Song #65 Under the Sea at Night

 

UNDER THE SEA AT NIGHT

 

People will say you can’t behave that way

But you know you can because you did it last night

People will say you wouldn’t risk what you’ve got

But I know I would because I gambled the lot

 

Driven by a force that pulls you down

Under the sea at night as you slowly drown

 

Suddenly she turns and faces your fury with pain

There’s some dumb expression about pain meaning gain

 

Then you notice there’s a fire in her eyes

You push no further or you’ll forfeit the prize

 

Of waking up tomorrow when the cool wind blows

With the one you’ve always dreamed of in a love that glows

 

People might say you’d never hide like a kid

Under the blankets to forget what you did

I know I can because I did it that day

Till she came to me and told me all was OK

 

No need to fret or frown just get on with the day

I didn’t know she’d already been away

 

She’d been down to the ocean in the dark of the night

Had already left me to make everything alright

 

So we’d wake tomorrow when the cool wind blow

With the one you’ve always dreamed of in the afterglow

 

INSTRUMENTAL

 

People might say that your sea looks so calm

They have no idea what can lurk beneath the charm

You’re always so together so much in control

But they don’t know the fire that consumes a restless soul

 

Driven by a force that pulls you down

Under the sea at night as you slowly drown

 

And you’ll wake tomorrow when the cool wind blows

With the one you’ve always dreamed of in a love that grows

 

(Copyright M Coghlan 1994)

Commentary; Speed bumps appearing on the relationship road. Jealousies and neuroses boil over in an uncharacteristic explosion. Fears confronted and staired down by someone who was wise enough to act, depart, and return. I'll leave it there! Quite a powerful song. Was never recorded.... we'll see ;)

Song #64 Santorini

 

CC image courtesy of Maggie Meng

SANTORINI

Santorini

Santorini

Santorini – we had such high hopes for you

They once called you Atlantis a long long time ago

We sailed into your darkness and came up against you -

You’re a jagged unforgiving land and you have lost your soul

You play with us like laughing clowns in a twisted carnival

 

Set ‘em up to knock them down

Get ready – easy pickings

Get ready - there are tourists in town

 

Get ‘em drunk – they’re gone tomorrow

They’re richer than their blue jeans show

They’re captives on this island

They’ll pay the price only locals know

 

La Bamba, Club Atlantis

You can dance down at the Lido,

Boppin’ young flesh down at the Rio

Nirvana in Acapulco

 

Meet Neptune at the Roxy

Get stoned – Marrakesh disco

Cocktails a la Adonis

ACDC rules Atlantis OK

 

Let ‘em stew ‘cos we don’t savvy

Their foreign ways and their weird lingo

There’s no need to scrape and smile

For like the wind they come and go

 

There’ll be more on the next boat

We don’t want them here anyhow

So let’s send them all a-packin’

Let’s have a real good row

 

And rip em’ off.

 

You’ve come to Greece , well here’s Led Zeppelin

A stairway to heaven

Ouzo, Metaxa, and retsina

Dionysus lets the good times roll

 

Apollo rocks with Aphrodite

Woodstock is at the Mars Bar

Get your rocks off at Paradiso

Copacabana

 

Santorini – we had such high hopes for you

They once called you Atlantis a long long time ago

We sailed into your darkness and came up against you

Santorini

Santorini

You’ve lost it.

 

(Michael Coghlan 1992)

COMMENTARY: a possible site of the mythical Atlantis legend, so much of Santorini truly was a big disappointment. Nightclubs and bars with stereotypical names to appeal to mindless young travellers – Lido, Paradiso, the Roxy, etc. But move out of the larger (spectacular!)  towns and you can find the peace and beauty typical of most Greek islands. It was a complicated song – lots of changes of pace – and I’ve almost completely forgotten how it went. Probably won’t try and resurrect it. It belongs to another life.

