This expansion of an earlier, unrelated piece was prepared for my long-threatened book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). It remains in two of the book's six current potential drafts.
An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!
THE DANDY WARHOLS: We Used To Be Friends
Written by Courtney Taylor-Taylor, Grant Nicholas, and Bjorn Thorsrud
Produced by Courtney Taylor-Taylor and Nick Rhodes
Single from the album Welcome To The Monkey House, Capitol Records, 2003
A long time ago
We used to be friends
But I haven't thought of you lately at all
My awareness of the Dandy Warhols has always been peripheral at best. I have to admit my main interest in the group's work comes through "We Used To Be Friends," a Dandy Warhols track used as the theme song for the television series Veronica Mars.
I came to Veronica Mars years after its network TV run, binge-watching it obsessively on-line. It became one of my all-time favorite shows, its potent stew of teen alienation, betrayal, and pulp noir annexing my rapt attention and devotion. And its theme song cast me back to memories of bonds severed, trusts discarded, bridges burned, a long time ago.
Many years ago, I had a friend whom I'll refer to here as Julie. If you've known me for a very long time, and you think you know who Julie really is, you're probably wrong, unless you happen to be right. Julie's true identity isn't the point.
Julie was one of my best friends. We had similar tastes in music, and generally had a good time around each other, times of camaraderie and youthful exuberance. Julie could be moody at times, subject to the familiar, warring emotions of depression and delight. In spite of that, I don't recall Julie and I ever really having an argument or a fight, none that my consciousness can call forth all these decades later.
Until we did have a fight. And we came to a definite parting of the ways.
It happens, even among friends, even among best friends. Look at Lennon and McCartney. Hell, look at Clark Kent and Lex Luthor. There was regret on both sides, I think, but there was no chance of reconciliation. We said goodbye. There may have been tears--there were tears--and we have not seen each other since. Decades have passed. We will likely never see each other again, and likely never have any further communication. I don't wish to discuss the details. Like the song says: we used to be friends, a long time ago.
We did speak one time after that. For the sake of closure, I called Julie on the phone one night. Julie had been drinking, and Julie was surprised to hear from me. It was a pleasant call nonetheless, or at least it was as pleasant as a farewell phone call can be. Closure. One side can't undo, one side can't forgive, and neither side can forget. We will never speak again. At this point, I don't want to anymore.
I remember better times. I wrote this passage a long time ago, well before I'd heard or heard of the Dandy Warhols, inspired by my memories of Julie, and of a few other close friends who used to be integral parts of my life; I lost all of them along the way. It happens. It hurts, but it happens. These words I wrote linger in my memory:
Sometimes in my dreams, we still talk to each other
Although in real life I know we're done with one another
I don't think I'd want you to return
I'd just feel better if I could learn
What became of you
Because I remember you
Maybe we're not meant to get over the things that still haunt us, decades after it was too late to do anything about them. We bleed, we mend, we move on; the scar lingers. Guilt lingers. Regret lingers. But sometimes the glow of better times can linger, too.
Godspeed, Julie. I don't think I'd want you to return. I wish you well, wherever you are. But I haven't thought of you lately at all. That line's a lie. One thing remains true, and the Dandy Warhols wrote a song about their version of it. Bring it on now sugar. Just remember me when. A long time ago, we used to be...
...you know.
If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider supporting this blog by becoming a patron on Patreon, or by visiting CC's Tip Jar. Additional products and projects are listed here.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.
I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl
No comments:
Post a Comment