Post by jim on Sept 1, 2012 15:31:46 GMT -5
Mort Shuman , Brooklyn by the sea .
This "bazinga" began a long time ago , but i could not imagine that it once would turn in such a violently breathing ...
OK , lets go :
it began in the late seventies , Mortimer asked us in his song to jump in a cab direction "Brighton beach", in Brooklyn , cause the people there would disapear soon... So do we , my wife and i , but many , many years later. We flew to the states , a trip which was rather impossible to imagine before , especially for Suzann ,who was born and growing-up in the GDR .
So we took a typical yellow cab and said 2 things to the driver : to "Brighton beach" please , and that it would
be really nice if i could sit be next to him cause im always sick in the back of a car..
The driver was an +- 40 years old black guy , but i didnt knew that , at a special moment , it would be rather important.
And i also didnt knew that , from now on, we may need help .
-----------------------------------------------------
We droved since a while now , and he asked me to look in the "glove box" , there would be an enveloppe inside.
Beneath a lot of crap , i found the enveloppe under a revolver... Somehow normal , we were in NY ...
"Dont even think about it" , he smiled , "Youll stop breathing before you will touch it..."
"Give me the enveloppe" . "Come on". His voice was quite polite , but, no doubt , it was an order.
The drive began strange , and from the very start, i had this particular feeling of distress , which is to ancient to fade in fear anymore .
This guy was obviously in a relly special mood ,and now only a miracle could help.
And it came.
Suzann said , in -for me- , a perfect English :
" Is it your mother on the picture ?"
With a smooth movement of his right hand ,he banned a few confused drops from his face , and said that everybody could see the resemblance .
I also would take a look at the picture , but he pointed a finger in direction of my head and said :
"NO. NOT you . And you should better listen to your friend , he seem to be cleverer as you..."
I had no idea what he was talking about , but something told me that i would rapidly understand...
The angel were siting next to Suzann , and obviously our driver could see him ...
"Hum... How long would it take to reach Brighton ? " did i asked, and It was clear that i began to get a bit "nervous"...
- "oh, we are there since a while ", he smiled...
" But why the fuck didnt you stop before?!!!! ..."
- "do you play chess ?" He asked
"Dont know .. Yes ... From time to time ... Hu , against you ? Now !?"
- " IS THERE ANYTHING IN THIS FUCKIN WORLd you know??!!... " He trow .
"Ok, ok, ... And where do you want to play ?"
But he dindnt want to play with me , realized i as he suddenly stopped .
-----------------------------
Suzann told me later that you could see on the picture a young girl playing chess on the beach promenade
with a full dressed army guy...
A black and white one ,with a logo from a foto-shop on the back .
He told us the beginning of his parents love-story:
No girl could go out alone at night in the early 19xx, so she decided
learning to play chess .
So she played a lot , mostly against old wymen , dressed in black , who obviously had once the same idea as her ...
And, one fine day , it happened. The first miracle.
He suddenly stood in front of her , his green berret in one hand . "Miss, would you play this game with me ?"
Even the clouds over Brighton beach" gets red jaws when they are thinking back of this game.
She knew that it would end sometime , so she ran her tower everywere on the chess-board .But he didnt seem to
take notice of the fact that he was loosing one figuere after the other, he just continued to chase her tower .
Instead , he seem to offer her his whole kingdom, even his both horses were hers . This game could have during ages,
not only cause they both played everything else than chess ..
But after a while , their kings and Queens were loosing their shadows , and it was time to go .
An unwritten law said that unfinished games must stay untouched for the night , and in the most cases the players can
continue the fight the next day .
But she didnt came the next day . And not the day after . He waited as long as he could and decided to find her .
Our driver said that he found her , but nobody nor really knows what happened then , and , neither after ...
"Some said that he ´d joined his cousin ´s plantation in the big north , some report from a strange guy in a gold mine..."
At this words, something violently awake in me .
-"Is your name LEE?!"
"Dont go to hell, cause im already there , and its not that bad here ..." He answered with a strange kind of smile on his face.
