Soundtrack of my younger life that still brings back bad memories
I hate most music and musicians after a pretty bitter experience that happened to me back in the mid 80’s.

My family had moved to the US 2 years ago and we were living in a poky little flat at the time I was an only child (about 10 years old ). The move to a new country had not been as fruitful as my dad had imagined and the wages were pretty crap. My mum and dad would spend what little earnings they had on booze and come back in the early hours, put on the radio and beat the crap out of each other hoping the music cut out the noise to the people that lived around us, sometimes I would be dragged into it too (Both parents saw me as a reason why they were together and would happily beat the crap out of me). I did not mention this to any of my newfound mates when we played in the courtyard as I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. I felt that I could not really tell anyone about my predicament until I met Sue.

Sue was a resident on the first floor and I would often see her around but not talk to her (she was a grown up ). I had been playing on our balcony with a tennis ball when it fell onto the balcony underneath our own. My parents had spent the early hours beating the crap out of me and each other and therefore didn’t want to explain to my ma and pa that I had lost my ball so therefore wandered down to the first floor flat below ours . Sue answered the door and I introduced myself and where I came from. I was invited into her flat and while she got me my ball back she also brought me a can of pop and some crisps. She sat and talked to me for a while and asked me a few usual questions (how we had seen each other in passing, about what I did in my spare time, was I enjoying the US etc etc, she then got onto the subject of the noise she heard from our flat in the early hours. I will admit that I blanked that question and asked her not to mention it to me again. Sue apologised and gave me my tennis ball back. I was happy to have met a adult so nice and my faith in humanity was restored… for about 6 months. The bitch went and turned my tragedy into a hit song and she made a nice bit of cash with it (true she had already done something about a diner or something but I’m still pissed).

So thanks to you Suzanne Vega I can’t think to any 80’s compilation albums without fearing of hearing my song being played and having flashbacks.

And let’s not get started on the Lemonheads cover that was released a few years later.

Thanks for letting me rant for a while.

Luka
(mon bison powered by magnets, Tue 2 Feb 2010, 12:36, Reply)