I’ve always been a storyteller, and I’ve always been very into music, and today’s quote is a bit of an overlap between the two.
Ron and I started dating back in the day when CDs were still the primary way to buy and listen to music – the first iPod had only recently been released and was still in its infancy. One of the main ways Ron and I connected when we first met was over music, but due to the circumstances we were both in at the time, neither of us had particularly large CD collections. This meant that we tended to listen to the same music a lot.
Quotes that make it into the book usually hit me like lightning. I hear something for the first time and immediately know it belongs in the collection. But this one, from Alannah Myles’ Rockinghorse, more sort of insinuated its way into the book. The album was one of Ron’s. I’d always quite liked her music, but didn’t own any, so when I was at his place, it was a favourite choice of mine to load into the CD player. Over time, the poetry of the words, and the idea behind them, seeped into my consciousness, and I finally wrote it down.
Would you be my story when there’s nothing left to tell?
Like I said, I’m a storyteller at heart. But I’m also a pretty boring individual. There are all kinds of things I’d like to do, but on my own, I don’t have the gumption to do them. Left to my own devices, I’ll generally sit at home reading or watching movies, taking in stories but not creating any of my own.
When I met Ron, that changed. In many ways, he’s become the story I tell, because most of the things I do, I wouldn’t be doing without his encouragement. He makes my life more vibrant.
Except, ironically, when it comes to the story of when we saw Alannah Myles in concert.
“Vibrant” is not a word I would use to describe Myles that evening. “Stoned to the gills” is far more fitting.
Co-headlining with Sass Jordan, the show’s structure was somewhat different than normal, in that instead of each performer doing a full set, they’d take turns on stage. One of them would do a few songs, then the other, and then back again. And every time Myles came onstage, she’d slowly meander to a stool at the microphone, drone out a song or two, and then meander her way back offstage, her eyes never once coming into focus.
She was so absent that at one point, when Jordan took the stage, she started off by saying, “Alannah says thank you.” It annoyed the hell out of me. Myles’ behaviour that night was disrespectful to an audience who cared enough about her music to shell out money for tickets and make the effort of getting to the theatre, and she couldn’t even be bothered to acknowledge our presence.
This was one of the first concerts Ron and I saw together. Honestly, considering how rocky the first few were, I’m kind of surprised we stuck it out and kept going. But fortunately we did, and with 20 years of shows under our belts, some of my best stories have come from them. It’s just unfortunate that a bad show tarnished a quote.
Still a bit salty about that.
To see previous posts in my Quotes series, click here.
The View From the Handbasket 