Photo: Sebastian Mlynarski
Did I tell you I’ve been in love with
this stupid song? Remember the girl I told you about? The one I feel like such a fool about? Phosphorescent is one of her favorite bands. In this song, which I discovered earlier this week, the singer sets the story at
the Mermaid Parade, an especially important event in my personal history. (Can I have a personal history? Have I lived long enough?) I can remember, clearly, being out there on the sand, watching the sun come down, watching the naked women dancing, watching the people scatter about like birds as the waves came in, feeling very much alive and feeling so young. (You know that cluster of photos and prints on my kitchen wall? Those are all from the Mermaid Parade.)
And in the picture here, the singer is walking past
the Brooklyn Navy Yard, home to
DeVore Fidelity, as you know, which has also become an important place to me. Just last week, my grandma told me that she, too, used to go to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. She said that she once christened a ship there. WTF? Mind you, she’s never
ever mentioned “Brooklyn,” let alone the Navy Yard. Thus, making the place all the more mystical to me. On top of that, the song is beautiful, with Paul Simon-like lyrical flourishes, a Rolling Stones-like way about the music (hear how those guitars stutter and fall and almost go wrong), and an overall ‘70s vibe to the recording.
Ah, I love girls so much.
Anyway, I’m not so sure anymore that it was the girl with whom I was falling in love. I think, maybe, I was falling in love with the idea of falling in love. It was such a nice story. You know how that goes. Ultimately, it’s a good thing: For too long, I had convinced myself that I was better off alone, that that sort of love wasn’t in my future, that it wasn’t meant to be. Now I think differently. She was like a song to me, the kind that changes your life forever, the kind that you have to hear again and again. This song, Phosphorescent's "Mermaid Parade," like that girl, makes me want to fall in love again, heart on fire, makes me want to feel drunk with love, makes me want to be loved. Madly. And sadly. I don't care. Maybe just for a weekend or so (it’s never just a weekend), but still.
