But in my dreams, I slew the dragon

There was a time in 2005 when Spring was just in full bloom, and things were starting to shift around on the seismic levels of my life. I found myself headed up to the shiny lights of Seattle, where the forest creeps right down to the edge of the endless waters that surprise you at every turn in the road. I would be spending a handful of days there before taking a bumpy little ferry over to Vancouver Island for a the weekend, and of course I made a “Blue Seattle” mix to accompany me for this week in my life, stuck somewhere between endings and beginnings.

Garden State had just come out, and the smoky, melancholy Colin Hay song “I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You” played a prominent role on that Seattle mix I carefully crafted, alongside folks like Amos Lee (“Seen It All Before”), Jeb Loy Nichols (“Mostly Bittersweet”) and Jackson Frank (“The Blues Run The Game”). That Colin Hay song is just so damn sad and wistful, as are most of the songs on the mix I came up with, songs that made me want to lean forward on the railing of a small ship as it cut through the grey, and watch the white foam left in our wake.

I’ve successfully managed to completely disassociate Hay from Men At Work, and now when I hear his nuanced solo work, I just think of things like fog and the sea, dotted with emerald islands.

Recently a sailor from my summer voyage pointed me in the direction of this marvelous song, one that I’d never heard before, and I’ve listened to it dozens of times since then. Any minute now, my ship is coming in / I’ll keep checking the horizon, I’ll stand on the bow, feel the waves come crashing.

Waiting For My Real Life To Begin – Colin Hay

Colin also recently did a Daytrotter session, with four other earthy, acoustic tunes for your enjoyment. His newest solo album American Sunshine came out this summer on Compass Records.