PARIS POEM: Written & read by Arthur Smith.
Rearrangement of Gabriel Gay Re’s Dolly Op56: Berceuse by David Barratt. Accordion - Gary Schreiner
City of Light? The most romantic place on earth? The greatest architectural wonder created by man?
Possibly, but Paris is not everyone’s cup of cafe au lait..
Richard Wagner said of it: “I do not believe in any other revolution save that which begins with the burning down of Paris”. Renound historian Dominic Sandbrook is also not a fan: `”The most overrated city on earth awash in dog excrement, where you often see people urinating in the streets. I had the worst bout of food poisoning in my life in Paris.”
But Arthur Smith loves Paris. It is for him a place of transformation. This is what he wrote about the poem written for and about the city:
ARTHUR SMITH:
In the summer of 1975 I got dumped by a woman I was in love with. In September I went to Paris as part of my degree. I was an English assistant in a school there and while I had the most brilliant time roaming the great city, there were moments where my heart break returned. I wrote the poem sitting in the Place des Vosges one afternoon and found that writing it helped me finally overcome my sadness. I’ll forward you the chapter I wrote about it in my autobiography. Rainy here…. Arturo
PARIS POEM
So here we are in Paris in spring
The lovers all love and the clochards all sing
But every morning through the 8 o’clock blue
The postman comes with nothing from you
There is
The Boulevard St Michelle
The Rue St Dennis
The Champs Elysées
But no you.
So I dip my croissant in my café au lait
I open the window and I call in the day
But in spite of the Seine, the birds, and the sun
It’s no fun in Paris buying garlic for one
There is
The Rue de La Huchette
The Louvres (shut on Tuesdays)
The Tour St Jacques
But no you
Then I heave myself on the Clignancourt line
And the busker there he sings so fine
That I’m lost in the world of the Metro-men
Til I see you’re not there and it hurts again
There is
The Boulevard St Germain
The Musée des beaux-arts (also shut on Tuesdays)
The marchée aux puces
But no you
I ain’t gonna live in Paris no more
Get the 9.57 from the Gare Du Nord
But whenever, wherever, the train may go
You won’t be there to kiss me hello
There’ll be
France
England
America
Every place
All of them, without you.Now I’ve drained my last glass and summoned the waiter
I’m back here in Paris and it’s thirty years later
But I know when I’ve walked up the Avenue Kleber
I’ll open the door – and you will be there!
There is
The champ de Mars
The Trocadero
La rue Lauriston
Le tout Paris
All of them
All of them
All of them with you