Mary’s Dance

Who the fuck is Mary…? Actually, I’ve no idea, but I shall try to explain the title nevertheless.

On my way back from Pip’s today I played an old tape I had found of an ex band, the recording made when I was 18/19, done in our own private (but very humble) recording studio on the side of Lake Windermere. Memories came flooding back and it was great to hear the music that had meant so much to me at the time. Over a particularly long synthesiser solo at the end of one very jolly, uplifting song, the setting sun suddenly appeared in my rear mirror, a deep orangey-red colour, it’s aura lighting up the cloudless sky in a lovely shade of purpley-pink, stunningly beautiful, and one of those special moments - the music perfectly suiting the beautiful shades in the sky, all creating a mood, an atmosphere, you had to be there really. Almost a religious experience, breathtaking. As the motorway gently turned, the now deep red disc of the sun could be seen from my side window, along with the next track on the tape, a song called "Mary’s Dance". The guitarist wrote it, I never found out who Mary was. As I glanced out across one of the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen, the lyric went:

"Mary’s dancing on the causeway, with her hair on fire in the setting sun, and the traffic rolls along the freeway…" etc.

It was that sort of sun, one that would set your hair alight, metaphorically speaking of course…

A beautiful moment, I wish I’d had my camera.

I was already uplifted having spent a day and a night with my beloved, and the awesome beauty of the sunset combined with the feel-good factor of my old music just seemed to cap it off perfectly. I seemed to get home in no time, it was a lovely journey, and had been a lovely weekend.

Pip as always looked after me like a princess, super food babe, yum, and well, everything else, cor blimey, you know what I mean… (Come on girls, use your imagination).

With a great deal of help from Pip I now have a makeshift electronic drum kit in my studio, (which is in a spare room, and sadly not on the shores of Lake Windermere, but this place certainly has its charm). So for the last few weeks I’ve been trying to learn to play the drums. I knew a few basics already, very basics, having always messed around on other people’s kits when I was younger. And if I have a forte, it’s probably in production, so I know about drum patterns and stuff, hopefully learning to play them will help me further, but that aside, it’s great fun, very satisfying, but I have a long way to go, as anyone does when learning a new instrument. I always wanted to play the drums, from when I was very young. I remember watching my dad’s band for the first time (coincidentally on a steamer on Lake Windermere!) and was awe-struck by the syncopation (a word I wouldn’t have known then, I was about 6) employed by the drummer, and I loved watching his hi-hat go up and down! I realised even then that there was more to drumming than I’d thought, they all make it look so easy on Top of the Pops.

Of course my parents would never buy me a drum kit, far too noisy, can’t say I blame them, so I took up piano lessons instead. Which would stand me in good stead, learning about music theory as well as eventually finding I could play almost any instrument with the aid of an electronic keyboard and sampler. Isn’t modern technology wonderful. Thanks to such technology I can now learn to play the drums without annoying the neighbours, too much.

Pip even lent me one of the pads from her snazzy new electric kit, which has much more of a real feel to it. You are so good to me babe, in oh so many ways, I’m so grateful, for everything. xx

The last two days have been beautiful here, the weather I mean, not just because I was with Pip, cloudless, sunny, crisp, though of course suitably cold for January. It gives one hope that summer WILL arrive, eventually. I look forward to it eagerly. Wet, miserable and grey is not uplifting weather, and you certainly wouldn’t find Mary dancing on the causeway.

Sometimes, regardless of anything, it just feels good to be alive.

xx