Dear Leipzig,
I write to you bundled up in a thin blanket, high in my friend’s attic in Teltow, in the deep south of Berlin. My eyes are puffy and watered. My throat is dry and haggard, and my brain is fuzzy and scattered. These ailments are only smoothed over by the hot mug of beer that I have been sipping on to keep warm…
Long flights are perilous my friends. Don’t do them. They mess with your time signatures, and give you sweaty hallucinations. They take you to deep chasms of chaos. But despite my visions of my ex-girlfriends drinking tea on the thick window sills of this German attic, my mind settles on lighter memories, those some months ago, singing on the streets of your city.
Here are some of the interesting things I witnessed:
Wave-Gotik-Treffen
There were many a shadowy souls drifting over the Leipzig cobblestones this day. Bleeding eyes. Dangling monocles. Ashen face drag-queens in 17th century gowns dancing to my songs. My songwriting team down in the myths and legends department had quite the day drawing up new ideas for the development of Musketeer, And I’d never had a better busking day.
A Thief
It was about lunch time one day when I was busking when, two gentleman came running out of nowhere across the square. A man in a suit was chasing some well dressed lad carrying a well formed paper bag. It was like something out of a Hollywood blockbuster. Were there cameras around? I looked. There weren’t. It was ridiculous. The lad ran headfirst into a lady at the restaurant across the way who tried to stop him, as the bag he held flew out of his hand. But even though he stumbled and fell, the lad still managed to get away. The man in the suit picked up the bag and walked away with a frown.
Currywurst
Never again. Haha. Well at least for my travel friend Edward. He is gluten free, so the only thing it seemed he could get for lunch without bread was, indeed, currywurst. Soon he swore to never eat it ever again. I think he feels better now, and he will be back again to play with me in Leipzig this month.
Nightlife
My wonderful host Anne took me out one particular evening to dance in the various clubs in West-Leipzig. It was a beautiful night and I was quite heartened to see everybody sprawled outside the clubs, and sitting on the streets socialising. I can’t remember where it was, but everybody moved each time as the trams trundled by; I had never seen such communal, organic nightlife before.
(I can’t say much for winter), but Berlin is very grungy, and quite open, the streets are quite dirty. People are distant and full of pills. You don’t find big groups sitting around between buildings being sensible. Sweden is just cold, and going out in Australia or New Zealand is the worst thing you could ever do to your soul.
I was very impressed. But as communal as Leipzig was, It didn’t protect me from my own terrible dance moves, or from Anne seeing her ex-boyfriends around every corner. Haha. Thankfully friend vodka Club-Mate was just around the corner to power us through.
Ahh…
See you for some new memories soon, Leipzig.
Can’t wait.
Love.
x
