Monday, March 30, 2009: The Black Crows - "She Talks to Angels"

First off, a bit of housekeeping. I think my original explanation for a S-I-T-Head was far too restrictive. Songs don’t only get stuck in your head when you first wake up. In many ways we are surrounded by music all day and can therefore be overtaken by a S-I-T-Head at any time. So in that sense I’ll now be looking at a S-I-T-Head as more than just a “return to consciousness” event, but more of a “whenever it hits” event. I think that is far more fitting. Now, on to today’s S-I-T-Head…

I have always been a firm believer that some of the strongest memory recalls that we can experience are the result of sensory reactions. Sometimes it isn’t a full recall, sometimes it isn’t a complete memory, sometimes it is just a flood of emotion. Today’s S-I-T-Head falls into this category.

When the The Black Crows released their debut album “Shake Your Moneymaker” in 1990 I was a sophomore at Somerville High School and still trying to find my niche and not be awkward (please keep comments regarding my past and current level of awkwardness to yourself :-P). Over the next couple of years I would find that niche and build some of the best friendships I have had through getting involved in drama and in running track. Many of these friendships continue today, and many new ones had been built when I was still involved in these activities. OK…maybe not so much the continued running, but when I was still doing shows at least. Right now I get winded running a temperature.

So you’re probably asking yourself, “What’s up with the trip down memory lane?” Well, there actually is a point. In 1991, the Crows “She Talks to Angels” reached the Top 40 and every time I hear that song I am transported back to one place. Although the situation may be different each time, where I am and what I’m doing are always the same. Every time I hear that song I find myself sitting the back of the balcony in the SHS auditorium at the old light board. Sometimes the scaffolding is up and people are setting lights and gels, sometimes people are cleaning the stage, sometimes the sound system is just getting set up, and sometimes it’s been set for awhile. Whatever the case, I’m sitting up in the back of the dark balcony watching everything going on and listening to that song play. I don’t know why it stuck that way, but that is where I am. This morning I woke up and found myself back in that balcony, and knew that “She Talks to Angels” was my S-I-T-Head for today. The following lyrics are as noted on lyricsmode.com (http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/b/black_crowes/she_talks_to_angels.html).

She never mentions the word addiction
In certain company
Yes, she'll tell you she's an orphan
After you meet her family

She paints her eyes as black as night now
Pulls those shades down tight
Yeah she gives a smile when the pain comes
The pain gonna make everything alright

Chorus:
Says she talks to angels
They call her out by her name
Oh yeah, she talks to angels
Says they call her out by her name

She keeps a lock of hair in her pocket
She wears a cross around her neck
Yes the hair is from a little boy
And the cross from someone she has not met
Not yet

Chorus 2:
Says she talks to angels
Says they all know her name
Oh yeah, she talks to angels
Says they call her out by her name

She don't know no lover
None that I ever seen
And to her that ain't nothing
But to me it means, means everything

She paints her eyes as black as night now
She pulls those shades down tight
Oh yeah there's a smile when the pain comes
The pain gonna make everything alright
Alright yeah

She talks to angels
Says they call her out by her name
Oh yeah, yeah angels
Call her out by her name
Oh, oh, oh angels
They call her out by her name
Oh, she talks to angels
They call her out,
Yeah, yeah call her out
Don't you know that they call her out
By her name


So there we have it, a S-I-T-Head that produces a sensory response (or is it a sensual response…no, I think that is something different..). All of this talk about sensory recall makes me think of another experience I had a couple of years ago which first really got me to thinking about this. I caught a scent in the air that immediately painted a picture in my head. Again, not a firm memory and not of a place I had been, but of some series of different memories and feelings put together. It is kind of cool how that can take over us. So I leave you today with this thought. Let yourself experience those sensory recall moments, whether it is the sight of an interesting looking cloud or the sound of a familiar song. Maybe it is the smell of a freshly baked loaf of bread, the taste of long-time favorite breakfast cereal, or the feel of a soft blanket. Take a moment today to go back…just for a moment…to remind yourself of where you’ve been. Because it is where we’ve been that makes us who we are today.

Scent of a Dream
I think I smelled the sea today, in a place called Watertown
And though the coast was miles away and no ocean was around
I smelled the seaweed on the rocks, the mildew on the planks
Of moorings and wood upon the docks, the masts of ships that sank
I smelled the sand beneath my feet, the beach spread all around
I smelled myself from the grains unsheathe a large seashell I had found
I smelled the cold pierce of the breeze as it blew in off the waves
I smelled the salt come with the seas, the skies a cloudy haze
And through this haze and foggy air, I smelled a flashing light
A ringing bell with this bright glare led sailors through the night
Yet as I sat and smelled the songs that sailors sang before
I knew, as long as life was long, the sea would call me . . . forevermore