She never would cryyyyyyyyy

Though I was never among those who were called the “British Collaboration” in my collage days (for their preference of English over Malayalam) I used to like Boney M a lot. The magic of course was that I could understand the lyrics (You saw it coming didn’t you?). Also every one of their songs told a story of some sort (well which song doesn’t?). Ma Baker was my favorite, not for its lyrical quality or the movement in the song. But there were some catchy words in it and I like a woman who wouldn’t cry whatever the situation was. (The singer’s voices reached a crescendo at “and Ma Baker, she never would cryyyyyyyyy”)

A hard and mean woman who went out of life with blazing guns could have been my heroine any day. I revere strength in all forms. Even in the baddest of the lot. I am a little like Nietzsche in that sense. Weakness of all sorts is abhorrent to me, perhaps because I have been weak and sentimental myself.

Oh yes, I try hard not to show it on the surface, but everyone somehow manages to see it instantly, we Indians have very elastic faces, it never fails to show what is inside. Mine is especially so, would have done great in the profession of acting. I decided wisely to not do that for, some of our present actors (Like Mammooty and Mohanlal) would have been out of a job then. Poor guys, they too have to live don't they!

Anyway, I would have preferred to have a European face, Russian would have been fine, with that Slavic impassivity or at least I would go for Schwarzenegger’s face if everything else fails (yet to see something on that face. If billions of bucks could not make it happen, well then that is just the face to have.) I loved it when he acted opposite that expressive lady (don’t recall the name) in Kindergarten cop. She was exquisite. Think she acted in the Shadow with Alec Baldwin (handsome bugger, expressive too, remember seeing him with Anthony Hopkins in a movie, The Bear was it? I am terrible at remembering names of movies)

Well coming back to Boney M, that rasping voice of the only male singer in the band still echoes in my ears.

‘There was such a man in Russia long ago……….’

And the way it trails off at the end

“Oh those rushuns………..”

What a strange period it was!

The bell bottoms, the fantastic hair do’s, the tight shirts open at chest (well these are again in fashion now. The young boys think that we haven’t seen them before!) I still believe that I did some real social work with those bell bottoms I had, I went all the way, had the biggest bell’s in the world, had zippers attached at the bottom for the sweeping work. It is sad that no one gave us a citation for the splendid work we did with it. The modern version of the bells is chastely above the ankle. The little boys have become very fastidious over the years, a sad thing that is, Shouldn’t the youth be iconoclastic? I wouldn’t want them to be dirty, but a little less perfectionism would have been fun. Why do they want to wear shirts made out of blouse material produced for the saris that women wear?

But those times of my youth (Oh, every one would says such things about their own youth) were not always superficial too. Music was like a catalyst to our times. It reflected in every band’s work and music. The Boney M was not an exception, with their popularity and fame they did not always go for the obvious. (Hell, do I know what I am talking about? Probably not, yet let us get on with it)

Their wonderful song,

“I see a boat on the river, its sailing away
Down to the ocean where to, I can’t say”

Still haunts me. There is some thing indefinable in it, the boat, river, ocean, away; all those words conjure up images of something delicately mystical- great lyrics.

I normally do not follow the western light musical streams. No, no don’t even dare imagine that I follow the classical ones, Mozart, Beethoven etc are just names that I use to scold others (sorry if it hurts anyone’s feelings). “You unbelievable Mozart” “you eternal Beethoven”. Tchaikovsky has been a failure in this regard I must admit. The Beethoven is especially useful, I hear it is pronounced bay tho van, extremely handy when you have a dirty character at hand. They would take it as a jibe at their unclean appearance. ‘You bay tho van’ would mean then ‘you who do not ever bathe in life’. People have this terribly silly fear of being called something in a language they don’t know. I cash on it.

As I said, I do not follow the pop, rock, rap, jazz, blues varieties. Had a terrible time when I went to see the Woodstock movie thinking it was some feature film. I could not understand the head or tail of it till the interval. My mind was in total turmoil. At the interval I had to strain hard to hear what the crowd was saying. There were only few words and all very low and mysterious. It was only then it dawned upon me that it has to do with pop culture of the sixties and several other things besides. I went back (paid good money for the ticket you know), and suffered it all in my great eastern dignity, one culture has to show mercy on the least commendable out shoots of other cultures you know!)

Yet I like it when I hear lines like.

“To night I celebrate my love for you,
And the midnight sun is gonna come shining through”

It was Neil Diamond I think. Some how it makes me recall something Hemingway wrote in the “For Whom the Bell Tolls”

He is old but here is one which is not that old.

“Quit playing games with my heart baby” (bay bay!).

Again I can’t remember the bands name. Was it Back Street Boys? Haven’t listened to any one for a long time.

Any way that bay bay used to trouble me a lot, it just wouldn’t quit after I heard it just once. My mind would go bay bay ing every second.

All the same I still like Boney M the best.