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John Cale

Andalucia

Charles Webster Hawthorne, Sevilla 1, 2 and 3, 1929

FROM ‘MARA, MARIETTA’
Part Ten Chapter 7

Has the splendour of the morning given the Saab wings? No, we’re just one with the world greeting us through the windscreen.

̶  Sprague?
̶  Hmmm?
̶  I love you.

I feel the divine in me, I feel myself soaring. Where are those swans? I will fly in their slipstream.

̶  Now is that any reason to cry?

I kiss your fingers as you wipe a tear from my cheek.

̶  You’re amazing, Marietta. You overwhelm me.
̶  I love you. When I’m gone, never forget it.
̶  Let’s not talk about that. Let’s sing a song.
̶  All right. Which one?
̶  ‘Andalucia’.
̶  Okay. One, two, three—

We sing together:

̶  ‘Andalucia, when can I see you, when it is snowing out again?’

In the loveliness of the melody, in the resonance of your voice, I lose my sorrowing love.

John Cale, early 1970s

ANDALUCIA
John Cale

Andalucia, when can I see you
When it is snowing out again?
Farmer John wants you
Louder and softer
Closer and nearer, then again

Needing you
Taking you
Keeping you
Leaving you
In a year and a day to be sure
That your face doesn’t alter
And your words never falter
I love you

I’ll be here waiting later and later
Hoping the night will go away
Andalucia, castles and Christians
Andalucia, come to stay

You were lost
Once before
On a day
Much like this
When you’d made up your mind not to come
And I couldn’t persuade you
Or wait till tomorrow
Or pass the time

Andalucia, when can I see you
When it is snowing out again?
Farmer John wants you
Louder and softer
Closer and nearer, then again

Needing you
Taking you
Keeping you
Leaving you
In a year and a day to be sure
That your face doesn’t alter
And your words never falter
I love you

Mara Marietta