#

Tekstejä & kuvia
memories

Freedom of the frozen lake

Oh freedom of the frozen lake, freedom of the captive waves. You are out there again, gliding on the icy crust of winter waters, secure and happy with your skill, your blades biting into the ice, sending off small crystals with each kick.

Your blades bite the ice, they disturb what’s underneath. The fishes stir from their rest and look up in wonder, trying in vain to decipher the patterns you leave on their roof as you glide past. They grow restless, they bend their silver bodies, their scales shine and sparkle bright from the sun reflected by your steel blades. But you bid hasty farewell to these confused dwellers of the waters, you cannot stay, you have to move on, and you move on, across virgin ice that’s now creamy white and now opaque black, you move forth and and you move back, across time and memory.

And you are a little boy sitting on a bank of wet snow at the lakeside, nose running, fingers fumbling with the laces, eyes escaping to the ice, eager to join the others there. And later, deeper into the night the way you like it now, there are girls on the ice with blushed cheeks and flowing hair, and that budding softness to their movements that’s starting to draw your eyes. Later still you seek to see further, seek the edges of the icy plains where that thin dark stripe lines the horizon. You’re alone now, and you gauge the distance, think of how to make the weary journey, of what lies in waiting in the dark when you finally arrive.

You now turn to look back, and tracks on the distance covered take you again to that little boy. Is this something he wished to see, is this what he longed for as he rushed to the ice, is this the promise of the first crystals fulfilled. But what have you made of his eyes, where is the freedom of the captive waves?

(Julkaistu WordPress-blogissa 25.3.2011)

Keywords: In English · life · luistelu · memories · skating

30.11.2025 · 59

Just one of those songs

A bistro in Montmartre. A plate of lasagne, a glass of red wine on the table in front of you, a large screen showing music videos on the back wall a few metres away. The lasagne is tasty, the wine is fine, the maître is friendly, pieces of music on the wall start and stop.

Suddenly, you become aware of a dense slow-rocking background of drums, bass and strings, and, rising above that background, a voice, an honest voice with quiet passion singing words that the singer knows must be sung. You raise your eyes to see the screen. The screen is almost black, there’s just a small window in the middle giving to a murky bathroom, des femmes à leurs toilettes, flashes of flesh, of encounters in the harsh light, an undercurrent of violence coming to the surface at times, the singer seeing it all, remembering it all. The song beats on, you forget the lasagne, you let drop the glass of wine, your eyes are fixed on the screen and soon you, too, know these are words that must be sung.

Who’s the singer, what’s the song? There’s a couple at the window table, you turn to them and you say excusez-moi, c’est qui le chanteur? And they know the singer, they know the song. It’s Alain Bashung singing La Nuit Je Mens, it’s Alain Bashung singing a song that you instantly know will go with you for a lifetime, it’s Alain Bashung singing just one of those songs.

Later, back at home and on the internet, you search to know more, and you’re startled to learn that Alain Bashung died of cancer in March 2009. He is buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, with Edith Piaf, with Jim Morrison, with James Douglas Morrison.

J’ai fait l’amour, j’ai fait le mort.

(Julkaistu WordPress-blogissa 13.9.2012)

Keywords: Alain Bashung · In English · memories · muistot · music · musiikki

7.10.2024 · 11

Sivu 1

  A  · Alain Bashung  · Aleksis Kivi  · Anton Tšehov  · Arja Saijonmaa   B  · Bardit  · Berliini  · Bob Dylan   E  · Eddie Cochran  · elämä  · esineet  · Evert Taube   G  · Goethe  · Greenfields   H  · Helsingin Sanomat  · Helsinki  · Humppilan lasitehdas  · Häme  · Hämeenlinna   I  · Iakovos Kampanellis  · ihmisen osa  · In English   J  · J. D. Vance  · Juhani Aaltonen  · Jussi Halla-aho  · Jääpuisto   K  · kirjankansia hyllystämme  · kirjat  · Klassik Radio  · kuolema   L  · Lasse Mårtenson  · Lauantain toivotut levyt  · life  · luistelu  · lyhyet   M  · Marcel Cohen  · marraskuu  · Martti Anhava  · Mauthausen  · memories  · Mikael Wiehe  · Mikis Theodorakis  · Monica Zetterlund  · muistot  · music  · musiikki   N  · Nobel Peace Prize   P  · Pekka Gronow  · persut  · politiikka  · presidentinvaalit  · Puistoblues   Q  · Qobuz   R  · Rautatiemuseo  · Robert Reich   S  · Seitsemän veljestä  · Sirpa Selänne  · skating  · Steven Cheung  · Susanna Haavisto  · Suvi Ahola  · Sven-Bertil Taube  · syksy  · sähköntuotanto   T  · Teemu Selänne  · televisio  · tiloja  · Tiptree  · tuulivoima   V  · valokuvat  · Veijo Meri  · video   W  · White House   Y  · Yle Teema   Z  · Zusi Bahnsimulatoren

Sivuston sisältöä

Kirjankansi hyllystämme

Anton Tšehovin suomennetut kertomukset

Tekstejä

Kirjoja, kansia hyllystämme (52)

Hyvinkäänkylän Lämpö & Vilu

 S    T    O    P 

N.B.

26.11.2025 · 15

Kaikki | In English