Saturday, October 27, 2007

Ode to Deer Lake

Before leaving my hometown Vancouver in 1987, I spent that year embracing everything the city had to offer as I had a gut feeling that I would never return, and I never did. Two songs I used to play in my head, over and over again while embracing that city, and in particularly upon making my farewell visits to the place of my childhood escapism, Deer Lake. And yes Goobergerl, you're quite right, you can take the boy out of Burnaby, but you can never get the knife off him:

Tom Waits 'Anywhere I Lay My Head'

My head is spinning round, my heart is in my shoes, yeah
I went and set the Thames on fire, oh, now I must come back down
She's laughing in her sleeve boys, I can feel it in my bones
Oh, but anywhere I'm gonna lay my head, I'm gonna call my home

Well I see that the world is upside-down
Seems that my pockets were filled up with gold
And now the clouds, well they've covered over
And the wind is blowing cold
Well I don't need anybody, because I learned, I learned to be alone
Well I said anywhere, anywhere, anywhere I lay my head, boys
Well I gonna call my home

And secondly, Harry Chapin:


Becoming Dad however turned out to be only in the mirror!