Post #707: Wang Chung - "Dance Hall Days" - Points on the Curve

I know... I know... I've been just awful about updating this here blog lately, but honestly, I've been laying pretty low and not doing a whole, whole lot... all the while keeping my eye on my year-end goal of completely eliminating all debt.  I'm still on track to make that a reality!!!  Yay!!!  However, to make up for my long absence, I am going to give you three (3) posts right in a row today!

One extremely awesome event that I attended on August 24th was the Lost 80's Live Concert:

The line-up was as follows:

Christopher Anton of Information Society --- Doing... you guessed it... InSoc Tunes!!

Nu Shooz

When In Rome

Boys Don't Cry --- Anyone else remember that ridiculous tune, "I Wanna Be a Cowboy"???

Gene Loves Jezebel

Animotion

Book of Love

Missing Persons

Naked Eyes

Wang Chung

A Flock of Seagulls

For the most part, I have seen many of these bands over the years, but one that I had never caught was Wang Chung.  I can't say that they were my favorite performers of the evening... I think that award would go to Gene Loves Jezebel... but it was a treat to see them play "Dance Hall Days" live!!  And if you are not familiar with the above-listed bands... please check 'em out from previous posts on my blog or find their videos on YouTube!!!

And here are a few juicy details about today's song:

"Apparently, part of the song is based on the novel called 'Lolita', by Vladimir Nabokov. Written in 1955, the novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a 37-to-38-year-old literature professor called Humbert Humbert, who is obsessed with the 12-year-old Dolores Haze, with whom he becomes sexually involved after he becomes her stepfather. If you notice, 'Dolores Haze' rhymes with 'Dance Hall Days'. From Jack Hues the co-founder of Wang Chung,

“I wrote the music and lyrics to 'Dance Hall Days'. The song was influenced by the Burundi drums that were played everywhere on the radio and used on Adam & The Ants' 'Ant Music'. African drumming first hit me through the playing of Ginger Baker and I naturally feel rhythms from that perspective. The way the melody moves and the looseness of the rhythms were influenced a lot by Lowell George and Little Feet. Lowell George was, and still is, a hero of mine. I love his singing, slide playing and timeless songs like 'Long Distance Love' and 'Willing'. I had also been reading Nabokov’s Lolita around that time and Dolores Haze (the object of desire in the novel) shares some common thread with 'Dance Hall Days' in my head" ~ Flashbacks to Happiness: Eighties Music Revisited by Randolph Michaels, pg 208"

Until next time...

XOXOXO

Anastasia

Take your baby by the hand
And make her do a high handstand
And take your baby by the heel
And do the next thing that you feel

We were so in vies
In our dance hall days
We were cool on cries
When all you and everyone we knew
Could believe, do, and share in what was true

Dance hall days love

Take your baby by the hair
And pull her close and there, there, there
And take your baby by the ears
And play upon her darkest fears

We were so in vies
In our dance hall days
We were cool on cries
When all you and everyone we knew
Could believe, do, and share in what was true

Dance hall days love
Dance hall days
Dance hall days love

Take your baby by the wrist
And in her mouth an amethyst
And in her eyes two sapphires blue
And you need her and she needs you
And you need her and she needs you
And you need her and she needs you
And you need her and she needs you
And you need her and she needs you

We were so in vies
In our dance hall days
We were cool on cries
When all you and everyone we knew
Could believe, do, and share in what was true

Dance hall days love
Dance hall days love
Dance hall days
Dance hall days love
Dance hall days
Dance hall days love
Dance hall days
Dance hall days love

Post #706: David Bowie - "Changes" - Hunky Dory

It's been awhile since I've posted, hasn't it??  I guess it's safe to say that I've been undergoing some changes --- nothing bad though.  

I've been spending copious amounts of time trying to decide what direction I'm going to take my life next.

I think I've mentioned that I've spent almost two (2) decades drowning in debt --- some of it related to having to put myself through all of my educational pursuits and some of it related to incredibly stupid life decisions that I made throughout the years.

However, today is the official beginning of the end.  By December of this year, I will have ALL of my debt paid off.  I won't owe anyone anything - zero, zip, zilch, nada!!!  That's not even the best and most exciting part.  In addition to paying off all my debt, I have also been storing massive amounts of money away.  Therefore, I'll have a pretty impressive "nest egg" when all is said and done; I'm not having to completely start over from scratch like many people who find themselves in my situation.

Not to diminish anyone's experience with captivity, but it feels like I'll be released from a prison of my own making in six (6) months and handed a bucket of gold upon my departure, as well.

The level of freedom that I'm about to be given is so incredibly exciting and frightening at the same time.  Since I knew from a young age that I was never interested in getting married or having children, it adds even more freedom to the equation.  I can go anywhere and do anything I want, and I don't have to check in with anyone except myself.  I will simply be limited by my own imagination and my own restrictions.

You're probably asking yourself: "So what's the problem here exactly??"  The problem is that I've been soooooo restricted by my debt for soooooo long that my mind is having difficulty imagining the incredible freedoms that I'm about to be handed.  I want to take risks and have adventures in this next decade of my life, but I don't even know where or how to start.

I've decided to approach this differently than I normally would.  In the past, I would have forced decisions without even feeling like I was 100% behind said decisions.  This time, I am going to rest my mind, which currently feels like it is on overload, and take my time figuring this out.  At least whatever I decide to do will be completely paid for, right?!?!?

I'll keep you updated on my progress over the next few months...

Before I leave you today, I also wanted to include a poem called, "She Let Go," written by Safire Rose.  This poem has been creeping into my existence quite frequently lately, and it seems apropos for this post.  Honestly, it's an incredible reminder for a control freak like me that, when I let go, good things seem to happen in my life.  I hope it will speak to others, as well.

Until next time...

XOXOXO

Anastasia

Oh, yeah
Mmm

Still don't know what I was waitin' for
And my time was runnin' wild
A million dead end streets and
Every time I thought I'd got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I've never caught a glimpse
How the others must see the faker
I'm much too fast to take that test

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
Don't want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
There's gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can't trace time

Mmm, yeah

I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
Don't tell them to grow up and out of it
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
Where's your shame?
You've left us up to our necks in it
Time may change me
But you can't trace time

Strange fascinations fascinate me
Ah, changes are takin'
The pace I'm goin' through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
Ooh, look out you rock 'n' rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
Pretty soon now you're gonna get older
Time may change me
But I can't trace time
I said that time may change me
But I can't trace time

Post #705: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - "Messages" - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

So it finally happened... last night I got to see OMD live in concert, and it was nothing less than amazing!!!  Seriously, it was one of the BEST performances I have ever witnessed.  The venue was amazing... the crowd was amazing... and the energy was amazing!!  I've already posted about all of my favorite OMD songs during Week Thirty-Five; therefore, today, I will share their song, "Messages," with you, and I'll post a clip of the live performance too.  However, please take the time to check out their other tunes because you won't regret it!!!

Until next time...

XOXOXO
Anastasia

It worries me this kind of thing

How you hope to live alone

And occupy your waking hours

We're taking sides again

I just wept I couldn't understand

Why you started this again

And every day you send me more

It makes it worse is this a plan of yours

To ensure I don't forget

I'd write and tell you that I've burnt them all

But you never send me your address

And I've, I've kept them anyway

So don't ask me if I think it's true

That communication can bring hope to those

Who have gone their separate ways

It hardly touched me when it should have then

But memories are uncertain friends

When recalled by messages

Coded messages

Poison letters