 

Song #63 Deep Creek

 

DEEP CREEK

(listen and watch HERE, or just listen HERE)

  When the wind comes up you'd better brace yourself
  It can catch you unprepared and sweep you down to the valley below
  Where your fears lie unprotected and your demons stalk too close
  You're gonna need a guide to help you that's never walked on a city street

  And as you look back up you no longer stand above
  All those fears you've been hiding lie awaiting round the next bend
  Of the creek that's deep and winding on its journey to the sea
  The water has gone before you and cut you out a path to see

  You're standing there with nothing but yourself and the water to show you
  The way you must go with those fears inside your head
  About those other people and what they might think of you
  You step into the icy water and it chills you to the soul

  You're losing all your history as you begin to start to know
  That you can't sink any lower so it's onward you must go

  Your eyes caress the mountains as you begin your slow sojourn
  It all looks so familar but you have lost control
  Of everything that's happened in that life on those city streets
  You get a taste of future wisdom as you go down Deep Creek

  You're gonna need a guide to help you that's never walked on those city streets
  You get a taste of future wisdom as you flow down Deep Creek
  Go down
  Flow down
  Go down

  (1992)

COMMENTARY: Deep Creek is a national park reserve south of Adelaide that is quite rugged, remote, and spectacular. This song is about facing demons and doubts and how the unfamiliar world of the bush (for a city boy) can either assist or trigger that process. It deserves a good recording ....)

Song #62 Once Around the Sun

 

ONCE AROUND THE SUN

 

Today I laid a demon to rest

And I fell in love with that lady again

It must be at least ten times this short year

That I’ve shed a fear

 

On our journey around the sun

With the wax on our wings still intact

We’ve been flying so high we’re getting further away

From the valley below

 

And as we lay in our bed at night

Listening to the Irish muse in flight

He takes us to places we’ve never seen

But we’re getting there

 

CHORUS

We’ve been through all the seasons

We’ve been through the heat and the cold

We’ve seen the age clock tick over

We’ve been once around

        once around

        once around the sun

 

And very night I just want to fall

Into her arms without a word

Travel again to that place of peace

Where no demons lay

 

But we keep them alive with our hours of talk

Touching on fears with a torrent of words

Keeping the passion alive and apart

Until we finally give in

 

And play in our bed at night

Listening to the Irish muse in flight

He takes us to places we’ve never seen

But we’re getting there

 

CHORUS

We’ve been through all the seasons

We’ve been through the heat and the cold

We’ve seen the age clock tick over

We’ve been once around

        once around

        once around the sun

 

© Michael Coghlan 1991

Commentary: think it's self-evident really :) The Irish muse referred to is Van Morrison.

 

 

 

 

The Ajoona Guest House - Review

 

Bakehouse Theatre, Wed  1 Dec

Courtesy of some well-deserved grants and funded residencies Stephen House set himself the exciting and daunting task of writing a performance monologue for each of three different cities. He has completed and performed the works on life in Dublin and Paris, and now unveils the final part of the trilogy – the Ajoona Guest House. Set in a dingier part of Delhi, the tale has House sharing memories of a long association with the guesthouse – “a dump with oodles of charm” – and India.

The Ajoona Guest House is something of a refuge for those Westerners who were smitten and subsequently trapped in a strange world of mysticism, drugs, and ultimately desperation. House introduces us to some of the desperados who will never check out, and shares the unlikely joy he finds in the company of a neighbourhood child beggar.

Often bleak, even harrowing, the tale is a sad one but it’s the kind of sadness that accompanies an understanding of what life is truly like. Life may be full of broken souls but even they have created moments of great joy and beauty. The trick is to realise that the wheel turns, that joy and pleasure are just as ephemeral as pain and suffering, that nothing is forever, and you can only hope that if you ever reach this point of understanding you are still sufficiently whole to appreciate the past and present with gratitude, and have enough strength left to pull yourself away from the darkness.

It has been said before but Stephen House is a wonderful story teller. The Ajoona Guest House is perfectly paced. His economy with words, obviously well-honed by the poet side of his creative self, is very easy to listen to, and gradually draws you into an intriguing tale that soon has you experiencing something else below the narrative; that sensation of being there, in the story, and wondering what you would do? How would you feel?

