London
by A.R. Canzano
Or, how I lived in London for two months where I didn’t know anyone and rode a lot of double decker buses late at night while going to a bunch of feminist punk shows and simultaneously had a long overdue Smiths phase:
Odd numbers by bands I saw; even numbers by Morrissey.
[1] She didn’t realize she was talking to a dickhead
She didn’t realize she was talking to a prick
She dressed up nice she dyed her hair
She even got new underwear
Which will never see his tiny dick
[2] Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that you've
Heard this one beforeA
[3] Don’t be a dick to me just because it’s earlyB
Cracking all we wanna be
Victoria Station
[4] And if you ever need self-validation
Just meet me in the alley by the railway-station
It's written all over my face
[5] You missed the bus
You gotta walk cause you missed the bus
Would it make things better
If I let you wear my brand new sweater?C
[6] Train
Heave on - to EustonD
Do you think you've made
The right decision this time
[7] Don’t you ever ever forget it
Don’t you ever ever forget it
You
are
fineE
[8] I never never want to go home
Because I haven't got one
No, I haven't got one
And if a double-decker busF
Crashes in to us
[9] She’s young, she’s free, she don’t want a man
[10] People power, people power
Knock down corporate towers
Give us something voting forG
[11] A dreaded sunny day
So I meet you at the cemetery gates
Keats and YeatsH
are on your side
While Wilde is on mine
[12] What’s that? / Creeping up behind you? / Tomorrow might be the same.
[13] Nothing's changed
I still love you, oh, I still love you
...Only slightly, only slightly less than I used to, my loveI
[14] Despite Myself (Only Dreaming) / Despite Myself (Half here, Half full) / Despite Myself (I’m Whole Again)J
—
A I have, I think.
B I'll play this one for my younger sister.
C I have a new Italian flatmate. He’s gorgeous but just moved in and I spend too long deliberating whether or not to invite him to a queer punx show. I go alone. On the bus back, I find him on facebook and see lots of pictures on boats. Good instinct! (One of the bands—Personal Best— will tour with Mitski on her 2017 European tour.)
D My flat is in a neighborhood that is on maps, but no one knows its name. Euston Station is closer than King’s Cross, but from Euston I must pass the strip club.
E That girl looks out of place; she is wearing sandals and a babydoll dress. 15 minutes later: shit she changed into Converse and she’s the drummer + lead singer.
F Somewhere in South London, with travellers who leave tomorrow. We try to find the bus stop that took us to the DIY Space, and we have boxes of fries in our hands. Crossing, we almost get hit. Two double deckers going opposite directions, us in the middle.
G Bernie is out. Brexit happened.
H I want to visit (I have been to Keats’s and Wilde’s) but he died in France and his ashes may not be his. I find out that Yeats lived in London for a time, in the same house where Sylvia Plath died. I ask a boy from Tinder if he wants to find it with me, but he replies “Plath sux”. Unmatch.
I I’ve lost my headphones. The man sitting behind me is chanting.
J I wait till the show is over to buy a Big Joanie t-shirt, although my plane leaves in the morning and I stay up all night packing.
Tracklist
[1] DIRTYGIRL – Fat Girl – Junk Food EP – Oct 2015
[2] The Smiths – Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before
[3] Charmpit – Vacation – Snorkel – July 2016
[4] The Smiths – I Want the One I Can’t Have
[5] Personal Best – Song for the Failure’s Union – Arnos Vale – Mar 2015
[6] The Smiths – London
[7] Witching Waves – Concrete– Fear of Falling Down – Sept 2015
[8] The Smiths – There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
[9] The Tuts – Beverly – S/T EP – July 2012
[10] The Tuts – Give Us Something Worth Voting For – Let Go of the Past – July 2016
[11] The Smiths – Cemetery Gates
[12] Witching Waves – Creeping – Fear of Falling Down – Sept 2015
[13] The Smiths – Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before
[14] Big Joanie – Despite Myself – Sistah Punk EP – Oct 2014