Girl in the Hood
She looked like something you'd see in a dream...
I like to get to work early so I can beat the crowds, enjoy a leisurely stroll to my office, and get a start on my day.
It's a bit of a hike from the bus stop to my new office in Brookfield Place and on cold days, I'll walk through the Oculus to avoid the freezing temperatures.
I can travel underground for about three blocks zip right up to the 27th floor without ever going outside.
If my timing is good, I can stroll through this massive transportation hub pretty much by myself and it's so quiet and vast that I feel as if I'm walking through a cathedral.
On Wednesday, I had just stepped on the first of three escalators to the ground floor, when I saw this young Asian woman a few steps ahead of me.
She was lovely. Her face was flawless, her hair was woven into two long braids, and she was wearing--seriously--a long red cloak with a hood and a flower embroidered on the back.
This ain't no ordinary commuter, I thought.
This woman looked as is she had just stepped out of a child's dream or a book of fairy tales. Little Red Riding Hood is the most obvious choice here, but I was thinking of Chinese historical dramas and martial arts films.
I was still kind of sleepy and I thought perhaps I was hallucinating, but, no, she was quite real.
Living in New York, I should be used to seeing all sorts of unusual getups. The bizarre outfits that some people chose to wear in this town is part of the city's charm.
But this woman fascinated me. I kept wondering where she had come from. Was she a tourist wandering alone in strange city? There's a Chinese dance company currently performing at Lincoln Center. Perhaps she was a member of the cast.
But then what the hell was she doing walking around the Oculus in costume at 7AM?
I wanted to know her story, but I wanted to respect her privacy. I don't think any woman would appreciate a strange man approaching her in a nearly deserted train station and asking about her wardrobe.
And this is America after all, she's free to wear whatever she wants. As a New Yorker I should just pretend that I don't even notice her because I'm just so cool and funky--not like the rest of the losers around here.
Red Hearing
The sight of this woman reactivated this particular ear worm that has been slithering around my brain for the last few days.
The song--stop here if you don't want to catch the worm, too--is the 1986 clunker "Lady in Red" by Chris de Burgh which began playing in my head without warning or invitation early last week.
If you don't know it, consider yourself lucky. If you do, I'm sorry for reminding you about it.
And if you like it...what the hell is wrong with you?
"Lady in Red" was a monstrous hit when it came out, but there has been a decided backlash in the last quarter century.
One survey called it the 10th most annoying song of all time, while Rolling Stone readers voted it the third worst song of the 1980s. Another poll called it the sixth worst love song of all time, and a 2001 survey dubbed it the fourth most hated UK number-one single.
So I guess you guys didn't care for it?
The tune really is slow, sappy, and definitely worthy of all that scorn and much more, and under different circumstances I'd be furious beyond all reason at the way it zombie-walked back into my mind and refused to leave.
But I'm more fascinated with how this dreary ditty came into my noodle in the first place. I haven't heard it on the radio or a store sound system; it wasn't playing on any radio or TV show that I watched. Nobody even whistled the damn thing in my presence.
Like my friend on Wednesday morning, the song appeared from nowhere.
I never did find out the young woman's story, which I do regret, but now I'm free to create one of my own. Maybe she was a runaway princess escaping an evil warlord, or a time traveler arriving from the distant past before moving on to the impossible future.
Sure, she also might have been a cashier at a takeout joint in Hoboken racing to catch the PATH train, but where's the fun in that?
The questions will remained unanswered since my lady in red disappeared into the heart of the Oculus.
I'm hoping the song will do the same thing.
I like to get to work early so I can beat the crowds, enjoy a leisurely stroll to my office, and get a start on my day.
It's a bit of a hike from the bus stop to my new office in Brookfield Place and on cold days, I'll walk through the Oculus to avoid the freezing temperatures.
I can travel underground for about three blocks zip right up to the 27th floor without ever going outside.
If my timing is good, I can stroll through this massive transportation hub pretty much by myself and it's so quiet and vast that I feel as if I'm walking through a cathedral.
On Wednesday, I had just stepped on the first of three escalators to the ground floor, when I saw this young Asian woman a few steps ahead of me.
