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Cortina Girl

from Back on Track by Jean-Michel George

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about

Memories of sea-travel as a child crossing from England to France on the car-ferries. Sailing those often rough seas was always an exhilarating experience, challenging for the stomach, but also the best part of the holiday. The only snag was my mum's seasickness tablets, which I refused to swallow and would therefore dissolve in my mouth making me sick :-/

I remember the names of the ships I traveled on, in particular Villandry, Valencay, Maid of Kent, and one that I was particularly happy to find a recording of its captain announcing imminent departure for a crossing in force 9 winds; Pride of Dover.

My recollection is as rich and vivid in sound and smell than in visual memory : the clang of metal as cars passed over the boarding ramp, the gush of air as I strained to push open those sea-tight doors and venture outside, the swish of sea and wind above the roar of engines below, the shudder as the ferry rolled on causing glasses to tinkle endlessly on tables and at the bar (my dad’s prized seating area), the sudden bangs on a choppy sea when waves and hull would go out of sync, followed by an avalanche of spray slashing across the bow and windows, the cry of seagulls following in the wake, the smell of diesel fumes mixed with fried foods wafting from the funnel, not to mention worse smells left around the ship by those who didn’t have access to mum’s pills.

Less obvious were the flashing lights and siren caused not by a Titanic situation but by winning the jackpot on a fruit machine once with a single, well-timed 10p coin. 3 watermelons aligned, stars in my eyes and giddy legs as an onlooker placed a firm but friendly hand on my shoulder saying : “Don’t let go of that lever sonny before the purser comes and gives you your winnings”. The machine wouldn’t cough it up even if it was only £15, but for me at that age it was a fortune and a godsend !

These elements were the starting point for a song that got seriously romanticized halfway across the Channel as I toyed with the idea of luck, fate (and how to outsmart it) and got caught up in the souvenir of a girl whose path I crossed when I was 10. What can only be referred to as love at first sight. As much as love at last sight :-( She appeared and vanished in a matter of minutes. All I could remember to this day was her very long hair, the color of her dress and a perfume that I discovered 20 years on was patchouli. Through the process of writing this song her name finally came back to me !! It was ... euh ... it was ... Bugger ! Gone again ;-)

lyrics

I saw you once amid a bluebell wood
Bathed in sun and patchouli you stood
Carried softly by the breeze
You danced with shadows from the trees
There was magic in the air

I saw you twice within a golden spoon
A letter stolen from the melting moon
Which like the color of your hair
And that perfume that you wear
My childhood memories are attuned

And the story begins
In a tail of hurricane winds
As you sail unaware of the things
You deflect or align
With your butterfly wings

Caught in a gale
Cortina girl

Whelmed in nature's gift like heady wine
And fragrant watercolors we sublime
Is it a blessing or a curse
For better or for worse ?
Your Midas touch will keep me there

Lucky fruit and moirae spin in threes
Crossing paths and palms with silver seas
So I sailed the thread of fate
To your Mary Lennox gate
Your secret garden and lair

And there in June at last I understood
Your fading flowers hung as true bells should
Swaying gently in the breeze
Dancing only for the trees
And higher still the angels share

If Atropos ripped
From Clotho's ephemeral script
All the pages we shared
May the ship rest afloat in your dreams
When the lullaby sings

Caught in a gale
Cortina girl
Shala-lala-la
Shala-lala-la

And you're locked in a sea of emerald green

credits

from Back on Track, released June 7, 2015
Music,Vocals & Lyrics Jean-Michel George (2015)

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about

Jean-Michel George Paris, France

Like stepping stones in a storm-tossed sea
These hand-picked songs propound to be
The safest path from you to me ...

Anglo-French composer, songwriter and singer.

Using film references, humour, nostalgia and stories with a twist as building blocks, my music is the by-product of a life spent swinging from soundtracks to pop, classical to EDM, jazz to new-wave

I hope you enjoy this selection
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