Friday, July 29, 2005

Lonely as a whisper on a star chase

A lot of the music I used to listen to in high school no longer does much for me. The occasional blast from the past is fun but often the songs that seemed to really move me back then have lost their impact. That's why it's such a thrill when something still has the very same personal kick. I listened to Queen's A Day at the Races today and realised that certain bits set my heart racing, quite literally, in just the same way they used to. Hard to describe this, it's like a smell or a taste catapulting you into a very specific memory. It wasn't associated with any particular moment or event, I just loved it (still do) and I loved Queen (still do). A Day at the Races seems to be no-one's favourite Queen album, but it and the first Greatest Hits volume were the first ones I owned. Or, which someone taped for me off their older sibling's LP actually. Thank goodness for someone's older sibling, with a taste for Pink Floyd and Queen, or it would have been all top 40 and taping the Top 8 at 8 off the radio. Yep, I did that too.

That same someone lent me a Stephen King book belonging to an older sibling (not my first Stephen King though, I'd already stumbled across him myself) which accidentally got cleared up and thrown in the bin by Dad. He was always saying if we didn't clear our stuff away, off the dining table or wherever, he would throw it out, and one day he did. Must have been garbage day, too. I seem to remember I had to buy another copy. I was so embarassed!

It's kind of been a blast from the past week. On Wednesday I resurrected my favourite piece of clothing from college, a beloved long maroon cardie. It's more or less back in fashion, not sure about the moth holes though. The very same day I bumped into someone I hadn't seen for about twelve years or thereabouts. I suppose she could be forgiven for thinking I had never taken a break from wearing that cardie, except if that was the case it would be in small pieces by now.

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