Looking back to a time when I was at school, there is one memory that stands out that could be described as terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.
If you were to visit the school on a regular basis you would soon realise that our Music teacher was the one that ran the school. She didn’t hold the official title of Headmistress or anything like that. She was a force to be reckoned with, no one ever spoke badly or her. Every one, whether you were a student or a teacher was slightly intimidated by her.
She reminded me of, well I didn’t know her personally, but Mrs Thatcher, a person who was strong-willed and determined to get things done, but with the quiet dignity of her generation.
I didn’t appreciate her, or what she helped me to achieve until much later. So going back to this particular moment in time, I was about 13 maybe 14 and she announced that everyone who was studying a musical instrument had to perform at the school concert. There was no reprieve, no excuses.
Since I was studying both piano and voice at the time, I was told that I should use the opportunity to sing.
With the song chosen, the day arrived. I was terrified as I stepped onto the stage, I don’t remember much about what happened next, except that it felt like the longest time passed between the first chords of the piano accompanying me starting and the final chord finishing the song.
There seemed to be the longest pause between that and the audience beginning to clap. I couldn’t see very well because the stage lights were blinding me, and as I heard the claps from the audience, my face started to turn blotchy and red with embarrassment. It was over finally and I could step down from the stage.
The choice of song could not have been less appropriate for a girl of 13, but the melancholy melody was spell binding. I had never been to see the musical, let alone read all of the poetry of T.S. Elliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Cats, so knew very little about the musical or the song.
But as my singing teacher played me the melody on the piano to me and I read the lyrics, I was hooked. It was beautiful and even though I didn’t appreciate their true meaning at the time, I liked the song.
Now, many, many years later, as I read the lyrics again, the words are now a poignant reminder of my memories as I watch my kids grow older with each day that passes by.
It reminds me that I too am growing older with more days to look back on, whilst my children have the days that stretch ahead of them to look forward to.
I understand the lyrics better and their meaning of a life well lived.
“Burnt out ends of smoky days
The stale, cold smell of morning
The street lamp dies in the cold air
Another night is over
Another day is dawning”
Grizella is the cat that sings this song, and if I could describe her personality through these lyrics as a perfume, then I think of Opium by Yves Saint Laurent, a rich decadent oriental scent that was powerful but feminine to the core. I remember the advertising, Linda Evangelista at the time representing everything I thought to be glamorous and powerful, it’s not for the faint of heart. I’ve wanted to wear this on many occasions, each time I pass by the Yves Saint Laurent beauty counter, I stop myself just short of getting it, largely because, it’s a heady scent and I think it would only be for very special and rare occasions that, well are too few and infrequent to justify at the moment.
The perfume’s potent message hasn’t changed, even with the latest advertising campaign featuring Emily Blunt:
This article was written for Wednesday’s On that Song feature on Chow Kim Wan’s blog about Musicals and various aspects of the shows. Wednesday’s feature is for other bloggers to share their song choices.
