Tag: The Cure

Pomegranate — Book 9

 

Alana hasn’t slept well in days. But she was up early and off to work. She was heading to her Soho office. She got off the R-train and bought a bagel from a street vendor.

As always, her mind was occupied with Marc. Boy did she have obsessive-compulsive disorder. Tack on her general anxiety disorder and she could really be a mess. A hot mess. Despite her goth looks and beliefs, she did get along with most people. She just needed to be in control.

She entered her building and went to the elevator. Her iPhone started playing “Cut You Up.” She started to shake. That was Marc’s text tone. Was this real? She was spooked. Her hand shook as she opened the text. What her dream was writing? She had no clue why after so many years she was still head over heels for him. They briefly dated. But had so much in common. Especially their love of Joy Division, Bauhaus and the Cure.

“Hey, Alana.”

Why didn’t he write more? But he wrote. She was pleased. Yet distressed. Her knees started to shake. She bit into her bagel.

Her boss was his usual cheery self. He wasn’t a bad guy. They got along. But like all, she got on his nerves. And now she had that text to think about. And think about it she did. That’s all she thought of. What does he want? She wasn’t ready to text him back and fall into a trap. They’ve been in each other’s trap since the third grade.

The lunchtime hour struck. She went outside to the corner deli. She was still thinking about what she’d say in her reply to Marc. Someone ran into her as the crossed the street. She moved away and figured it was just a tourist who didn’t know how to walk in NYC. She kept walking to the store. But the woman who smacked her went after her again. She tried to stay calm. But was so tense. She looked at the woman right in the eye.

The woman went into her coat pocket and looked like she was pulling out a gun. Alana didn’t want to get shot. She was feeling a connection to Marc. Alana’s arm bulged. As her hand opened the crazy lady whipped out a razor blade and tried to slash Alana’s throat. Alana ducked and when she got up she lunged a bushel of apples at the woman. They hit her square in the jaw and her head. She hit the concrete hard. Alana didn’t stop. She was enraged. She usually just beat her foe and left. The woman was screaming so loud. Naturally, people were shooting shots with their mobiles. Finally, Alana walked off.

People tried to follow her. But as a typical New Yorker, she was in all black and blended in well with the foot traffic. She whipped out her phone and texted, “Marc, it’s me. Meet for a beer at PJ Clarke’s on 55th and Third?” She thought for a moment or two and hit send.

101

DMEarlier today, I sat on the couch and watched my Depeche Mode 101 DVD. That’s the concert documentary that DM put out in ’89. It features the amazing tunes they played during the Music for the Masses tour.
As I heard Dave Gahan’s voice sing “Master & Servant,” I was blasted back to the day when life was simpler and in some ways more fun. In some ways, it was not. We still have our masters and servants.
Watching Martin L Gore’s solo of “Somebody” brings the same depression I had when he sang that tune, while I was wishing for somebody back in high school. It hasn’t changed.
Depeche Mode is one of the bands that will always remain honest and current. Their songs will always touch one’s heart and soul. Whether, you’re traveling down “Route 66”, worrying about “Blasphemous Rumors”, worried that “Everything Counts “ (I sure do) or “Just Can’t Get Enough”.
I remember listening to their cassettes nonstop and making Depeche Mode mixes for my car. In one of my autos, the tape deck was on its dying days. The only tape it played flawlessly was a Depeche Mode mix. The same thing happened years later in another vehicle’s CD player.
I remember wearing all black. Well, that hasn’t completely changed. I’ve seen them dozens of times. I once waited hours on a line at the now defunct Tower Records to meet them. That was in 2004. They signed one of their new releases.
I got about 90 seconds to talk to Andrew Fletcher, Martin and David. I remember begging Martin to play songs from Speak and Spell (even though) that was really a Vince Clarke album, a DM founder who left after their first release. He founded Yaz, ran and has thankfully found a home in Erasure. I discovered Erasure in the health lodge at Ten Mile River Scout Camps. I wasn’t the sick one. I was with one of my campers who needed to be in that awful place. We had some strange nurses.
Anyway, back to my conversations with DM. I continued to beg them to go back to around 1984. They just smiled and said we’ll think about it. I saw them a few days later at the Garden. They didn’t take my requests. But they dazzled us anyway.
While I was sitting outside of Tower Records, I chatted with a cute girl, who was at least 10 years younger than me. She was a 90s DM fan. I am an 80s DM fan. Well, I’m a fan of their music. But I gravitate to their 1980s tunes. This woman did the same for their 1990’s music. She was in love with Martin. She had a tattoo stating that. Her dream was for him to kiss her on it. Never happened. But she got to meet him and couldn’t have been happier.
Another thing that flashed into my mind was the great way we dressed back then. I already mentioned all black. But we cropped our hair as close to our heads as we could. I used to bring in pictures of them and O.M.D. to my haircutter. I called him Professor Joe. He tried his best to make me look like them.
Eventually, I made it up to New Paltz. Us New Wavers used to go Berties in Poughkeepsie. We all had to wear bracelets saying we were under 21. But we wore our black outfits and danced all night to Depeche Mode, the Cure, the Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen, New Order and the other greats from the 80s. I wasn’t a good dancer. That hasn’t changed.
Man, I miss those days. If only we could all be “Stripped” down to the bone. In other words, speak just for me and make decisions without your television on.
So, “Now this is Fun”. “It is More than a Party”. As for me, I’m looking for a “Policy of Truth,” while doing my best to remember, “People are People”.
I cannot wait to see them at the Garden at the end of the summer. Funny, I just did the Facebook what 80s alt-pop band wrote the soundtrack of your life. I got Depeche Mode.