Alone - The Cure

 

 "Broken voiced lament to call us home

This is the end of every song we sing, alone"

Greetings and happy 2025. Been a minute since I've turned my attention to this old time machine, but it felt right to let the last post breathe. While we're still stuck in the doldrums of winter I thought what better band to help us embrace the cold, dreary but beautiful shortened day season. The picture above is from June 2023 after my first Cure concert at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia (concert halls used to have much more romantic names) My earliest memories of the band were borrowing my older brother's Standing on the Beach:The Singles tape back in the late 80's. Then through the power of the Columbia House Music subscription, Disintegration and The Head on the Door were soon turning through my walkman. The boys blasted out a 29 song set touching on all their albums while sprinkling in a few of the at the time unreleased tracks that would make up my favorite 2024 album, Songs of a Lost World. 

This album likely won't convert any new fans, but if you've been on the ride for awhile the good news is the boys didn't have any breakthroughs in therapy. The album is awash with synthesizers, heavy bass lines, cries for help, love, and the inevitability of death. You know, just what us fans want from our Cure. Hey sometimes I'm more Pink Moon and other times I need Slippery When Wet. The audience of the show was filled with goths, mothers and daughters, muscle bros hugging each other and high fiving (really) all in the same place to reflect and experience emotion and the trials and challenges of the human experiment.

Before the show we had one of those perfect vacation days. We met some friends that lived nearby that I've know since elementary school for some drinks and then headed to eat cheesesteaks at a horror themed vegan restaurant. (Monster Vegan) As you can imagine lots of Cure fans were pregaming at this spot. At one point I was eating my cheesesteak, chatting with my wife, watching horror movies on the various tv screens (the below pic is the flick in my eyesight where there was an unfortunate nuclear spill which apparently caused some bad eye bulging...I think I've seen a drug ad for that now on morning TV that would help) and Hall & Oates' Maneater on the speakers. I had to excuse myself to the bathroom and throw some water on my face to make sure I didn't pass over and I was in some version of heaven. Turns out I was still among the living so after dinner we headed over to one of our favorite beer bars (Monk's Cafe) and were sent to the back room which had one more table waiting just for us. We ordered a couple fresh Russian River Pliny The Elders and realized The Cure mix was blasting from the speakers. Awesome way to get pumped up for the show.

Oh, so the second song. While we were walking to lunch a car rode by, windows down blasting this tune. First time it's hit my ears and I was immediately intrigued. Well the car had a red light so the sound faded away as we kept going, but about a minute later the car passed us again so we got a wonderful reprise! Sounds like the perfect Skateland song to me! You're welcome. Thanks for reading. Since it's been a minute let's go with a third song, While I was going down the Nice & Wild rabbit hole I stumbled upon this gem. Also worthy of pulling out some parachute pants and cardboard while perfecting that headspin! Cheers.

The Cure - Alone (Songs of a Lost World Show)

Diamond Girl • Nice & Wild

Fantasy Girl

Levitation - Beach House

 

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

-Robert Frost

It's difficult to come up with words more perfect than the above poem from Mr. Frost. Much like the Buddha states, life is suffering or as Colin Meloy and The Decemberists sang in their cautionary tale about The Hazards of Love....once you open you heart fully for a living being, the deal will be it won't last forever. We had to say goodbye to our sweet Willie this past January and it took a bit for me to get some thoughts together to reflect and celebrate his life.

Willie first came into our lives back in September of 2012. Although we don't know his full history it seems that life didn't have a joyful start. He was shy and hesitant around humans but seemed to feel safety around other dogs.A month or so into his adoption he grew violently ill and wouldn't stop vomiting. After X-rays were done, it was discovered he had two full sized granite rocks in his stomach and had to have emergency surgery to cut them out. Before this happened a dog trainer pointed out that he walked a bit funny but wasn't sure why. Apparently the rocks had been in there for a bit and were uncomfortable to him but they dislodged to a different part of his stomach which eventually caused the vomiting. We were told by the vet when dogs are starving they can resort to eating dirt and rocks. Yeah, I'm with Willie....sometimes I don't like humans very much either.

