Thursday 21 April 2011

You'll see us off in the distance, I hope

I was going to write about something else today, a Maundy Thursday memory. But it's an unhappy one, and today hasn't been easy enough for me to return to an unhappy place and time. Remembering Elizabeth Sladen who died unexpectedly (at least to most of the world) and way too soon, may seem an odd way to avoid a sad memory, but I first came across this video two or three years ago and had never heard the splendid song "At the Other End of the Telescope" which was co-written by Aimee Mann and Elvis Costello. (Aimee is singing the lead with back-up from Elvis here.) This fan-vid was made before HD became standard, so it's a little blurred, but the song is very "Doctorish", I think, and could be sung by more than one of his companions, though it does seem to suit Sarah Jane the best. Oh, and just to make it clear, if I haven't already, this video is the work of "Blanca" :

Shall we agree that just this once
I'm gonna change my life
Until it's just as tiny or
Important as you like

And in time, we won't even recall that we spoke
Words that turned out to be as big as smoke
Like smoke disappears in the air
There's always something smoldering somewhere

I know it don't make a difference to you
But oh, it sure made a difference to me
You'll see me off in the distance, I hope
At the other end, at the other end of the telescope

There was a time not long ago
I dreamt the world was flat
And all the colors bled away
And that was that

And in time, I could only believe in one thing

The sky was just phosphorus stars hung on strings
And you swore that they'd always be mine
When you can pull them down anytime

There, there baby, now don't say a word
Lie down baby, your vision is blurred
Your head is so sore from all of that thinking
I don't want to hurt you now
But I think you're shrinking, (I think you're shrinking - shrinking!)

You're half-naked ambition
And you're half out of your wits
And though your wristwatch always works
Your necktie never fits

Now it's so hard to pick the receiver up and when I call
I never noticed you could be so small
The answer was under your nose
But the question never arose

I know it don't make a difference to you
But oh, it sure made a difference to me
When you find me here at the end of my rope
When the head and heart of it finally elope
You can see us off in the distance, I hope
At the other end, at the other end of the telescope

6 comments:

VioletSky said...

I missed this news. So sad.

chrissie_allen said...

Oh I do like that....bitter-sweet as it is. Thank you for posting it Persephone. I understand what you mean by feeling unable to return to a personally sad memory at the moment and opting for this video instead. It works, and at the same time is a fitting tribute to a lovely actor.

Lisa Rullsenberg said...

Beautiful - and sorry to be late to this. It's a wonderful tribute to Lis Sladen, but also to your own mix of emotions at this time. HUgs

Persephone said...

I've just edited the post to make a link to "Blanca", the woman who put this video together.

peteraj said...

There was a short but poignant tribute to Elisabeth Sladen on the CBBC channel over the weekend. It wasn't well trailed (well, not on Sky Sports anyway)but I just stumbled on it. Worth searching for I think.

Persephone said...

We saw it on YouTube, although Auntie Beeb may have taken it down by now. Are you familiar with the BabelColour channel? There's a well-made fan-vid tribute there, as well.