The “Sweetest Girl”

The “Sweetest Girl”, i remember the first time i heard this song. 1986, 11 February, a Tuesday. That afternoon i went to Haddock, a record shop i didn’t go to that much. Browsing through the records, i just happened to come across it. The summer before i got to know Cupid & Psyche ’85. A record i loved. So this one i bought straight away. Songs to Remember.

Riding home on my bike, i was excited. Happy. I put the record on straightaway. Loving it. Yes, it was different that Cupid & Psyche. Of course. But i still loved the songs.

I still remember what happened when i first heard The “Sweetest Girl”. I did throw the I Ching. I have mentioned it here before. Not sure why i did, but in that time i threw the I Ching a lot, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary for me. I got number 13 Fellowhip with Men with a changing line on the fifth line.

Life leads the thoughtful man on a path of many windings.
Now the course is checked, now it runs straight again.
Here winged thoughts may pour freely forth in words,
There the heavy burden of knowledge must be shut away in silence.
But when two people are at one in the inmost hearts,
They shatter even the strength of iron or of bronze.
And when two people understand each other in their inmost hearts,
Their words are sweet and strong, like the fragrance of orchids.

I didn’t know what it meant. Not apart from what first springs to mind. I was in love. Or so i thought. Not that i changed anything in my life. I was too old to take this at it presented itself. I knew i believed it. I knew it felt true. At the time. But no way i would let this change my life in any way. But, i never forgot it.

Only recently, two years ago or something, i realized i wasn’t in love. I idolized Green, sure. But no love. I never even dreamed of having sex with him. It was some strange calling i felt. Like i felt with other groups, like the Talking Heads. It was always strongest with Scritti though.

Looking back on this string of events running through my life, ending with me giving my drawings to Green, i do realize this does make me feel terribly happy. It is not a big thing, but it is something i cherished within me. At times it went into the background, at times i almost forgot. Almost. But it always remained a part of me and of my life. Something which makes me feel extremely happy.

Last week i suddenly realized i wanted to sing this song, The “Sweetest Girl”. I did mean to do it for last Friday, but my Walking Back Home post simply came into. I love the title of that post. It came so easy, and it is literally true. It is what i did at the time. But there are more meanings surrounding that title. Of course.

Today i did sing this song. Not perfectly. But with my whole heart.

Enjoy.

Scritti Politti
The “Sweetest Girl”
Sweetest girl in all the world
His eyes are for you only
Sweetest girl in all the world
His eyes are for you only
Sweetest girl in all the world
His words have died before me
Sweetest girl in all the world
His words have died before me

When they walk in the park, I never can tell
When they walk in the dark, I never can tell
It’s just loving – ooh loving

The sweetest boy in all the world
His life has got so lonely
Sweetest boy in all the world
His life has got so lonely
Sickest group in all the world
How could they do this to me
The sickest group in all the world
How could they do this to me

What I want I will take, what you think that you know
Oh such an awful mistake to never let go
It’s just loving – ooh loving

The weakest link in every chain
I always want to find it
The strongest words in each belief
Find out what’s behind it
Politics is pride too
Vagaries of science
She left because she understood
The value of defiance

When the government falls, I wish I could tell
When, oh when necessity calls, I never can tell
It’s just loving – ooh loving

Sweetest girl in all the world
These words are for you only
Sweetest girl in all the world
These words have died before me

When they walk in the park, I never can tell
When they walk in the dark, you know that it never can be told