Saturday, and it is quiet in the Starbucks seating area.  This serene atmosphere will change soon.  Families are sure to arrive, busy with Christmas shopping here in Geneva.  The space will be crowded, as customers wait for a warm beverage.

Last night I joined my best friend of over 50 years for a dinner of BBQ at Oak + Swine, a gastro pub in our hometown of Batavia.  The meal was better than our expectations (which are quite high for BBQ).  We were seated in the small 2nd level balcony dining area, tables widely spaced, — the atmosphere warm with the buzz of conversation.  I captured a photo of the post-mod chandeliers casting a spectacular illumination upon the downstairs foyer and bar, while lending delightful visual backdrop to those of us dining on the 2nd level.

A memorable meal was enjoyed in company of my best friend.  We’ve experienced many things, and there’s no question that we are not the persons that we were when we met, and married several years later.  As the saying goes, “a lot of water has flowed over the dam.”  Therefore is it not important that we “get to know” each other, all over again, often?  The passage of time means change.  Old Heraclitus put it best:  Everything changes, and nothing remains.”

This tune is dedicated to my best friend, a woman of substance to whom by dint of good fortune, I am married.  These lyrics are appropriate in our case.  There was a time when our intention was to “save the world.”  Somehow we paid attention and recognized that it is not our mission to “save the world.”  Indeed, it is an open question whether the world can be saved, or ought to be.  Generally speaking, each of us gets what we want from life.  There are exceptions to this rule as some tragically draw a unwinnable hand which they must play.  I am thinking of a person born into grinding poverty, or to a household of unremitting emotional or physical violence.  Absent such circumstances, the majority of us get/find what we expect from life:  love/beauty/delight or violence/darkness/despair.

There is an apocalyptic note to these lyrics.  “The world” may be crashing all around us, yet…

I’ll stop the world and melt with you
You’ve seen the difference and it’s getting better all the time
There’s nothing you and I won’t do
I’ll stop the world and melt with you

Robbie Gray, the lyricist’s story of his composition made me smile.

“I was definitely stoned when I wrote it,” says Robbie Grey. “It was during the day, I remember it really well. I sat down on the floor of my flat in London, a cheap place in the housing association, and wrote the verse just straight off in about 10 minutes.” As the stream of lyrics flooded out in apocalyptic visions and other imaginary states, there was “I Melt With You.”

Here it is, the pandemic version.

I Melt With You

By Modern English

Moving forward using all my breath
Making love to you was never second best
I saw the world crashing all around your face
Never really knowing it was always mesh and lace

I’ll stop the world and melt with you
You’ve seen the difference and it’s getting better all the time
There’s nothing you and I won’t do
I’ll stop the world and melt with you

(You should know better)
Dream of better lives the kind which never hates
(You should see why)
Trapped in the state of imaginary grace
(You should know better)
I made a pilgrimage to save this humans race
(You should see why)
Never comprehending the race has long gone bye

(Let’s stop the world) I’ll stop the world and melt with you
(Let’s stop the world) You’ve seen the difference and it’s getting better all the time
(Let’s stop the world) There’s nothing you and I won’t do
(Let’s stop the world) I’ll stop the world and melt with you

The future’s open wide

The future’s open wide

(Let’s stop the world) I’ll stop the world and melt with you
(Let’s stop the world) I’ve seen some changes but it’s getting better all the time
(Let’s stop the world) There’s nothing you and I won’t do
(Let’s stop the world) I’ll stop the world and melt with you

The future’s open wide

Hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm

I’ll stop the world and melt with you
(Let’s stop the world) You’ve seen the difference and it’s getting better all the time
(Let’s stop the world) There’s nothing you and I won’t do
(Let’s stop the world) I’ll stop the world and melt with you

(Let’s stop the world) I’ll stop the world and melt with you
(Let’s stop the world) I’ll stop the world and melt with you
(Let’s stop the world) I’ll stop the world and melt with you
(Let’s stop the world) I’ll stop the world and melt with you

Lyrics by Robbie Grey (vocals), Gary McDowell (guitar, vocals), and Michael Conroy (bass vocals)