She was lovely. Her face was flawless, her hair was woven into two long braids, and she was wearing--seriously--a long red cloak with a hood and a flower embroidered on the back.
This ain't no ordinary commuter, I thought.
This woman looked as is she had just stepped out of a child's dream or a book of fairy tales. Little Red Riding Hood is the most obvious choice here, but I was thinking of Chinese historical dramas and martial arts films.
I was still kind of sleepy and I thought perhaps I was hallucinating, but, no, she was quite real.
Living in New York, I should be used to seeing all sorts of unusual getups. The bizarre outfits that some people chose to wear in this town is part of the city's charm.
But this woman fascinated me. I kept wondering where she had come from. Was she a tourist wandering alone in strange city? There's a Chinese dance company currently performing at Lincoln Center. Perhaps she was a member of the cast.
But then what the hell was she doing walking around the Oculus in costume at 7AM?
I wanted to know her story, but I wanted to respect her privacy. I don't think any woman would appreciate a strange man approaching her in a nearly deserted train station and asking about her wardrobe.
And this is America after all, she's free to wear whatever she wants. As a New Yorker I should just pretend that I don't even notice her because I'm just so cool and funky--not like the rest of the losers around here.
Red Hearing
The sight of this woman reactivated this particular ear worm that has been slithering around my brain for the last few days.
The song--stop here if you don't want to catch the worm, too--is the 1986 clunker "Lady in Red" by Chris de Burgh which began playing in my head without warning or invitation early last week.
If you don't know it, consider yourself lucky. If you do, I'm sorry for reminding you about it.
And if you like it...what the hell is wrong with you?
"Lady in Red" was a monstrous hit when it came out, but there has been a decided backlash in the last quarter century.
One survey called it the 10th most annoying song of all time, while Rolling Stone readers voted it the third worst song of the 1980s. Another poll called it the sixth worst love song of all time, and a 2001 survey dubbed it the fourth most hated UK number-one single.
So I guess you guys didn't care for it?
The tune really is slow, sappy, and definitely worthy of all that scorn and much more, and under different circumstances I'd be furious beyond all reason at the way it zombie-walked back into my mind and refused to leave.
But I'm more fascinated with how this dreary ditty came into my noodle in the first place. I haven't heard it on the radio or a store sound system; it wasn't playing on any radio or TV show that I watched. Nobody even whistled the damn thing in my presence.
Like my friend on Wednesday morning, the song appeared from nowhere.
I never did find out the young woman's story, which I do regret, but now I'm free to create one of my own. Maybe she was a runaway princess escaping an evil warlord, or a time traveler arriving from the distant past before moving on to the impossible future.
Sure, she also might have been a cashier at a takeout joint in Hoboken racing to catch the PATH train, but where's the fun in that?
The questions will remained unanswered since my lady in red disappeared into the heart of the Oculus.
I'm hoping the song will do the same thing.
Comments
Isn't something how you'll sometimes see someone somewhere and you're instantly intrigued by them? And just from the way you described this women, I could so see why you would. I pictured her to look almost...ethereal.
".... the 1986 clunker "Lady in Red" by Chris de Burgh." LOVE that song! Hearing it is like a flashback to the 80's. I can't believe it got all that negative feedback!?!
"Sure, she also might have been a cashier at a takeout joint in Hoboken racing to catch the PATH train, but where's the fun in that?" HA! That made me LOL!
But I have a feeling that you'll see her again, I just feel it.
Great post, buddy! Have a superb week! And say hello to my favorite city for me!
Yo, Ron!
"Ethereal"!!! What a great word! And it is the perfect way to describe this woman. She really looked like she was not of this world.
And I love the Oculus as well!
Now I didn't exactly love "Lady in Red," I sure as heck don't hate it the way some people do. Jesus, people, ease up.
And I sure do hope you're right about seeing her again. That would be a trip.
Take care, buddy!
How's it going? Yes, Lady in Red came from nowhere--or at least no place where the rules of logic apply. The human mind never ceases to amaze me.
I just checked out "Empire State of Mind." I'd never heard it before and I don't think there's any danger of the song becoming an earworm for me. (Knock wood)
Take care!