Vienna Teng: "Recessional"

By Michael J.W. Stickings

At the end of a long and busy week, let's slow things down tonight with some Vienna Teng -- as some of you may know, she's one of my favourite singer-songwriters around, with one of the most beautiful voices in the world. Suffice it so say, I still adore her immensely.

Last June, I put up a video for "Pontchartrain," one of the best songs off her most recent album, Dreaming Through the Noise. This song, "Recessional," follows that song on the album. It is less haunting, perhaps, but no less moving, a fitting conclusion to an amazing album. It was recorded, and added to YouTube by, Klaorman -- Bazaar Café, San Francisco (June 12, 2008).

**********

it's so beautiful here, she says, this moment now. and this moment, now. and I never thought I would find her here: flannel and satin, my four walls transformed. but she's looking at me, straight to center, no room at all for any other thought. and I know I don't want this. oh I swear I don't want this. there's a reason not to want this but I forgot. in the terminal she sleeps on my shoulder, hair falling forward, mouth all askew. fluorescent announcements beat their wings overhead: passengers missing, we're looking for you. and she dreams through the noise, her weight against me, face pressed into the corduroy grooves. maybe it means nothing but I'm afraid to move. and the words: they're everything and nothing. I want to search for her in the offhand remarks. who are you, taking coffee, no sugar? who are you, echoing street signs? who are you, the stranger in the shell of a lover, dark curtains drawn by the passage of time? oh words like rain, how sweet the sound. well anyway, she says, I'll see you around...