Once upon a time there was a tavern

[Harke the Boeotarch]

Where we used to raise a glass or two
Remember how we laughed away the hours
And dreamed of all the great things we would do

Chorus:
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.
La la la la...
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days

Then the busy years went rushing by us
We lost our starry notions on the way
If by chance I'd see you in the tavern
We'd smile at one another and we'd say

Chorus

Just tonight I stood before the tavern
Nothing seemed the way it used to be

In the glass I saw a strange reflection
Was that lonely [STRIKE]wo[/STRIKE]man really me?

Chorus

Through the door there came familiar laughter
I saw your face and heard you call my name
Oh my friend we're older but no wiser
For in our hearts the dreams are still the same

Chorus

 

[Corny]

One of my favorite songs of all time
Also like the Leningrad Cowboys Cover

 

[Joshua_me]

Aww... That was nice.

My Mom used to play that on her guitar and sing it to me when I was little.

 

[Corny]

Oh and I had a few lines in my sig for some time

 

[Harke the Boeotarch]

Oh and I had a few lines in my sig for some time

It's one of the few pop songs with lyrics that aren't bollocks.

The Tavern is called Het Melkwoud after Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas. I took these pics last Saturday after me and mister The Boeotarch visited his former landlord in the same town. (Haarlem).

I've been coming there probably since 1994, but I can't remember It might have been later(1999 at the latest). It's close to my old secondary school, the town hall and the world famous st. Bavo., that has been painted by many Masters and where Mozart played (the church in the first photo).

After leaving the bar I convinced my husband to take me to the gay bars in Amsterdam.

Unfortunately, The Web was occupied by drunk straight Scotsmen in kilts watching the Scotland-Holland football match.

Interior:

We decided to watch the game -since the upstair cruising floor was closed- and concluded that the Scottish team is the shittest team ever, since the Dutch team is shit and they beat the Scots 2-0.

We then went out to the other bars we were interested in and only one was open. On Saturday night.

When we got home we got drunk and the Mister ordered some bottom that I really wasn't attracted to and who reeked (just as my husband).

 

[star-warrior]

The first time I heard a version of that song, it was sung by Tang LaiKwan, a Taiwanese singer.

 

[Joshua_me]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5pkkAhETYg[/ame]

This was the version I grew up with...

*Sheesh*

I don't remember it sounding so, -um- 'pasteurized and caucasian'.

Also, I always thought it was Judi Collins... Ahh well....

 

[Huskerboy]

Ah,, now THAT brings back some memories!

 

[Jayden]

Great Pictures.
Maybe I'm late to the party. But you have a whole new screen name?

 

[Harke the Boeotarch]

Great Pictures.
Maybe I'm late to the party. But you have a whole new screen name?

I couldn't stop my old profile from being deleted.

 

[Harke the Boeotarch]

Two weeks ago I was in Haarlem and I heard that they closed the bar.

 

[ChickenGuy]

Is that YOU in the last two pics of the first post?

I've a very embarrassing confession to make....

For some reason, I've found reading through your first post to be EXTREMELY moving and touching and poignant. I've gone and got a lump in my throat and slightly watery eyes now.

I think it's a combination of several things:

- the bumped thread from 2009 inferring a reminiscence of time gone past,
- reading the words and sentences as prose and verse without ever thinking of it as lyrics to a song,
- the way you've interspersed it with photos, culminating in two of yourself,
- the way it comes across as VERY personal and intimate to you,
- the feeling of finding a place of acceptance and welcome, and entering through,
- a place and time now lost and gone.

Maybe I'm just projecting, lol. But everything in post #1 for me made a very striking emotional reaction.

I don't think I've ever been so moved by a post on here before as this.

I'd never have guessed that it'd be Harke that did it.

 

[borg69unimatrix]

I worry about you, Harke. It's pretty obvious you've been rightfully sad and depressed lately. You've always had kind of a flirting with self destructive behavior with drinking and bathhouses.

Is there anything any of us can do to help? I kinda feel like you've been asking but no one is listening.

 

[ChickenGuy]

^ I have to admit I thought kind of the same thing. Maybe it was a further reason I felt so moved.

I didn't want to infer it, or say it, for risk of somehow insulting him.

Is there anything any of us can do to help? I kinda feel like you've been asking but no one is listening.

I can't emphasise this sentence enough. I agree 100%.

If I could paraphrase:

Those will be the days my friend
We thought they'd never begin

....meaning, Harke, that it's easy to imagine you're in an inevitable decline, when you're in the midst of a very bad depression. But with help of people close to you, I'm sure you could turn a corner. My friend.

 

[sixthson]

I worry about you, Harke. It's pretty obvious you've been rightfully sad and depressed lately. You've always had kind of a flirting with self destructive behavior with drinking and bathhouses.

Is there anything any of us can do to help? I kinda feel like you've been asking but no one is listening.

I've been listening and have long been concerned. Harke, please turn to someone who can help you through these days.
Will you talk to us?

 

[star-warrior]

Two weeks ago I was in Haarlem and I heard that they closed the bar.