It all began with the Trusty Green, Diamond Shaped, Hard Bristled, Hairbrush....
Apparently,
According to my mother, I used to sing in the crib at the top of my lungs at 4am with perfect pitch.."Don't Cry For Me Aregntina" and "Mull of Kintyre" Karen Carpenter and Paul Mc Cartney...I was 2 years old. Then as my mother tells the story...
" I thought she was going to be my singing child..and after the singing in the crib stopped she never opened her mouth again!"
Well, little does she know that indeed the singing did continue with the help of my trusty Green, Diamond Shaped, Hard Bristled, Hairbrush..
My parents are Africaans immigrants from South Africa. Moving to Melbourne, Australia in the early 70's. Apparently, as my mother tells the story, My Father, Peter aka Petrus, went to Australia first on his own to check it out...he called Tess (my Mother) and told her to come to Australia with the kids...
The kids were my two older sister's Tanja and Maryke...I was a bun in the oven at that point...ready to be popped out when Tess arrived in Australia! Cut a long story short I was born July 13th 1974 in Melbourne..after a year there, my parents decided it would be better to live in Sydney. So we moved to Sydney..
Of all of the places I can remember we lived, Binnalong Avenue Allambie Heights, to Jellico Street in Balgowlah Heights to , Dobroyd Road in Balgowlah Heights, to Lae PLace in Allambie Heights and then my Father thought it might be nice to then move across the road still in Lae Place. All of these moves by the time I was 12. During this time I was plotting my future to be a famous singer!
Singing in my room or in the bathroom with my green hairbrush as my microphone. The bathroom was a choice pick because of the effects I would get on my voice from the tiles..I loved the reverb in the bathroom. My bedroom was always a last resort..if someone needed to get into the bathroom in a hurry. I also loved to have wet hair and have a towel wraped around my head...pretending it was long and flowing...( I used to cut my hair all the time..That's another story!)
So contiuned the singing and harmonising..mostly to Karen Carpenter, The Beatles and anything within my range with strong harmony lines. I would always be the 5th Beatle..Adding a 5th harmony line to "No Reply" or anything that they did. I had no idea what I was doing..I just heard lots of melodies and it seemed to fit in........
Things started getting harder for me when I realized that I wasn't alone in the bathroom or my room for that matter...My sisters and my younger brother (Ben) soon realized that there was something very entertaining going on and they would spy on me...
Once I had discovered that someone was listening to me.......I became shy and very angry about it! I would scream at them "go away" and they would run away laughing at me.....
MULL OF KINTYRE
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre
Far have I traveled and much have I seen
Dark distant mountains with valleys of green.
Past painted deserts the sunset’s on fire
As he carries me home to the mull of kintyre.
Mull of kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre
Sweep through the heather like deer in the glen
Carry me back to the days I knew then.
Nights when we sang like a heavenly choir
Of the life and the time of the mull of kintyre.
Mull of kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre
Smiles in the sunshine
And tears in the rain
Still take me back to where my memories remain
Flickering embers growing higher and higher
As they carry me back to the mull of kintyre
Mull of kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre
Mull of kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre
Don't Cry For Me, Argentina
It won't be easy, you'll think it strange
When I try to explain how I feel
That I still need your love after all that I've done
You won't believe me
All you will see is a girl you once knew
Although she's dressed up to the nines
At sixes and sevens with you
I had to let it happen; I had to change
Couldn't stay all my life down at heel
Looking out of the window, staying out of the sun
So I chose freedom
Running around trying everything new
But nothing impressed me at all
I never expected it to
Don't cry for me, Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance
And as for fortune, and as for fame
I never invited them in
Though it seemed to the world they were all I desired
They are illusions
They're not the solutions they promised to be
The answer was here all the time
I love you and hope you love me
Don't cry for me, Argentina
Don't cry for me, Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance
Have I said too much? There's nothing more
I can think of to say to you
But all you have to do is look at me to know
That every word is true
According to my mother, I used to sing in the crib at the top of my lungs at 4am with perfect pitch.."Don't Cry For Me Aregntina" and "Mull of Kintyre" Karen Carpenter and Paul Mc Cartney...I was 2 years old. Then as my mother tells the story...
