Showing posts with label Calypso. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Calypso. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Suavecito (Malo)

The last week of my life has been sort of crazy. I have been sick, achy all over. The weather knows not which season it is. Mother Nature is on and off again with Father Time. She won't set a boundary for that sunshine and rainy day heartbreaker. Plus there has been some career angst. Thank God the worst has passed over. More on that as things progress. One thing I am a junkie for is Spanish music. It started a few years ago when I began living alone. I have no TV, only youtube. Began watching a ton of Spanish gangster flicks. Loved the music and began to search for it.

During my time in New York I have been exposed to Spanish art, language, and music as well as Spanish food. My Spanish speaking has improved from my days as a wonderbread colored high schooler in PA. As for the music, I like it because it is fun and peaceful. It calms me down. Or it has horns and is fun to dance to. It reminds you life is not as serious as we think it is. Sometimes I am guilty of taking myself way too seriously. It is the German in me. Maybe the Irish too. A few days ago I was stressing and my body hurt. I was waiting for an important phone call and it turned out to be a telemarketer. I was kvetching to a friend who told me, "When that happens, please remember to laugh."

Suavecito is the name of the car in the movie Mi Vida Loca. It's a Mexican gangster chick dramady. The Locas are an Echo Park Street Gang. Two girls get knocked up by this loser who gets killed during a drug deal, and of course they are fighting over him. And then they find out about his pimped out ride. I think Latin dudes get the rep for being car obsessed but it is all guys.

This past week I have felt angst because of the physical pain I experienced. The Spanish music has made me feel better, especially the track by Malo. Whatever works, right?

Today I got some upsetting news. My friend Scott Mollica passed from cancer. We had been friends two summers ago. We laughed, hung out, and gossiped. We lost touch when he moved out to Long Island unfortunately. Still, we connected. Scott was real and just awesome. We had a lot of fun riding the train to and from the city. I still remember those hot summer nights on the platform pulling my puppet out of my hand bag and doing an impromptu show on the platform. It was whimsical, fun, innocent, and so New York. I can still hear our laughter. I can still hear us talking about life and love. I can still feel the summer heat on my skin. Scott was so proud of me for all I was doing. He was always curious to hear about the fan mail I got, but when some of it got crazy he reminded me to be careful. A gay big brother on Earth who was really an angel in disguise.

Tomorrow I do a show for children who have cancer. I have been freaking out and preparing. I hope it is good. It is hard to see children who are sick, because they haven't had time to have adult adventures full of screw ups and other tomfoolery. However, I know Scott's spirit will be with me. Scott always loved my puppets. He will be there laughing like he always was. In heaven Scott will join my friends Chacho, Joe, Edgardo, my Aunt Peggy, and my grandparents Nunni and Pop Pop.

So as I digest this upsetting news, I remember the Spanish music I listen to. I remember why I Mi gusta it. It's because of the blaring horns. It's because when it is calm it is soothing. It's because it is a gentle reminder that nothing is that serious. I know in my heart my friend is making his journey. According to the Catholic tradition I grew up with St. Michael the Archangel will lead him to the other side. The other side will have nonstop laughter and adventures like we did during those hot summer days. I know we will have those days again. I will also use my children, my puppets, as agents to fight cancer. My brother and sister do it in the lab, I do it on the stage.

I also feel the gentle Spanish guitar, and see the chicos with their pimped out rides like Scott and I did during that summer. They are laughter and light. Scott was laughter and light. My puppets are laughter and light. Children are laughter and light. My dear friend Lola always says to move away from the dark. Now I know what I must do and where I must go.

Love
April
I Came, I Saw, I Sang: Memoirs of a Singing Telegram Delivery Girl
www.aprilbrucker.com


Thursday, April 19, 2012

Calypso

This is dedicated to my favorite character in Greek folklore. She only gets a bit part in the Odyssey, but she steals the show in my opinion.
Thank you Mr. Tietz for introducing me to a personal hero and a woman who I would want to be friends with. She was also the inspiration for my character in my music video, "Stay."


They say I am the cave witch
Actually they use the other term
Bitch
I don’t view it as a term of insult but endearment
For men who merely label in the guise of describe.
I lure men in with my charms
I make them fall into my arms
Luring them into my crystal cave
Tearing out their hearts
Making them drink of my nectar
My sex slaves
Unwitting sailors crashed on my shore
My instant stack of lovers, forever more
Although he would be quite a pet
The Raven and I have never met
Ready to do my bidding
Poor boys
Never to leave
But looks do deceive
I am a wood nymph
Ask Odysseus
Fighting that war
Over Helen of Troy
Whore!
Maneater is the title they bestow upon my womanhood
I say oh well, oh good
But when I chomp on the hearts of men
It is oh so sweet
Men, oh yes they are
The other white meat
I do not boast like Sappho who didn’t need a man
Only to romance and seduce a woman
No one can be prettier than me as long as we are hitting the sheets
I do not look like Helen of Troy with perfect skin
Lying as men are dying over my body for the win
The win not worth it and for a physique and empty head that will grow tired with time.
I will not die bravely like Kleopatra with her asp
I understand not wanting to be a slave to a man, a catch me if you can
No, Augustus Caesar did not have the pleasure of making her march as a prisoner in chains
I look like myself- hard to grasp
In a world where men view beauty as insular and infinate
In a way it is sick
As they lay it on thick with their lies and words in real time
Don't worry though ladies, I get my revenge
Upon these simpletons
Who's ship wrecks on my coast
I am quite the host
Sometimes my hair is red
Just like the blood of the Greek and Trojan Dead
Sometimes  my hair is black as night
Sometimes golden like the sun
They say when you see her you better run
I don't need chains because I have my charms
Unwitting men-thinking with the wrong head
My advantage as you fall into my arms
Oh so ethereal as I float away
Come in boys
The party has started
Too bad you are gonna stay

Link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yALzHlwx2oQ