A music-obsessed, retired San Francisco lawyer, and author of the rock & roll memoir Jittery White Guy Music (available on Amazon)... picking a random album or song in his collection every day or so and sharing a few thoughts.
Another song with enduring sentimental value for me. My college roommate Charlie had New Order's 1982 EP, and "Temptation" was our suite's go-to pre-party rave-up song before we headed out for the night. Nothing profound here--New Order weren't exactly profound lyricists--but the "Oh you've got green eyes, oh you've got blue eyes, oh you've got grey eyes. And I've never seen anyone quite like you before" bit was always a great way to kick off the evening: optimistic, hoping to find that someone special at a party. And if it didn't go well, you always had the refrain of "Up down turn around, please don't let me hit the ground, tonight I think I'll walk alone, I'll find my soul as I go home" to sing to yourself on that long walk back to the dorm.
More than the emotional pull, the song was another one I discovered not long after my arrival on campus in '84, alongside music from R.E.M. and the Replacements, that had already been out for a year or two but had been completely off my high school radar screen; another confirmation that there was a whole world of music out there I knew nothing about, waiting to be discovered.
There are various other mixes, but I remain faithful to the original, nearly 9-minute 12" version we'd blast through open dorm windows every Friday night.
Live, some 20 years later......and as used in that blood-curdling cold-turkey heroin withdrawal scene in Trainspotting:
Comments
Post a Comment