in hand-me-downs
Whose name I never could pronounce
said, Pity please the ones who serve
They only get what they deserve.
The rich-relationed hometown queen
who marries into what she needs
With a guarantee of company
And haven for the elderly.
Remember those who win the game
Lose the love they sought to gain
Indebentures of quality
And dubious integrity.
Their small town eyes will gape at you
in dull surprise when payment due
Exceeds accounts received
At seventeen.
To those of us who know the pain
Of valentines that never came,
And those whose names were never called
When choosing sides for basketball.
It was long ago and far away
The world was younger than today
And dreams were all they gave for free
To ugly duckling girls like me.
We all play the game and when we dare
To cheat ourselves at solitaire
Inventing lovers on the phone
Repenting other lives unknown
That call and say, come dance with me
and murmur vague obscenities
At ugly girls like me
At seventeen.
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