I had nothing to do on this hot afternoon

We had a slow day today, and relaxed before our upcoming two week trip to Europe for work and play.

I cooked some Spinach Roman Style and Oven Roasted Chicken (reg req) for dinner. Great stuff! We had a Louis Latour Chassagne Montrachet to go with it which made for a great meal.

During diner, I had put on an old Tom Waits disc – A Foreign Affair. That has one of my favorite songs from that era by the same name. Here is a verse:

Planes and trains and boats and busses.

Characteristically, invoke a common attitude of blue.

Unless you have a suitcase, a ticket and a passport,

And the cargo that they're carrying is You.

So we started talking about how music reminds you of earlier times. We ended up talking about Rod Stewart, and how his verses, particularly from Every Picture Tells a Story reminded me of my senior year in High School and my older brother Mark. Here is an example:

I had nothing to do on this hot afternoon
but to settle down and write you a line
I've been meaning to phone you but from Minnesota
hell it's been a very long time
You wear it well
A little old fashioned but that's all right

Well I suppose you're thinking I bet he's sinking
or he wouldn't get in touch with me
Oh I ain't begging or losing my head
I sure do want you to know that you wear it well
There ain't a lady in the land so fine

Remember them basement parties, your brother's karate
the all day rock and roll shows
Them homesick blues and radical views
haven't left a mark on you, you wear it well
A little out of time but I don't mind

But I ain't forgetting that you were once mine
but I blew it without even tryin'
Now I'm eatin' my heart out
tryin' to get a letter through

Since you've been gone it's hard to carry on
I'm gonna write about the birthday gown that I bought in town
when you sat down and cried on the stairs
You knew it did not cost the earth, but for what it's worth
You made me feel a millionaire and you wear it well
Madame Onassis got nothing on you

Anyway, my coffee's cold and I'm getting told
that I gotta get back to work
So when the sun goes low and you're home all alone
think of me and try not to laugh and I wear it well
I don't object if you call collect
'cos I ain't forgetting that you were once mine
but I blew it without even tryin'
Now I'm eatin' my heart out tryin' to get back to you

After all the years I hope it's the same address
Since you've been gone it's hard to carry on

Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now