" I thought she was going to be my singing child..and after the singing in the crib stopped she never opened her mouth again!"
Well, little does she know that indeed the singing did continue with the help of my trusty Green, Diamond Shaped, Hard Bristled, Hairbrush..
My parents are Africaans immigrants from South Africa. Moving to Melbourne, Australia in the early 70's. Apparently, as my mother tells the story, My Father, Peter aka Petrus, went to Australia first on his own to check it out...he called Tess (my Mother) and told her to come to Australia with the kids...
The kids were my two older sister's Tanja and Maryke...I was a bun in the oven at that point...ready to be popped out when Tess arrived in Australia! Cut a long story short I was born July 13th 1974 in Melbourne..after a year there, my parents decided it would be better to live in Sydney. So we moved to Sydney..
Of all of the places I can remember we lived, Binnalong Avenue Allambie Heights, to Jellico Street in Balgowlah Heights to , Dobroyd Road in Balgowlah Heights, to Lae PLace in Allambie Heights and then my Father thought it might be nice to then move across the road still in Lae Place. All of these moves by the time I was 12. During this time I was plotting my future to be a famous singer!
Singing in my room or in the bathroom with my green hairbrush as my microphone. The bathroom was a choice pick because of the effects I would get on my voice from the tiles..I loved the reverb in the bathroom. My bedroom was always a last resort..if someone needed to get into the bathroom in a hurry. I also loved to have wet hair and have a towel wraped around my head...pretending it was long and flowing...( I used to cut my hair all the time..That's another story!)
So contiuned the singing and harmonising..mostly to Karen Carpenter, The Beatles and anything within my range with strong harmony lines. I would always be the 5th Beatle..Adding a 5th harmony line to "No Reply" or anything that they did. I had no idea what I was doing..I just heard lots of melodies and it seemed to fit in........
Things started getting harder for me when I realized that I wasn't alone in the bathroom or my room for that matter...My sisters and my younger brother (Ben) soon realized that there was something very entertaining going on and they would spy on me...
Once I had discovered that someone was listening to me.......I became shy and very angry about it! I would scream at them "go away" and they would run away laughing at me.....
MULL OF KINTYRE
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre
Far have I traveled and much have I seen
Dark distant mountains with valleys of green.
Past painted deserts the sunset’s on fire
As he carries me home to the mull of kintyre.
Mull of kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre
Sweep through the heather like deer in the glen
Carry me back to the days I knew then.
Nights when we sang like a heavenly choir
Of the life and the time of the mull of kintyre.
Mull of kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre
Smiles in the sunshine
And tears in the rain
Still take me back to where my memories remain
Flickering embers growing higher and higher
As they carry me back to the mull of kintyre
Mull of kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre
Mull of kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre
Don't Cry For Me, Argentina
It won't be easy, you'll think it strange
When I try to explain how I feel
That I still need your love after all that I've done
You won't believe me
All you will see is a girl you once knew
Although she's dressed up to the nines
At sixes and sevens with you
I had to let it happen; I had to change
Couldn't stay all my life down at heel
Looking out of the window, staying out of the sun
So I chose freedom
Running around trying everything new
But nothing impressed me at all
I never expected it to
Don't cry for me, Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance
And as for fortune, and as for fame
I never invited them in
Though it seemed to the world they were all I desired
They are illusions
They're not the solutions they promised to be
The answer was here all the time
I love you and hope you love me
Don't cry for me, Argentina
Don't cry for me, Argentina
The truth is I never left you
All through my wild days
My mad existence
I kept my promise
Don't keep your distance
Have I said too much? There's nothing more
I can think of to say to you
But all you have to do is look at me to know
That every word is true
posted by The Torch Singer at 6:03 PM
1 Comments:
I have always loved Mull of Kintyre. It was a favorite of mine when I was a young boy in England. Amazing that you were singing it and Don't Cry for me Argentina so young.
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