Buena Vista Social Club - Chan Chan.mp4 from misswell on Vimeo.
If I were a fancy design blog I would paste up gorgeous photos of sexy Cuban women in dresses that slit to the ass cheek and men so handsome with dance moves like danger.
I would throw down pictures of Cuba blurred ever so lovely with photoshop that would make you tumblr crazy.
But I will just say that this CD was on heavy rotation when I lived in Athens in the 90's. I would pull it out when I cooked in my tiny apartment. I would wear aprons and make food for myself and I would think this is the greatest thing in the world. And tonight I think about how lovely it would be to be there. In that video, wearing a low cut dress in red, drinking drinks with ice. Sitting at a small wooden table pressed against my Joe, feeling the music. It's like I don't even need to know what they are saying because it is so good. Like years ago when I had a Greek lover and he might have been saying I was a donkey and my feet were smelly in island whispers long ago. I didn't care. It just sounded like life amplified. Or like today in the post office when I pretended to understand Spanish. These two guys were chatting up a storm and I kept looking at them and raising my eyebrows from time to time. I really freaked them out I think. It just sounded so pleasing to me. I wanted to be there.
Sometimes words just make sounds that make us crazy.
8 comments:
The raising-your-eyebrows-in-the-post-office part of this makes me giddy. I've got to try that some time! (I'll be sure to wait until someone is speaking a foreign language. And it doesn't necessarily have to be in a post office. You get the idea.)
I know this song so well. Must have listened to it a million times when I bought this CD years back.
Oh, mama. I LOVE BVSC. xo
A friend introduced me to BVSC a few years back. I love them. I find that I too throw them in the stereo when I am cooking and then I flamenco dance all around my kitchen!
I love you Amy Turn Sharp!
okay, I have to delurk just because I'm going to take this as a sign
my husband and I are planning to go to Cuba , but after this Haiti thing, life is so muddled and we're not sure.
But he is Italian, and when he tells me it's my turn to do the recycle in his dialect, it sounds sexy.
I need some of this in my hope. my life
we all do.
thank you, sorry for the blurt. dance away Amy.
I lived in Athens from 86 to 98, wonder if we ever crossed paths? I dig your blog!
Oh, wait. I feel dumb. Did you mean GA or Greece? Ha!~
Love how you've always lived big. And LOVE BVSC!
And now I long to go to Europe again. On our second trip to Spain, Chris and I had a rental car. When we were in Ronda, we realized that we really needed a CD and bought what looked to be the best option from about 20 generic looking instrumental options. It was all guitar and at first listen, just terrible. But after several days, it grew on us and we would hum those overly dramatic tunes at random. We just unearthed that CD recently and it brought so many memories back. But all sense memories - which are often the most compelling.
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