Heres a little bed time story...
I headed down to Frank's Place, this old sailors bar down by the harbour. I'll go in there just like I do most of the pubs in this town, but week after week on a Thursday I'll strum the old folk songs on this beat up old acoustic guitar they have. Its never too busy, just nice, the usual punters, some small groups, couples huddle away in the booths, some guys just come and sit; sit and drink the night away. Maybe they're sitting there without their lost loved one, maybe they just came in from a few days on the sea, or maybe they just couldn't get control of that television remote at home but I seem to have the attention of some of these sailors who sit there night after night to hear me strum my songs, applauding gently at the end of each number, sometimes they'll join me at the bar when I go for another whiskey. I like it though, it relaxes me, i'm in my own world, singing my heart out, they say nothing they just listen. One guy speaks up, asks for Whiskey In The Jar, and why not.
Part way through in walks Janey. Everybody in town would recognise her, I've seen her around. I hear she came out the rough end of a hard divorce some years back, never really settled down after that. I'd never seen her in Frank's though. She walked through got herself a drink of something clear and took a table at the back but she gave me this smile, I'm not sure if I was singing at all at this point, I joined the rest of my audience, transfixed...
She was young for her years, this long blonde hair, wavey like the sea... she had class. I regained my composure and sung one of my own numbers, a new one, they hadn't heard it before, Brothers... then I went up for another whiskey. People were filing out now, it was getting late but she walked over to me and introduced herself. She knew my name, maybe she'd heard me mentioned in one of the other seaside bars down by the shore. We didn't hang around either, we headed out and just walked, we walked and we talked down to the shore until we hit the boardwalk. It was peaceful, the waves crashed and that was the only sound besides our voices under the light of the moon. I think I got her, she seemed to get me, she could see why I enjoyed just singing the nights away in these quiet little pubs. I never felt I was good enough to make the big time, I was happy just being some kind of local hero but it was all about the music for me, I just needed that quietly appreciative audience and I'd keep coming back.
It felt like we talked for hours, leaning on the end of the pier staring out into the endless ocean. It was like I'd known her all my life, I wished she'd walked into that bar years ago. I pulled her to me with one arm around her shoulder as we leaned there in silence, to keep her warm in the night breeze I guess. I started singing low, right down at the bottom of my range, a sea song that I heard once and right then as I took in that sea air I thought... The ocean really does breathe salty... it went like this...
Click the link
Sun Kil Moon - The Ocean Breathes Salty
I didn't just write this story randomly, its based on the lyrics of one of my songs, a little acoustic track called Janey Jones. I hope you like it, follow the link below.
Janey Jones by Alex Magrath
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