Beth Orton : Sweetest Decline

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Sweetest Decline

Saturday Morning Flashback


Thomas Wolfe made famous the phrase "you can never go home again" but tonight I might try.

I have been invited to a party by the new owner of my old house. I sold it to him in May 2008 and he has spent the last 7 months renovating it-he's a decorator.  It's an old house, built in 1916 in the village of Southampton, only 1350 square feet, classic and shingled with a wide front porch and oh, all those glorious old windows...I hope he hasn't changed it too much.

We became friends because he was new to the role of home owner and would call me with countless questions: "How do I fit a Queen size box spring mattress up the stairs?" (You can't), "Where is the septic tank?" (10 Feet to the right of the old Oak tree), "How do you connect the grill to the gas line"? (You call North Sea Plumbing).

This went on and on but I was happy to help. I wanted the person who bought the house to love it as much as I had and he does... and yet I am more than a bit apprehensive about walking in that front door. I still have days where I think I never should have sold it. Even though I am happy in my new house just 7 miles away, I miss the old place. The way the light would bounce off those old wavy glass pane windows, the way the big california fir tree lit up under a full moon, the way the pine floor boards creaked just outside the upstairs bath...and the way this Beth Orton album sounded wafting out of the french doors onto the deck.

For some reason, this entire album will always remind me of that house. Maybe because it came out in March of 1999, just 3 months after I had bought the place and it spent the spring and summer of '99 on constant rotation. Windows open. Lilacs in bloom. Beth Orton singing. That's the memory.

There is snow on the ground now and no full moon and the old oak tree is gone so maybe I'll be okay. As Beth sings on this, my favorite track, "What's the use in regrets? They're just lessons we haven't learned yet."

Sweetest Decline - Beth Orton

by Beth Orton from Central Reservation

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Beth Orton: Sweetest Decline (mp3)

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