Beautifully presented on an almost bare stage with few props, The Ajoona Guesthouse is both simple and profound, entertaining and instructive. Bravo Stephen House.

(This review also published on The Clothesline.)

 

Weligama - one of the greatest experiences of my life

I recently told a friend in Weligama, Sri Lanka, that my first visit there in 1981 was one of the greatest experiences of my life. He wrote back and asked me to explain why it was such a wonderful experience. These lyrics of a song I wrote at the time went some way to answering this question. Below are some further thoughts - not in any particular order.

---------------------------------

I was absolutely amazed that almost complete strangers would take me in as their friend and share their lives with me.

It was my first experience of living in a place where people lived ‘hand to mouth’. Titus, Walter and others went fishing every morning, got money for the fish at the fish market, and took it home to their wives who went shopping, and made food for the family for the next 24 hours. And then the cycle began again the next day. It taught me a great deal about life, and how simple it can be. And I saw that poor people can live a happy life if they enough food and a place for sleep and shelter.

I became a much more confident swimmer often swimming out to Louise’s island:

I realised that my skills as a musician were really valued. I did so much singing in Weligama!

People would often dance when I played guitar and sang. I felt like a troubadour!

It was my first experience living in a non-Christian culture and I learnt a lot about Buddhism. Titus and I would sometimes talk about the difference between Christianity and Buddhism.

Playing karam on the beach at night with Titus while drinking arak. Magic!

The huge surprise when we came back to Weligama one day and Titus had built us a cadjan house!

Amazing parties out on Louse’s island:

Playing with the children each day in the sea: 

I learnt that I was extraordinarily privileged. As Titus told me, “You can come here anytime you want, but I will never see your country.” Though fishing families in Weligama had enough food and a place to sleep and shelter they had no real freedom to move out of that world. Having spare money – money left over after you have paid for your house and food – is a huge luxury.

Louise and I had a magical visit to ‘the Prince’s island’  - Taprobane. There really was a prince living there and he happily invited us in and treated us to tea and cake! 

Taprobane: the Prince's Island

I learned that people in places like Weligama people do not like to be alone. People would often watch me read, or write in my journal!

I learned that when you live right by the sea the world is never silent. Every night I would fall asleep to the sounds of the waves breaking on the shore

I learned that poor people can be incredibly generous.

In memory of our dear friend Titus. 

Titus was far from perfect but he taught me much about life, I only wish he could have lived long enough for me to tell him. And all of this happened because one day he just stopped a stranger on the streets of Weligama and started talking with them. Rest in peace dear friend. 

Titus and Lilian in 'our' new house

 

 

 

Song #61 Lady Spider

 

LADY SPIDER

(listen HERE. A clearer version coming soon.)

Finally the memory of my first love has gone

I have lived so long in the past – that road is long

Then I met my Lady Elizabeth

         I met my Lady Spider

 

Yes I had lived so long in the past not knowing if I could

Ever feel so in love again – I contemplate your smile

Your smile Lady Elizabeth

Your smile my Lady Spider

 

I’d given up all thoughts of joy of a woman’s charms

I found a gem who held me close – in her loving arms

And I’ll hold you Lady Elizabeth

       I’ll hold you my Lady Spider

 

I feel the wind that blows between our searching souls

It will carry us near and far until we’re old

When I’ll hold you Lady Elizabeth

           I’ll hold you my Lady Spider

 

Whatever I do, whatever I say

You owe me nothing - but I want for you to stay

When you come towards me how can I hold back

And pretend I don’t care?

 

When I love you Lady Elizabeth

           I love you my Lady Spider

 

© Michael Coghlan 1991

 

COMMENTARY: I knew I’d written this song years ago but I couldn’t find the words or the music until recently. Happily I found a muffled but heartfelt old recording and I have relearnt this beautiful song. I love it.