So, I'm twenty. I'm a student, and summer vacation has started. This year, I'm not going home - I've just moved in with my boyfriend and two colleagues of his, and we have the greatest flat - a huge 5 bedroom maisonette above a travel agent. The rent is dirt cheap, because we provide security for the shop below.
I have no work commitments just yet, though I have a job lined up, and I'm spending my days at the college where my boyfriend works, since they've said that I qualify as "staff", by virtue of my having two shifts a week at the bar during term-time -- and therefore, I'm entitled to use the swimming pool.
It's a glorious summer. Just hot enough to spend your days between swimming and basking. I'm in bask mode, eyes shut, when I hear two girls come to eat their lunch by the pool. They talk of this and that, then one says to the other, "I think this may be my favourite song ever, I want you to listen to it." A soft, sweet, funky voice fills my ears. The tune is lyrical, the words slightly melancholy, but ultimately full of hope and beauty - and it's not even about love.
I haven't opened my eyes when the girls leave, so I never get the opportunity to find out who introduced me to a song that has come to mean "friendship" to me:
Old and wise
The Alan Parsons Project
As far as my eyes can see
There are shadows approaching me
And to those I left behind, I wanted you to know
You've always shared my deepest thoughts
You'll follow where I go
And oh-oh, when I'm old and wise
Bitter words mean little to me
Autumn winds will blow right through me
And some day in the mist of time
When they ask me if I knew you
I'd smile and say you were a friend of mine
And the sadness would be lifted from my eyes
Oh, when I'm old and wise
As far as my eyes can see
There are shadows surrounding me
And to those I leave behind, I wanted you to know
You've always shared my darkest hours
I'll miss you when I go
And oh-oh, when I'm old and wise
Bitter words mean that tossed and blew me
Like autumn winds will blow right through me
And some day in the mist of time
When they ask you if you knew me
Remember that you were a friend of mine
As the final curtain falls before my eyes
Oh, when I'm old and wise
As far as my eyes can see...
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