South of Heaven

 The pool shimmers in the blinding brightness and causes hallucinatory reactions in the intense heat. I open the blinds and look down, but all I see is light… rippling rays of light. There are noises erupting from people down below, so I close the blinds and listen to Shattered Faith by Bad Religion, it plays from the Marshall speaker in my bedroom, one of my greatest purchases. I have two of them, one in the living room, one in the bedroom; Marshall Acton III. In my bathroom I have a smaller one, a waterproof battery operated one that I use to listen to music whilst I am in the shower. I cannot live without music and literature. Reading about Rimbaud’s A Season in Hell made me think of Slayer and their Seasons in the Abyss. Now I listen to Slayer, but I was in the mood for South of Heaven, so that is the album I am playing. I love the way that the opening track, the title track, bleeds into the second track, Silent Scream. South of Heaven was one of the very first CDs that I ever owned and the crystal-clear sound of the drums and symbols is something I will never forget marvelling at. 

                  I step back and lie on my bed… another song springs to mind, Maladjusted by Morrissey and, in particular, a lyric: 

           With my hands on my head
I flop on your bed
With a head full of dread
For all I've ever said

I put the song on and listen to it while reading the lyrics. Morrissey’s lyrics are brilliantly nostalgic and funny whilst also being sad. For example, in Wide to Receive, on the same album, he sings ‘I don’t get along with myself and I am not too keen on anyone else.’ It is undeniably funny… but the song progresses into ‘and I have never felt quite so alone as I do right now’ and slaps us into a sadder reality. 

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