This Is The Sea

Today’s leader in “Ultima Hora” refers to the fact that 2007 “is going to be a record year”. Elsewhere, it reports that turnover among businesses situated in Mallorca’s tourist areas will increase by 2.7% over last year (also a record year, you may remember).

Here we go again. Congratulatory statistics, but what do they mean? If, for instance, the turnover figure includes revenue for hotels then there should be some disquiet when it comes to tourist spend. This is because many hotels increased their prices this season by around 4%. Put that into the equation, and things don’t sound so great. But as ever, getting any real sense out of these stats is a pretty forlorn task.


THE SEA
This is an island. A small island. The wind is a constant. A constant change. A north-easterly four days ago and then Friday a full-on northerly. The roar of the sea was so great it woke me, making me wonder if the fans were still on downstairs. The waves were not that high, but there were red flags anyway. And so of course people ignore the flags and the lifeguards. If there is one thing you don’t mess with, it is the sea.

I have seen people hauled from the sea. I have known people taken away by currents and undertow. You live by the sea, and you know the sea. Not everyone does. The sea says: you want to fuck with me, go ahead, and I’ll fuck you up. They don’t come back unless tangled with seaweed. But they keep on trying to take on the sea, and failing. And they will always fail, because the sea will always win.

And the other thing with the change in wind. Blows jellyfish in. There they were, beached. There was this little girl hollering. And still people challenge the sea.


MORE 1967
Jefferson Airplane “Somebody To Love”, The Beach Boys “Heroes And Villains”, The Moody Blues “Nights In White Satin”, Spencer Davis Group “I’m A Man”, The Kinks “Waterloo Sunset”, Traffic “Paper Sun”. Also The Beatles “All You Need Is Love”. Does anyone else remember the broadcast that featured this? Was it the Earlybird satellite? The Beatles were one thing. Wasn’t there a thing with a woman giving birth in Sydney, too? Forty years ago. It was cutting edge. The broadcast that is, not the giving birth.


QUIZ
Last time. The Move’s “Flowers In The Rain” was the first record played on Radio One on 30 September 1967. Thanks to Geoff for finding that The Bee Gees “Massachusetts” was the second. Today. This is an album title, the best-known track from which has the lyric: “You came like a comet, blazing your trail. Too high, too far, too soon. You saw ...” Who?

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