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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