i’ve been organizing my sakamoto collection, pulling together misplaced discs, ordering replacements for the ones i’ve lost. i have ten of the albums moved to my ipod now.
this morning i listened to prayer/salvation, one of my favourites. it always takes me to a calm place. i closed my eyes as i listened. one of the songs has a lyric by david sylvian: the musical artist through which my old roommate ken discovered ryuichi sakamoto, where i learned of him.
i was on the shuttle this morning, the one with the rude driver who drives with only two states of movement– quickly accelerating and quickly decelerating. i was holding on tight trying to not get thrown off the shuttle bench. i defocused my eyes as the lyric is spoken softly, with an english accent, imagining..
when the little one came, a hole was blown open.
a partial surrendering in the midst of knowing,
and for an instance the constant heart shed its own tears,
wave upon wave carried me over,
beyond the peripheries of hope and fear,
deadening the voice of relentless biography.
i stood at the center and danced at the extremities,
mapping the city as subtle as silence
then on, outwards, into the darkness.
when the crazy one came,
she placed her finger on my forehead
and pushed on through.
i woke up, face on fire,
spitting out diamonds,
thoroughly lost to logic,
craving her madness.
– david sylvian, from “salvation” by ryuichi sakamoto
