A poetry tribute to Chris Isaak, king of the rockabilly ballad
Using song titles from his album "Heart Shaped World"
Heart Shaped World
~
My sad heart shaped world
Shattered by an asteroid
Scorched by the hot sun
My heart went supernova
Love always goes wrong for me
💔
I'm Not Waiting
~
I'm not waiting 'round
You said that you'd wait for me
But you ran away
Wish I could change everything
From the time you drove me mad
💔
Don't Make Me Dream About You
~
I begged you please
Don't make me dream about you
Let's just remain friends
You said you wanted me more
But in the end you just ran
💔
Kings of the Highway
~
Kings of the highway
You led such amazing lives
Though it took its toll
Playing rock and roll a dream
Dream sometimes becomes nightmare
💔
Wicked Game
~
Wicked game it was
When you begged for my love
Did you know it then
How it would be in the end
Was I a way to kill time?
💔
Blue Spanish Sky
~
A blue Spanish sky
At times your eyes were so blue
Sometimes they were green
To me you were beautiful
I wish you could still be mine
💔
Wrong to Love You
~
It's wrong to love you
But I love you anyway
There's no way I can't
Wish you would come back to me
Wish we could start once again
💔
Forever Young
~
Not forever young
Everything grows old and dies
Maybe even love
I think the end came too quick
I think it was all my fault
💔
Nothing's Changed
~
Nothing's changed inside
My love for you is still strong
Every day I cry
Every day I miss you so
Every night I dream of you
💔
In the Heat of the Jungle
~
Sitting in this place
In the heat of the jungle
Suburban jungle
Wishing for a miracle
In a place without magic
💔
Much love and respect for Chris
A really great guy and insanely talented musician
An ornery old broad and two great men. My son Michael (L) and Chris Isaak (R)
Notes:
Not one ounce of bullshit or fangirling here. Chris Isaak is truly one of the nicest, most humble people you could ever hope to meet in spite of having more talent in his little finger than most of us have in our entire bodies.
Re: the verse for "Nothing's Changed," credit must also be given to the 1960s Australian pop band The Valentines for the inspiration from their song "Every Day I Cry." RIP Bon Scott (1946 - 1980) and Vince Lovegrove (1947 - 2012).
In the daze of my youth, I had delusions of becoming a musician. Trouble is, I can't carry a tune in a bucket, the girl ain't got rhythm, and, as Chuck D once said, I can't even play Lotto.
This is incredibly evocative. With time I have learned that sometimes we get caught up in unfortunate circumstances .. it isn't love that's deceitful .. it's people (some of them anyway) who are cruel and unkind.
ReplyDeleteAll too many of them, I feel.
DeleteI enjoyed your tanka suite, the underlying sense of music, the tinge of sadness and, of course, love.
ReplyDeleteThose are the feelings Chris' music evokes. I'm glad I was able to capture it.
DeleteThat's such a cool idea, and it hangs together as a story very well.
ReplyDeleteNot well acquainted with Chris Isaak, but I'm right with you about Bon Scott.
Do get acquainted with Chris if you have the chance. He's an incredible talent!
DeleteThese small songs of heartache hit all the right notes. I think the lines "Wishing for a miracle/ In a place without magic" just nail how torturous the aftermath is. Stopping to hope would be a relief just to slow the bleeding down.
ReplyDeleteThat's cool that Chris Isaak is a nice person in RL too. I may have to explore his music my next swing on through Spotify.
He's definitely worth a listen. I even ended up making a tape of his music for my late father, who was one of those people not much into modern music. Chris' sound is timeless.
DeleteBlue Spanish sky is my favorite. :)
ReplyDeleteI can't choose a favorite!
DeleteWhat a great use of his titles... many of those songs I remember... including of course that video for Wicked game.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna blaspheme here and say that I actually like the video for the H.I.M. cover of Wicked game better than I like the original Wicked Game video. H.I.M.'s video had references to Valkyries and Norse mythology, and I just thought it was really cool.
DeleteThese are all lovely. Hearts that open wide hurt sometimes - but oh, what wonderful memories! Loved the photo.
ReplyDeleteMy heart is slammed closed when it comes to romantic love. Been there, done that, never doing it again. My theme song is Love Stinks for a reason.
DeleteSad bunch of poems
ReplyDeleteAh, but that's the way they should be! Chris Isaak isn't known for writing jolly tunes, although he does have quite the sense of humor.
Deletethis is an interesting approach - definitely different - and wow, how cool to have met Chris Isaak. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was an amazing moment in time, to be sure. He's a very nice person.
DeletePatience and life will change. The feelings you wrote all show strong anquish, regret, or unbelief but they will fade. I was some better after three years.
ReplyDelete..
Eh, I don't much think so. Been like this my whole life. I may have learned to cope with it better than I did when I was younger, but the black dog is always at my heels, gnawing away.
DeleteI love Chris Isaak's beautiful baritone voice. And Wicked Game is a killer song. Nice poetic tribute!
ReplyDeleteThank you. :-D
DeleteA really nice tanka suite ... what a joy to read it.
ReplyDelete