-"Hum... Mortimer didnt invent anything , he only made several songs of it , but in reallity , it was only one and the same story..",did i say to myself .
" You begin to understand , hu ?!"
" No , not everything was real . "Nestor" came straight from the mind of a damned French guy ..."
" What is "Nestor" ? Asked Susann .
" "Not important" Replyed our driver...
"Ha , the crocodile..." She remembered.
"No .... In fact , it was an alligator ..." He whispered ... " Those French girls ..."
-"She is German..." i said , "I am French" ...
"Go to hell", he said , and we laughed .
---------------------------------------------------------
But suddenly ,he stopped .
"Get out." He said.
"How much do i owe you ...?" i replyed , a bit surprized ...
" Are you really that stupid ..? " Get out ". "Now.", He smiled .
I trow a short look behind me , Susann and the Angel were gone ,
and i said : "NO."
He seem to stare at a certain point what looked like a table . It was around half a mile away , but i could
clearly identify 3 people sitting on there.
"Ok ..." , he said . "Like you want ." , and leaved the cab .
He walked to the table , and one of the persons
was an old ,in black dressed , lady . He told her something , caressed her jaw , helped
her standing up as she layed something on the stone chess-board. After a while ,both disappered hand in hand in little Odessa .
After a while , i also left the car and went to the table .The Angel was watching The sky slowly coloring red .
Suzann took a few pictures from the water , with this very paticular , childish smile on her face, which is still a mistery to me .
- "How could you ?!!! How could you let me alone in this situation ?!!!"
" Anna". he said .
"What the hell are you talking about ? " Who is Anna ?"
"Her name is Anna." He repeated as he watched Susann making strange sounds in the water. "Susann talked a long time with her ,
and her name was Anna."
Suddenly , i understood .
-" Hey , you were there . you were there the whole time".
" What is she doing now ?! is it a dance ?"
" Come on. Let´s have a drink somewhere ."
He said.
Mort Shuman "Brooklyn by the sea"
"Brooklyn by the sea"
Amsterdam , Mort Shuman, Englisd version , written by his friend Jacques Brel ,
Pic of "Anna" later
This "bazinga" began a long time ago , but i could not imagine that it once would turn in such a violently breathing ...
OK , lets go :
it began in the late seventies , Mortimer asked us in his song to jump in a cab direction "Brighton beach", in Brooklyn , cause the people there would disapear soon... So do we , my wife and i , but many , many years later. We flew to the states , a trip which was rather impossible to imagine before , especially for Suzann ,who was born and growing-up in the GDR .
So we took a typical yellow cab and said 2 things to the driver : to "Brighton beach" please , and that it would
be really nice if i could sit be next to him cause im always sick in the back of a car..
The driver was an +- 40 years old black guy , but i didnt knew that , at a special moment , it would be rather important.
And i also didnt knew that , from now on, we may need help .
-----------------------------------------------------
We droved since a while now , and he asked me to look in the "glove box" , there would be an enveloppe inside.
Beneath a lot of crap , i found the enveloppe under a revolver... Somehow normal , we were in NY ...
"Dont even think about it" , he smiled , "Youll stop breathing before you will touch it..."
"Give me the enveloppe" . "Come on". His voice was quite polite , but, no doubt , it was an order.
The drive began strange , and from the very start, i had this particular feeling of distress , which is to ancient to fade in fear anymore .
This guy was obviously in a relly special mood ,and now only a miracle could help.
And it came.
Suzann said , in -for me- , a perfect English :
" Is it your mother on the picture ?"
With a smooth movement of his right hand ,he banned a few confused drops from his face , and said that everybody could see the resemblance .
I also would take a look at the picture , but he pointed a finger in direction of my head and said :
"NO. NOT you . And you should better listen to your friend , he seem to be cleverer as you..."
I had no idea what he was talking about , but something told me that i would rapidly understand...
The angel were siting next to Suzann , and obviously our driver could see him ...
"Hum... How long would it take to reach Brighton ? " did i asked, and It was clear that i began to get a bit "nervous"...
- "oh, we are there since a while ", he smiled...
