ME AND BOBBY McGEE by JANIS JOPLIN. Story by Mary Pomfret.
Each night of our five -night derailment, when the hot sun went down, we’d go and sit on the still-warm tracks with a crazed old railway fettler who had befriended us.
WHEEL INSIDE THE WHEEL by MARY GAUTHIER. Story by Sue Beeton
We chatted with strangers who became friends, parading with the Indians and being part of some highly ritualised meetings with other gangs, where the Big Chiefs would decide who had the “prettiest suit” through dance and rhyming trash-talk – one would eventually step back and bow to the other.
LOVE HER MADLY by THE DOORS. Story by Rijn Collins.
It was, yes, a Jim fanatic who led me to visit the grave. We had parted ways in volatile fashion before my trip. He’d expressed a lifelong desire to visit Jim’s grave. I wasn’t sure whether a casual photo of it would be a peace offering, or a taunt. I was, truth be told, quite fine either way.
THE CLIMB by ALAN CUMMING. Story by Hugh Jones.
Why had nobody told me the descent from the mountain would be so much harder and more painful than the ascent? And when was this ear-worm going to disappear?
(SITTING ON) THE DOCK OF THE BAY by OTIS REDDING. Story by Bill Arnott.
In the lee of an old wooden dock with barnacled pilings, fishing boats bobbed at anchor.
LANDSLIDE by THE (DIXIE) CHICKS. Story by Janet Brown.
That’s it. That’s the bit in the song. The gulp catches my breath. Staring out the windscreen and emotion spills from me and fogs the glass.
WALKING IN MEMPHIS by MARC COHN. Story by Bill Arnott.
As the sun set, a man took a seat at a truncated keyboard. A 60-key piano that barely fitted in the space, jammed between the door and a window. With minimal fanfare he played for the few of us there.
BUFFALO SOLDIER by BOB MARLEY. Story by Bill Arnott.
I couldn’t determine his age. Maybe thirty. Maybe sixty. Weathered, muscled and lean.
WAITING FOR MY REAL LIFE TO BEGIN by COLIN HAY. Story by Bill Arnott.
When my age reached a suffix of teen, I worked after school. Had disposable income. Or rather, had income, and disposed of it. Spent it on records, then cassettes and a Walkman.