Tea in the Sahara: Issa's Sunday Service, #145

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This song, dating back to Sting's days with the Police, recounts a story told in the chapter "Tea in the Sahara" from Paul Bowles famed novel, The Sheltering Sky. It is the story of 3 prostitutes, a prince, and a wish for tea in the Sahara. More sordid details of this lovely fable may be found here.  

The Sheltering Sky has attracted attention over the years, including a fine movie adaptation by Bernardo Bertulucci. Early on, however, one writer nailed it precisely in review: that writer, Tennessee Williams, in the New York Times, on December 4th, 1949. Largely the review is a fine piece of writing, something rarely seen in those nary august pages today - and, oh, what a killer last sentence. 
 
"Tea In The Sahara"

My sisters and I
Have this wish before we die
And it may sound strange
As if our minds are deranged
Please don't ask us why
Beneath the sheltering sky
We have this strange obsession
You have the means in your possession

We want our tea in the Sahara with you
We want our tea in the Sahara with you

The young man agreed
He would satisfy their need
So they danced for his pleasure
With a joy you could not measure
They would wait for him here
The same place every year
Beneath the sheltering sky
Across the desert he would fly

Tea in the Sahara with you
Tea in the Sahara with you

The sky turned to black
Would he ever come back?
They would climb a high dune
They would pray to the moon
But he'd never return
So the sisters would burn
As their eyes searched the land
With their cups full of sand

Tea in the Sahara with you
Tea in the Sahara with you
Tea in the Sahara with you
Tea in the Sahara with you

Here is the elegant opening of the critically acclaimed film, showing first what they are fleeing from and then where they arrive:


 
     

 --------------------

Photo by Jessie Eastland

rising into
the year's first sky...
tea smoke 

 Issa

 translated by David G. Lanoue 

best,
Don 

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Go to the LitRock web site for a list of all 145 songs

Don't Stand So Close to Me: Issa's Sunday Service, #74

Nabokov via www.hrono.info

Running up as we are on Halloween, it's creep week on the Sunday Service.  This week's selection comes from The Police, is one of the more affected tunes on the Jukebox: "Don't Stand So Close to Me." A tip of the hat to Humbert Humbert:

It's no use, he sees her
He starts to shake and cough
Just like the old man in
That book by Nabakov

Don't stand, don't stand so
Don't stand so close to me

The Nabokov reference has the right feel considering the teacher's "dilemma:" 

Temptation, frustration
So bad it makes him cry
Wet bus stop, she's waiting
His car is warm and dry

Though perhaps not as explicit as in the totally repulsive "Every Breath You Take," this song broke ground by talking about something that is in the headlines regularly.  These songs, put to catchy pop melodies, run counter expectation, to the point that some have used the stalker tune "Every Breath" for their wedding.  Mr. Sumner is perhaps to be congratulated for expanding the narrative boundaries of pop (as a former teacher, he draws from some sort of experience), yet still, to me, they have more than a bit of an exploitative feel (the accompanying background vocal to the chorus, with Sting accompanying himself, has got ambivalence all over of it).

Of course, I'm talking about rock being exploitative as if this was some sort of news. 

Well, if you're going to sing about creeps, maybe this is the way to go:

-----------------------

Next Tuesday, I will be talking to a group of lifelong learners about haiku.   Sketching in the background, I'll be talking a bit about Japanese history, culture and concepts, such as wabi-sabi.  Here's a great illustration of that very concept by the great upper New York state poet, W. T. Ranney, from Lilliput Review #110, April 2000:

Old men

in stiff white shirts

moving from room to room,

placing a hand

on a worn spot.

W. T. Ranney

in lightning's flash
faces in a row...
old men

Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue 

best,
Don

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