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        Pete Atkin >> Words >> References
        
(Message started by: Ian Chippett on Today at 17:02)

Title: References
Post by Ian Chippett on Today at 17:02

<<Meeting Point’ is the poem that every young man should learn to recite by heart if he wants to pull classy girls, and every classy girl should have on the tip of her tongue when she bumps into a scruffy poetic type that she feels the urge to civilize. ‘Time was away and somewhere else’ runs the refrain. The two lovers are alone together in a public place. It’s a coffee shop, expensive enough to have a waiter, but fortunately he does not show up to interrupt them. (‘The waiter did not come, the clock/Forgot them and the radio waltz/Came out like water from a rock.’) By the power of their combined imaginations, the little table in between them becomes all the world. (‘The camels crossed the miles of sand/That stretched around the cups and plates…’)>>

I found this in an article by Clive about Louis MacNiece of whom he has always been a gteat admirer. For me two songs sprang to mind immediately when I read this.

Ian C

Title: Re: References
Post by S J Birkill on Today at 17:14

Between Us (http://www.peteatkin.com/c1.htm) (of course)

and

A Long Way To Go In The Morning (http://www.peteatkin.com/i9.htm")

"And the waiter never showed
But we talked on as if we had something to prove"

Just a minute though.......

Title: Re: References
Post by Ian Chippett on Today at 20:41

I was thinking more of "An Empty Table" for the second song as another Voice (sjm?) mentioned in a recent posting.

"Between Us" was the first song of Pete's I ever heard on an actual record and I remember being a bit puzzled (as well as excited) by the words. Trainee seagulls? Condors? Grain-hulks? We didn't get this sort of thing with Slade. On the other hand, are Slade fans still examining the nuances of their heroes' oeuvre 30-odd years on?

Ian C

Title: Re: References
Post by Ian Ashleigh on Today at 21:05

Ian Chippett wrote On the other hand, are Slade fans still examining the nuances of their heroes' oeuvre 30-odd years on?

I must defend Slade - Coz I Luv You is another example of a perfect pop song, see my reference to I Have to Learn elsewhere on this forum. Perhaps I'll start a thread on the subject.

Title: Re: References
Post by Andrew_Curry on 07.03.09 at 07:29

For those who are interested, the full text of Meeting Point can be found here (http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1301.html), at the estimable Wandering Minstrels poetry archive, along with some commentary and (fairly technical) criticism from fans.

Andrew