Thorny Love

I really wanted to post something before now but that desire kept being thwarted by, well, me: My back hurt, my leg hurt, I couldn’t sit, it hurt to stand, I was too sleepy. This morning, for the first time since the surgery, I actually felt pretty good … until around lunchtime. Still, for a few hours I felt almost normal. I assume I’m feeling better because I’ve been doing what everyone keeps telling me to do, namely taking it easy … and healing. I’ve had instances where I was left lying flat in a pain med-induced haze, but they were caused by my own stubborn insistence on doing something like grocery shopping or cooking more than anything else. I find myself looking longingly out the window, my mind working out things I’d like to have done in the garden. I’m coming around, but I’m not pushing it. That’s for later.

That’s the latest, here’s the post: Five Six songs with cactus in them. Enjoy!

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1. CACTUS by The Pixies (1988): Chugging and creepily obsessive, Pixies’ frontman Black Francis sits on a concrete floor and pines for something — any thing — from an unforgettable woman. Memorable lyric: “…. Bloody your hands on a cactus tree. Wipe it on your dress and send it to me!” Covered decently by David Bowie, this version remains the better one.

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2. CACTUS SONG by Bella Hemming (2010): An antidote to The Pixies’ darkness, Australian Hemming belts out a little ditty about the cactus on her window sill. Accompanied only by her ukelele, I think she may be singing about a prickly love interest. Sample lyric: “Oh, my goodness, gracious me, you’re so sharp and needle-y … do you sometimes ever feel alone?” Caution: This song is an ear worm; it played on a continuous loop in my head for days!

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3. CACTUS by Susan Gibson (2007): Against the backdrop of the radio astronomy observatory 50-miles west of Socorro, New Mexico, called Very Large Array, Gibson sings her admiration for a Mexican flower so amazing she’s out of this world. Sample lyric: She can take root, in a barren place … she ain’t from here, she’s from outer space. You’ll want to dig out your flannel shirt and call your best girlfriend from college.

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4. CACTUS TREE by Joni Mitchell (1970): Mitchell performs this paean to free women live for the BBC. A selection from her debut album, ‘Song to a Seagull’, this performance shows her at her most ethereal. Sample lyric: “And her heart is full and hollow, like a cactus tree, while she’s so busy being free, like a cactus tree …”  Luminous and simply beautiful.

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5. CACTUS HALLUCINATION by Dune Base (2007): This is what it would sound like if a tangy Spanish vampire were to take the mic at a disco to recite a poem about the sensual delights of cactus. Sample lyric: The hallucintation … a water soul, a foggy fruit …spongy thoughts inside.” Whenever he says, “a fuggy fwuit” I can’t help but giggle and wish I was wearing mascara.

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READER BONUS: LES CACTUS by Jacques Dutronc (1967): It’s the end of the Swingin’ Sixties in France and a blond, shark-suited pop star is slaying the TV studio audience with his mean moves and Gallic indifference. Stage-side, a little girl in cat eye glasses claps along, her sequined hair band catching the studio lights. Sample lyric: In my bed, I took cactus, In my underpants, I took cactus, Ouch …  Ouch …  Ouch, Ouch, Ouch … Ouch … Ouch!”  In the end, even I must agree with Dutronc: “The whole world is a cactus!”. (Thanks, Willow!)

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Illustration: ‘My Heart Has Thorns’ by Reuben Muñoz, 2012