Transformation

I was restless last night. It was half past twelve and there was no way I was going to sleep if I went to bed. So instead I decided to stay up, play some online poker and listen to some music.

As I’ve said before in a previous post, I share a house with a number of others and one of the nice features of the place I’m living at the moment is that, because it’s been let for such a long period of time, with housemates changing over the years, the house has amassed a decent collection of ‘communal’ music in the living room. As we all know, with the advent of digital music players cds have lost a lot of their value and so people are less attached to them once they’ve been converted into the digital format. As a result of this devaluation the house has become home to a sizeable collection that various housemates have discarded over the years.

Among this collection is Lou Reed's 'Transformer'. Now for many out there I'm sure this album holds pride of place in their music collection, I however, am ashamed to admit that I had never listened to the whole album. Sure I knew songs from the album such as 'Perfect Day' and 'Walk on the Wild Side'. In fact it was the latter that led me to choose the album from the house collection and give it a listen, as the song has a sentimental place in my memory having played a part in my getting together with my now girlfriend.

On the night in question she and I were at a mutual friend's party and towards the end of the night had started chatting, while also commandeering the iPod that was playing as our own personal jukebox. I played a song first and it was greeted with about as much enthusiasm as a visit from the IMF. So I upped the ante, 'Right' I said 'You've got one chance, one song, impress me'. As I heard the first few strums of Lou Reed's guitar and she began to dance slowly back in my direction I knew there was something special  about this girl and I wanted to know more. Over a year on and she's still making great choices, and more than that she's introduced me to so many new things and transformed the way I look at others. Even now when she's not in the same country, I still feel her influence is guiding me to great things. 

A great song. A great album. A great girl.