I was lying in a burned out basement
20Aug2003 Filed under: JournalishOne of many memories that has come back to me since the reunion is that of my old choir director, Mr. Pearce. I first had him as a teacher in 8th grade, and I liked him so much that I joined his extra curricular girls’ singing group.
One of the songs we sang in that choir was Neil Young’s “After The Gold Rush.” The lyrics were of endless amusement to us as 8th graders, because they included this stanza:
I was lying in a burned out basement
With the full moon in my eyes.
I was hoping for replacement
When the sun burst thru the sky.
There was a band playing in my head
And I felt like getting high.
Can you imagine leading a group of 13 year old girls to sing the line, “…And I felt like getting high”? Somehow Mr. Pearce did it with a straight face.
The next year, Mr. Pearce got married to a religious woman, and we started singing songs like “Ave Maria.” According to Google, now he’s the Pastor of Worship at Christ Community Church.
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3 Responses to “I was lying in a burned out basement”
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Hey there. I'm Ariel Meadow Stallings, a native Seattleite who's written my way up and down the Left Coast. Electrolicious is where I post daily randomata, but I also write for a living. My first book, Offbeat Bride, was published last year.
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Jason
August 21st, 2003 at 12:24 am
Mmm, such a beautiful song. (And how many pop songs have french horn solos?) I bet y’all were just lovely - -
Tom Climo
October 7th, 2005 at 8:53 am
Getting “high” for thirteen year-old girls easier to understand than their lying in a burned-out basement. Hope and optimism yet to leave hold tumbling as they must have been toward the inevitable disenchatment called living. Neil Young has long been our (both male and female) “keeper of the flame.” Don’t forget “Motion Pictures” … “I wouldn’t beg, buy, borrow, or steal anything I have to be like one of them … I’d rather start all over again.” Good advice when you are truly lying in a burned-out basement. And, yes, the French horn — it was probably a German horn, by the way — was a neat touch!
Lisa
December 14th, 2008 at 8:32 am
A friend of mine told a story of how when he was in rehab, someone had this album with him, and they were in a common room listening to this song, and when they got to the “i felt like getting high” line, you could just FEEL everyone in the room react, like a big collective sigh.
Yeah I know this post is over 5 years old. Your old choir director is still awesome.