Comfort food.
After work the other day, I needed to unwind. I haven't been feeling so hot this week, so I felt the need to escape into myself for a bit.
Sometimes I turn to comfort food. A bowl of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Deluxe can do wonders for the soul (let's not discuss the waistline, shall we?).
But it's not only comfort food. Sometimes it can be comfort music. There's a few artists that, over the years, have become a refuge for me.
Music can transport us to earlier times. Places, people, feelings and emotions.
So I grabbed the iPod from the car and retreated into the music of a flame that goes back to the eighties: Laura Branigan. (Martin is rolling his eyes right about now. He's knows what's coming next.)
I have a Branigan playlist that comprises of hits and my personal favorites. Usually, I'll start at the beginning, but this time, I went to the exact place I needed to go.
Gloria, you're always on the run now
Running after someone, you gotta get him somehow
I think you've got to slow down before you start to blow it
I think you're headed for a breakdown, so be careful not to show it.
Ah, I'm back in the early 80s. Rumsellers on a Saturday night with Liz and Jean and Liz. Sometimes Martin, Mark and my sister. Dancing from 10 p.m. to 2 p.m. Gloria always making her appearance right after "Mickey." Liz and I on the dance floor -- always Liz -- with our own choreography.
So here I am, 25 years later, doing my Tom Cruise thing in underwear and socks in the privacy of my family room.
Once Gloria and I finished our duet, I scanned back to the beginning of the playlist and let it do its thing.
A few songs into it I stopped and listened carefully to lyrics. This song, too, took me to some memories, rather poignant ones. It was a little-known song that Laura recorded, on an album called Touch. (As I recall, there was only one song -- "Shattered Glass" -- from that album that ever got any radio play.)
But this is the one that I stopped to listen to the other night.
The days grow old like winters that creep slowly past
And the love grows cold like icicles against the glass
Now everything around me has changed
The magic of your touch remains
And I stand here feeling naked
Like a statue in the rain
A statue in the rain
Statue in the rain
Calling out your name
A photograph, a window to another time
As I watch the past, I feel your body dance to mine
Now everything about you has changed
The phantom only feeds the flame
So I stand here feeling naked
Just like a statue in the rain
A statue in the rain
Statue in the rain
Calling out your name
The lyrics go on, but you get the picture. The song has a really beautiful melody.
All of this put me in a good mood, ready to hit the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival that night with John and Cary. (Lots of posts to come soon about that.)
"How am I supposed to liiiiiiive without you....."
best LB song evah!
Posted by:christine | May 05, 2008 at 01:30 PM