But what if I’m a mermaid
In these jeans of his
With her name still on it
Hey but I don’t care
Cause sometimes
I said sometimes
I hear my voice
And it’s been here
Silent All These Years
…
So you found a girl
Who thinks really deep thougts
What’s so amazing about really deep thoughts?
Boy you best pray that I bleed real soon
How’s that thought for you
…
Years go by
Will I still be waiting
For somebody else to understand
Years go by
If I’m stripped of my beauty
And the orange clouds
Raining in head
Years go by
Will I choke on my tears
Till finally there is nothing left
…
But what if I’m a mermaid
In these jeans of his
With her name still on it
Hey but I don’t care
Cause sometimes
I said sometimes
I hear my voice
And it’s been here
Silent All These Years
I’ve been here
Silent All These Years
Meet my favorite drag queen, Hedwig. She is the eloquent, elegant, trashy and sad would-be rock star phenomenon of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, another all time favorite movie and soundtrack of mine. And, in keeping with our candy theme, here is her rendition of ‘Sugar Daddy.’ (Be sure to read the lyrics!)
Hedwig, originally an East German boy named Hansel, was so desperate to leave his repressive home –this is before the fall of the Berlin Wall, remember–that he agreed to be smuggled out of the country by a handsome American Marine. The only catch? He had to use his mother’s passport.
My sex change operation got botched/
My guardian angel fell asleep on the watch/
Now all I’ve got is this barbie doll crotch/
I’ve got an Angry Inch!
Admit it. You are a little bit curious. That’s okay because you really should be.
For the back story (literally) watch The Story of a Gummibaerchen (that means Gummi Bear in German.) The clip is vaguely NSFW but only because Hansel/Hedwig is flesh and blood and not marble like the Sleeping Hermaphrodite below.
Upon re-watching this I was thrilled to remember just how delightful it is to watch Hedwig. Her delicious use of language is like a swirled rainbow lollipop. Every minute she presents us a colorful new surprise, and we can’t help but follow the trail of sweet treasures offered up by this master storyteller. This film is truly one of the finest chapters in the history of film, as far as I am concerned.
‘Sleeping Hermaphrodite’ ~ Currently on display as part of the ‘Aphrodite and the Gods of Love’ exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Not long after Hedwig’s transformation and migration to the Candy Land of America, the great Berlin Wall came tumbling down, seemingly out of nowhere. I remember it well, though mostly as Jesus Jones singing Right Here Right Now.
That tempting candy must have tasted just a little bittersweet.
You want candy? I want candy! I realized today that some of my favorite musical movie scenes have fantastical CANDY themes. So I decided to bring you as many as I could as part of a series. I can’t explain it. Maybe candy is inherently whimsical and inspires great film. I’m not sure I care.
Please just delight in the masterpieces I have presented you today. You simply must watch the video above; I have seen a lot of artistic movies and this scene stands out as one of the most memorable. And yes, there’s a point…what if a teenage girl were running your country? (Of course if you watched the film you’d know it was really the foreign war–by which I mean the American Revolution–that was bankrupting the country.)
Utter gorgeousness! Delicious! You must witness this rococo masterpiece of a film! Please validate my excessive use of exclamation points! This atmospheric character study was directed by Sophia Coppola, director of Lost in Translation. She is the woman who introduced us to Scarlett Johansson and, incidentally, ran an art gallery at UMass while I was there in the late nineties. I even met her briefly as part of a questionable film project we wound up shooting in her gallery. (As I recall the exhibit included a soundscape that repeated phrases like “Everything’s plas-tic, fan-tas-tic…Bubble chowder!” Even then she was intrigued by creating atmospheres with music and film. Trust her judgement…on the former, if not the latter.
Lest you think I am done, mais non! Attendez! This movie inspired one of my all time favorite Vogue covers as well, shot by master photographer Annie Leibovitz:
Here is an excerpt from “Annie Leibovitz: Life Through A Lens” which shows her process during the Vogue photoshoot for this Marie Antoinette:
The first snow arrived and now the melting water drops are playing percussion on my skylight. It’s reminding me of free jazz master Cecil Taylor on piano, when I saw him play one cold winter’s day in Amherst.
Free jazz requires you to learn how to listen to it–unless you, like most babies, love it straight away. You have to learn to love it as a wall of sound, or a texture, and let go of expectation from one minute to the next. For me it’s an exercise in zen. It is pure listening, with each moment unique to my ear. It is a physically felt experience, and as different notes and tones hit different pieces of my body, it is as if I were that keyboard with all different keys. From the number of free jazz shows I attended –and dating a DJ, there were quite a few– I’ve learned that they are like a pure exchange of energy from the musician to me. If the man playing is filled with light and has a good heart, as in the case of Cecil Taylor, I feel it. If he is angry, or sad, or stagnated, I feel that. The music fills the room and entrains me to it, and as this musician pours himself out into pure sound, I become immersed in it until I am the same. It is as close as you can get to pure communication.
Try to listen by feel, and watch how Mr. Taylor dances as he plays. I think it makes more sense that way.
I met someone recently who had the most unnerving effect on me. Around this man, all my normal good sense failed me and I found myself in a few bizarre situations I could not logically account for. What I realized is that sometimes we encounter people who, for whatever reason, wield a strange control over us. This was the case with him. As soon as I saw what was happening, I cut him out of my life, despite being inexplicably fond of him. I just had this sense that around this man I could get carried into anything and barely even want to stop it. It got me thinking about legendary Depression-era couple Bonnie and Clyde.
Here is their story as told through the eyes of another famous couple, Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot, in one of my all time favorite songs:
I am a commercial freelance writer/editor, creativity coach and artist living in Boulder, Colorado. The pivotal intersection of my passions are art, spirituality and healing, but my work takes me in many interesting directions. I'd love to talk to you about any projects you are working on. My 'About' and 'Writing/Editing' pages will tell you a bit more, in case the obvious tends to elude you. If it does, great! You probably have an unusual perspective and I will surely enjoy our conversation.
Mysterious Artemis 