After the recovery Willie slowly became more comfortable around us and after spending all his time in the corner, he started coming out to the middle of the carpet and resting while we watched TV. To the outside observer this may not have seemed like a big deal, but to us it was exciting progress. He was starting to trust us. When we adopted Willie we were told he wouldn't be the dog that greeted you as you walked in the door (they were right) although after some time we'd get the raised head, a stare down, and then back to sleep. 

He was a sweet soul that loved most foods...especially eggs, cheese, salmon and peanut butter.....not too keen on veggies. He would often put carrots in his mouth and spit them out. Confused why they didn't have more flavor. Celery seemed like a waste of time as well. While cooking he would stand nearby, staring almost in a hypnotic state waiting for his portion. He liked things to be consistent. On his daily walks around the neighborhood we'd take the same path and if you tried to go off course he would politely correct you.  If furniture moved or a new box appeared in the house he was a bit skeptical about the situation. He tolerated car rides but if it were up to him he preferred the floorboards to the seat. He enjoyed getting brushed (as long as treats were available) and loved under his back leg scratched (he would assist and lift up his leg so you could hit his spot) before his joints got too sore. He never went upstairs at either of the homes we lived in and never got on furniture. He had free reign to do either but just never got around to it. Also he never barked...well only when he was dreaming. When we stayed at vacation rentals he liked to check in on us when we went to bed but if we were in a two bedroom he would eventually take himself to the empty room and settle in for the night. 

I loved him so much and he made the past 12 years such a joy. I still talk to him and when I come back to the house or go downstairs in the middle of the night I almost expect (hope) to see him lying in the carpet, staring at me, seeing if I have any food to share. I believe someday we'll welcome another four legged friend into the house but there will never be another Willie. He was one of a kind. He was my bal (somehow once I blurred buddy and pal together and it stuck) Willie Billy, Silly Willie, the best dog in the world (which he was told multiple times a day and was whispered in his ear over and over as we said goodbye) I love you and I miss you. Thanks for everything you did for us. Shout out to Miss Jean and the Collie Rescue of the Carolinas for all the great work they do and for bringing Willie into our lives.

A few weeks ago on a rainy Saturday afternoon I put on Beach House to fit the mood. I'd heard the first track off Depression Cherry many times but the words hit differently that afternoon and made me think of Willie and that day we had to make the difficult decision to end his pain. Thanks for reading. This one's for Willie.

Collie Rescue of the Carolinas

Beach House - Levitation

Be Thankful For What You Got - William DeVaughn Nutshell - Alice in Chains

 

"Diamond in the back, sunroof top

Diggin' the scene 

With a gansta lean, wooh-ooh-ohh"

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Hope most of you are able to have a day of rest with family, friends, or the wonderful company of yourself. Not much of a story with this first tune but if felt perfect for the day. I've always enjoyed the smoothness and message of this one. It's one of those roll down the windows, feel good Sunday afternoon drive songs. (Or Thursday afternoon for our purposes)

The second track takes me back to Thanksgiving 2007.(yes I realize this album came out in 1996) I had moved back to Charleston the year before to finish taking some classes. By the fall of 2007 I was done with school, had an apartment by myself in downtown Charleston and was single. Ryan Adams and The Cardinals had just put out an EP (Follow the Lights) with a cover of Alice in Chains' Down in a Hole. Great version if you haven't listened, but rehearing the song led me down the rabbit hole to discover the OG version performed on MTV Unplugged. To be honest, I didn't remember they did one of these. (Nirvana of course set the benchmark for the Unplugged series, and to this day remains my favorite album by them.) So I went to the local Best Buy on Black Friday and purchased the AIC Unplugged CD. The rest.... is Thanksgiving history. Let's go back to 2007 when I was living in my one bedroom apartment, single, and still buying CD's at the store.

I'm thankful for the beautiful colors mother nature put on display this year in Virginia. The pic was taken earlier this morning from our bedroom window. This was even more magnificent a couple days ago before a big rain storm. Still excited these colors lingered around a bit later this year.

Cheers to loved ones and the ones we'll miss talking too or seeing around the table this year. Happy Thanksgiving.