Wanderlust & Pixie Dust

She Moves Through The Fair

one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard is She Moves Through The Fair.  

Early piece of ephemera from my own collection.

I have heard many versions of this song over the years but this version by B-Tribe is by far one of my favorites.  Back in the days when I was a flight attendant and had to spend many a night in strange hotel room, I would listen to this song repeatedly to help myself fall asleep. Click below.

Alternately I would imagine the woman who comes to mind when I read the poem Patterns by Amy Lowell.  

My dress is richly figured,
And the train
Makes a pink and silver stain
On the gravel, and the thrift
Of the borders.
Just a plate of current fashion,
Tripping by in high-heeled, ribboned shoes.
Not a softness anywhere about me,
Only whalebone and brocade.
And I sink on a seat in the shade
Of a lime tree. For my passion
Wars against the stiff brocade.
The daffodils and squills
Flutter in the breeze
As they please.
And I weep;
For the lime-tree is in blossom
And one small flower has dropped upon my bosom.

In my minds eye I'd imagine someone like Marie Antoinette.

© François Halard, reprinted from Marie-Antoinette and the Last Garden at Versailles by Christian Duvernois, Rizzoli New York, 2008.

A friend or contemporary of hers perhaps, such as the Princesse de Lamballe.  Sadly and in a daze she would wander along a beautiful path.  Then I would once again pay close attention to the words of the song and remember that my lady shouldn't be quite so morose.  She would be happy and madly in love, content.

Pay special attention to the lyrics when you get to this part of the song:

As she stepped away from me
And she moved through the fair
And fondly I watched her
Move here and move there
And then she turned homeward
With one star awake
Like the swan in the evening
Moves over the lake

This is where I love to jump in and try to sing along.  If a miracle happens and I should one fine day find myself on stage on live tv with a voice like Hayley Westenra: I would choose to sing this song.

Invariably my mind would then wander to thoughts of who in the heck is singing this?  Next thing you know I'm thinking about old Rome and constrati.  I imagine someone like Farinelli singing She Moves Through The Fair.  The YouTube clip I've added below, from the '94 movei actually has the beautiful voice of  Phillipe Jaroussky added to it.  Click HERE here and you will discover a fascinating account of how the music was recreated for the movie.

I realize that this is an Irish folk song but my imagination is always getting the better of me. The versions of this song are endless.  With any luck, I will discover many more with time.

One version of the lyrics:

My young love said to me,
My mother won't mind
And my father won't slight you
For your lack of kind"
And she stepped away from me
And this she did say:
It will not be long, love,
Till our wedding day"

As she stepped away from me
And she moved through the fair
And fondly I watched her
Move here and move there
And then she turned homeward
With one star awake
Like the swan in the evening
Moves over the lake

The people were saying,
No two e'er were wed
But one had a sorrow
That never was said
And I smiled as she passed
With her goods and her gear,
And that was the last
That I saw of my dear.

Last night she came to me,
My dead love came in
So softly she came
That her feet made no din
As she laid her hand on me
And this she did say
It will not be long, love,
'Til our wedding day

Indian Fever.

I never tire of playing this song.  Makes me want to get up and shake a leg. Hmm...I wonder if it will do the same thing to you.

Lord Have Mercy, Chris Isaak

 

I don't know how it happened.  Somehow I got sidetracked and instead of walking the dog, I swooned over Chris Isaak on youtube for a half an hour. 

Years ago when I was still in High School,  there used to be a free magazine called BAM.  You could pick it up at record stores. Records stores wow.  They've gone the way of dial telephones.

One day I noticed this gorgeous, heavenly man on the cover.  Or was it a full page picture?  Not sure now.   Anyhow I was mesmerized.  I remember reading a description of his music.  I can't remember what the hay it said but I remember being immediately hooked.  I vowed that the first chance I had I would see him perform live.

Feign to deny it,  I fell in love with the man before I ever heard a sound from his sexy lips.

I saw him live at Bogart's in Long Beach.  Of course this club is long gone.   U drove for miles on a weeknight to see him croon live in San Juan Capistrano.    Did it several times actually.  I saw him perform a couple of times in San Francisco.   After all these wonderful performances and swooning over him from afar, would you believe that a friend of mine went to go see him and he shook her hand.  Or said "Hey Baby" to her or something to that effect.  Not fair!  Guess I shouldn't complain. 

It reminds me of another time that my friend Sylvia (or Silver as I called her) had her father take us to see Leif Garrett.  Girls were going psycho nut crazy.  I'm sure that we were too.  Somehow we got separated and I alone got to say hi to the teen idol and get his autograph.  TWO autographs mind you.

Afterward Silver begged and clawed at me to give her one of the signed photos.  No way man.  The more she made a scene the more I resolved not to give in to her.  Before you wonder how I could be so mean,  stop for a moment and remember what it was like to be a pre-teen girl.  If I remember correctly, she gave me the cold shoulder all the way home.  Back then you could ride free and easy in the back of pick up truck.  Trust me.  We were pals again before long. 

I digress.

Back to Chris dear.   It was during his Forever Blue tour that I was able to see him for free at the Aladdin in Vegas.  My husband at the time knew someone who worked there and I we luckily were given free tickets.  Old married woman that I was,  I swooned with the best of them and  walked away with an autographed t-shirt that I still have today. 

Take that Countess Jain Olenska.  Where are you by the way?