A Series Of Thoughts

Thursday, 5 May 2011

The Letter on the Mantelpiece

He used to sit in that chair, every morning
He'd smile at me as I walked in
the room carrying our mugs of coffee
I'd sit opposite him in my dressing gown.
That's how we'd start out day, everyday.

Everyday for thirty five years
he sat in that chair every morning
The chair was empty now and
I sat there
alone.

I looked at his chair and
envisioned his smile, as I
continued to ignore the letter that
sat on the mantelpiece,
alone.

I missed him. His company
and his presence. His smile
and his warmth. His bad
jokes and idle chit-chat.
I missed him.

I finished my coffee and left the room.
Closed the door and locked it
behind me, leaving the letter inside
alone.

My routine had to continue,
my coffee in the morning,
to keep his memory alive,
to carry on...

But now I sat alone.
Just me and the letter
It sat there so smug.
White and formal.

It knew I had to open it,
at some point
and so did I.
I hated it.
It hated me.

I wanted to get rid of it
and it seemed like it wanted to get rid
of the comfort in my denial.
I wanted to get rid of
it!

I walked back to the room
unlocked the door.
I stared at it, it stared back
at me.

It's bold, black print
stamped on the front.
I ripped it apart
and pulled out it's contents.

"We're sorry to hear of your loss"
It said.
"We can confirm Mr Harvey's account has now been closed.
Yours Sincerely,
Barclay's."

Monday, 21 March 2011

An Oasis of Memories

Today I spent the day with an old friend who, due to not being very well, has been away for a while. As I drove him home we played Oasis through the car stereo and reminisced. It reminds us both of a happier and more simple time in his life. As I drove away I wasn't ready to come home nor end my trip down memory lane, so I decided to go for a drive and make my way through as much of Oasis' back catalogue that my journey would allow.

This band took the world by storm; it was suddenly cool to be a Manc and adopt that oh so famous Oasis swagger. The long Beatle-esque hairstyle and Lennon glasses propelled back into fashion and it became acceptable or, dare I say it, 'cool' to slur your way through a song slightly off-key. As they released 'Roll With It' into the charts, they battled with Blur for the number one spot; so was born the Oasis vs Blur saga. Blur won the race with 'Country House' and took their place at number one in the UK charts. I was a massive Blur fan at the time, drooling over Damon Albarn and his floppy blonde locks. I remember playing 'The Great Escape' on loop whilst my eldest brother drowned me out (owning a sound system that was epically louder than mine) with 'What's The Story'. Needless to say, it wasn't long before I was converted, recognising Oasis as whole new sound and one I wanted to hear more of.

As we watched the band and Liam's ego get bigger by the minute, many sat back in awe watching in amazement as they grabbed third place in the UK's best selling albums of all time with 'What's The Story' Other Stats include:

Eight UK number-one singles
Eight UK number-one albums
Fifteen NME Awards
Nine Q Awards
Four MTV Europe Music Awards
Six BRIT Awards; including one in 2007 for outstanding contribution to music and one for the best album of the last 30 years as voted by the BBC Radio 2 listeners
Nominated for three Grammy Awards.
As of 2009, the band have sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide.
Listed in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2010 for “Longest Top 10 UK Chart Run By A Group” after an unprecedented run of 22 successive Top 10 hits in the UK.
Hold the Guinness World Record for being the "Most Successful Act of the Last Decade" in the UK between the years 1995 and 2005, spending 765 weeks in the Top 75 singles and albums charts.

These stats are nothing short of impressive and, alongside my generation's memories of a great and pertinent decade of music, Oasis certainly left their mark on Britain.