Thursday 24 September 2015

Bitter Sweet Symphony




Ash longed to be Richard Ashcroft. He’d near enough starved himself to get the gaunt, haunting look of his hero. He’d grown his hair so he had the shaggy unkempt look and bought a wonderful leather jacket that he wore over a jean jacket. Best of all he’d developed the jaunty walk, the bounce in the step that Ashcroft perfected in the 90’s. Finally he’d managed to persuade his mates to give him the nickname Ash.  Ash was only 19 years old, too young to remember when Bittersweet Symphony was originally a hit but that didn’t matter, ever since he’d heard the opening strings, he’d been hooked on the song, the band and in particular the Verve’s front man.
When he walked down the street Ash imagined he was Ashcroft in the video to the song. Ashcroft walks in a straight line down a London street with a deep freeze look on his face, not perturbed about space and time, rolling people out of his way, walking over cars, not worrying about the repercussions. Bold and brassy, he struts his stuff, singing his song and damning the consequences. Ash longed to be able to do the same, to have the confidence, the balls to just walk. The problem was that Ash was far too British and far too scared to go for it. In his mind’s eye he was a rebellious teen, an angry young man, a rebel without a cause, but in reality he was a scruffy, polite kid, with a long fringe and two coats. He knew full well that if he Ashcrofted down any street he’d have his lights punched out or someone would call the police or if he was a very unlucky man both.

One day he’d do it, but not this time. So with Bitter Sweet Symphony on a constant loop in his head, Ash loped down the street but instead of being full of verve,, he was full of nerves and swerves, apologising if he got in the way of anyone, and getting out of the way of little old ladies with shopping trollies.

3 comments:

  1. I like this song :-)

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  2. 'So with Bitter Sweet Symphony on a constant loop in his head, Ash loped down the street but instead of being full of verve,, he was full of nerves and swerves, apologising if he got in the way of anyone, and getting out of the way of little old ladies with shopping trollies. '

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  3. I like this story.
    Mainly because it is thought provoking, especially when combined with the lyrics of the song and the video. It has been on a loop in my head since Thursday, making me think about this metaphor of life you presented. There are so many thoughts that arise:
    Should we be stuck in our ways and not try to change anything at all? Should we just stick to our guns, believing we are “British” or have some character traits the nature gave us the moment we are born? Should we do nothing to change these traits, stay in our mold, ignoring people who get into our way? All in the name of integrity of opinions and beliefs, and it doesn’t matter whether we hurt others or not. Other people just don’t count (like the ones the man pumps into in the street)
    Or maybe this is good? Maybe we shouldn’t try to be a “better person” just to please others? Maybe we shouldn’t be “million different people from one day to the next” and adapt to others? We have only one life so why bother? (“should we get out of the ay of old ladies with trolleys?”)
    Or maybe, on the other hand, if this is the only we’ve got, we should strive to be better people? But is it possible to change your character at all? Is it enough if we only introduce superficial changes, like getting a leather jacket or losing weight, or engaging in lots of transient ‘nice and pleasant’ relationships, while we neglect genuine relationships, take things for granted and don’t introduce any deep changes to make these true things better and have more meaningful life?
    Should we stay as we are or maybe develop, evolve to be better? Should we sometimes pretend in order to keep others happy? Should we sometimes pretend to keep ourselves happy? Shouldn’t we sometimes pretend in order to show that’s it’s not only our feelings that are important but we care about others? Should we change to meet the needs of the society or not? Why do we want to be someone else sometimes?
    So, as you can see lots of thought from your little story.
    P.S.I think that your phrase “to Ashcroft down a street” should be introduced into dictionaries:-) I like it. I think that sometimes, when I am deep in my thoughts walking down the street, I do it.

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