" But why the fuck didnt you stop before?!!!! ..."
- "do you play chess ?" He asked
"Dont know .. Yes ... From time to time ... Hu , against you ? Now !?"
- " IS THERE ANYTHING IN THIS FUCKIN WORLd you know??!!... " He trow .
"Ok, ok, ... And where do you want to play ?"
But he dindnt want to play with me , realized i as he suddenly stopped .
-----------------------------
Suzann told me later that you could see on the picture a young girl playing chess on the beach promenade
with a full dressed army guy...
A black and white one ,with a logo from a foto-shop on the back .
He told us the beginning of his parents love-story:
No girl could go out alone at night in the early 19xx, so she decided
learning to play chess .
So she played a lot , mostly against old wymen , dressed in black , who obviously had once the same idea as her ...
And, one fine day , it happened. The first miracle.
He suddenly stood in front of her , his green berret in one hand . "Miss, would you play this game with me ?"
Even the clouds over Brighton beach" gets red jaws when they are thinking back of this game.
She knew that it would end sometime , so she ran her tower everywere on the chess-board .But he didnt seem to
take notice of the fact that he was loosing one figuere after the other, he just continued to chase her tower .
Instead , he seem to offer her his whole kingdom, even his both horses were hers . This game could have during ages,
not only cause they both played everything else than chess ..
But after a while , their kings and Queens were loosing their shadows , and it was time to go .
An unwritten law said that unfinished games must stay untouched for the night , and in the most cases the players can
continue the fight the next day .
But she didnt came the next day . And not the day after . He waited as long as he could and decided to find her .
Our driver said that he found her , but nobody nor really knows what happened then , and , neither after ...
"Some said that he ´d joined his cousin ´s plantation in the big north , some report from a strange guy in a gold mine..."
At this words, something violently awake in me .
-"Is your name LEE?!"
"Dont go to hell, cause im already there , and its not that bad here ..." He answered with a strange kind of smile on his face.
-"Hum... Mortimer didnt invent anything , he only made several songs of it , but in reallity , it was only one and the same story..",did i say to myself .
" You begin to understand , hu ?!"
" No , not everything was real . "Nestor" came straight from the mind of a damned French guy ..."
" What is "Nestor" ? Asked Susann .
" "Not important" Replyed our driver...
"Ha , the crocodile..." She remembered.
"No .... In fact , it was an alligator ..." He whispered ... " Those French girls ..."
-"She is German..." i said , "I am French" ...
"Go to hell", he said , and we laughed .
---------------------------------------------------------
But suddenly ,he stopped .
"Get out." He said.
"How much do i owe you ...?" i replyed , a bit surprized ...
" Are you really that stupid ..? " Get out ". "Now.", He smiled .
I trow a short look behind me , Susann and the Angel were gone ,
and i said : "NO."
He seem to stare at a certain point what looked like a table . It was around half a mile away , but i could
clearly identify 3 people sitting on there.
"Ok ..." , he said . "Like you want ." , and leaved the cab .
He walked to the table , and one of the persons
was an old ,in black dressed , lady . He told her something , caressed her jaw , helped
her standing up as she layed something on the stone chess-board. After a while ,both disappered hand in hand in little Odessa .
After a while , i also left the car and went to the table .The Angel was watching The sky slowly coloring red .
Suzann took a few pictures from the water , with this very paticular , childish smile on her face, which is still a mistery to me
.- "How could you ?!!! How could you let me alone in this situation ?!!!"
" Anna". he said .
"What the hell are you talking about ? " Who is Anna ?"
"Her name is Anna." He repeated as he watched Susann making strange sounds in the water. "Susann talked a long time with her ,
and her name was Anna."
Suddenly , i understood .
-" Hey , you were there . you were there the whole time".
" What is she doing now ?! is it a dance ?"
" Come on. Let´s have a drink somewhere ."
He said.
Mort Shuman "Brooklyn by the sea"
"Brooklyn by the sea"
Amsterdam , Mort Shuman, Englisd version , written by his friend Jacques Brel ,
Pic of "Anna" later