I was driving to my Weight Watchers meeting this morning, when my iPod served up Laura Nyro singing "Up on the Roof." It triggered a sweet memory and gave me a bit of a yearning for my own spot to run away to.
When this old world starts a getting me down
And people are just too much for me to face
I'll climb way up to the top of the stairs
And all my cares just drift right into space
On the roof, it's peaceful as can be
And there the world below don't bother me, no, no
So when I come home feeling tired and beat
I'll go up where the air is fresh and sweet
I'll get far away from the hustling crowd
And all the rat-race noise down in the street
On the roof, that's the only place I know
Look at the city, baby
Where you just have to wish to make it so
Let's go up on the roof
And at night the stars they put on a show for free
And, darling, you can share it all with me
That's what I said
Keep on telling you
That right smack dab in the middle of town
I found a paradise that's troubleproof
And if this old world starts a getting you down
There's room enough for two
Up on the roof...
As a teenager, I'd occasionally sneak out of the house at night and meet up with friends. One warm evening, I was out with two friends, David and Annie. It must have been 1 or 2 in the morning, and we were walking down the center of the street that ran by David's house. David was very much into music, so he had a radio with him. Laura Nyro's version of Up on the Roof came on, and we all sat down, there in the middle of the road, to listen. A wonderful and special moment. Bittersweet now as David and Annie are both dead. Annie hung herself about 25 years ago and David died of AIDS in the early 90s. They were both very special people.
And who wouldn't want a place at the top of the stairs where it's peaceful as can be and all your cares drift right into space?
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7 comments:
Hi Cranky,
Hope there is room for us at the top of the stairs.
Have a good weekend.
Love,
Herrad
Hiya,
I so love this song! It has memories for us too here.
Music can magically take me back to a place and time and I can savor the memory - sometimes when I close my eyes and relax for a few precious moments it is almost like I am there again.
Yes - drifting in space . ...
Jan
Like Elton John's "...I sat on a roof..." Roof od Seattle Space Needle---great view.
Hi Cranky! I have flickers of memories too when I hear certain songs. I used to sit on the roof of my condo during the fall evenings watching the stars and listening to the forest sounds. I think I've found my "roof" this week actually...peaceful and yes, my cares are drifting away!
Mine was Karen Carpenter's Mr. Postman, sitting in the backseat of my sister's boyfriend's cousin's brown camaro when I was 13 and they were all getting high. Boy was I cool!
Andy
Herrad - there's room for all of us! We did have a great weekend, thanks. Hope yours was as well.
Jan - isn't it funny how music can do that, bring you back to the place and time. I can envision sitting on the road listening to Up on the Roof so clearly, it's hard to believe it occured almost 40 years ago.
Diane and Rain - it's great to be high up. Makes all those cares seem so far away.
Andy - I bet your sister was just tickled to have her little brother tag along. :-)
You're not trying to tell me see wasn't, are you? Oh the pain of being unwanted! It probably had to do with the fact that I could served in a bar when I was 13.
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