Blinded

Toe,
I am thinking of a specific time when I had a similar experience where a song was locked into an experience of being drunk or sick. This goes back to 1994, when I was living in a different house in the same neighborhood, with 3 other housemates. My friend T. was in town then, back from Hungary, and his friend Stevedore was in DC for the weekend with his girlfriend, who would later become my sister-in-law. We had a little party. First we started out hanging out, talking, drinking vodka and tequila, and then Stevedore and I had a jam session on guitar. Stevedore was kind of a showboat, playing all his recently-learned labor and folk songs, non of which I knew, but I could could play along anyway on my guitar because they were pretty simple. Well, I got drunker and drunker as we played. Stevedore ended up playing this song, which I had always loved--at least up to that night. Unfortunately, over the course of the evening I had started to really dislike Stevedore, and he ruined this song for me, because by the time he played it I had grown tired of hearing his voice.

So, I stood up, rallied my housemate B and did pickle-shots with her. Now, pickle shots are big in Russia, apparently, where they don't have much in the way of mixers. They do a shot of vodka, then take a bite of a pickle. B. and I stood around the long bar we had in the kitchen and did a number of these shots as I tried to ignore the annoying Stevedore and his loud singing voice.

By the time I sat back down I was quite drunk. Stevedore had put down his guitar and my housemates and friends--and I think even my future sister-in-law--were asking me to play a song and sing. Finally, I had my chance! Everyone wanted to hear what I could do! But I was so drunk, I could barely even do a chord. I tried to play "Freebird," because someone requested it, but I couldn't even do a simple open G.

The next thing I remember, I was in the bathroom with my housemate, on whom I had always had a little crush, and she was holding me around the shoulder as I vomited into the toilet. It was kind of awkward. I was so drunk, painfully drunk, and I just wanted to get it all out. I think I might even have been crying a little. I had slept with her friend the week before, and now my housemate was telling me that her friend told her how I had a big cock. I was so drunk, I didn't realize she was probably coming onto me. All I could think was, no, I do not have a big cock, what are you talking about?

Anyway. This has been a rather incoherent memory. I tried to type this as I listened to the song I linked to, and I think the frenetic, hyperverbal nature of the song inspired me. I like this song, never stopped liking it--not even that night could ruin it.

Love,
E-word