#tide lines

Roy Mustang // If I Had My Time (Tide Lines)

Won't you turn around and hold me?

“Hold on to me till it’s over

Cause I can’t remember the last time I was sober

from the morning to the night

Hold on to me till it’s over

Cause I can’t remember the last time it was so far

From the shadow to the light”

“Far Side of the World” by Tide Lines, the chorus of which continues to be what plays during this passage of “The Second Party”:

The dancing patterns of shifting partners brought Old Maggie and Galadriel face to face and they both stopped, raised hands untouching. The musicians repeated a few bars over and over.

Maggie stepped back into an elegant bow. “Artanis.”

Galadriel smiled with amused, if exasperated fondness. “Makalaurë.”

And for a moment, the noontide of Valinor returned to a field just north of the Great Smials in Tookland, the Shire, on the last night of the Third Age of the world, as the music picked up again and the last prince and princess of Tirion on these mortal shores, last ringleaders of a Doomed rebellion, took each other’s hands and danced Shire-fashion down the row of clapping hobbits.

When they reached the end, they did not separate; she spun him around (being the taller), and the music didn’t change but the dancing did, to fleet and graceful steps not seen since the bright Years of the Trees on distant shores. At first it was just the Elvish cousins, but if there is any creature as agile as an elf, it is a hobbit, and they all learned quickly.

Aesthetic Moodboards // “Wild Mountain Thyme”

And we'll all go together to pull wild mountain thyme, all around the blooming heather. Will ye go, lassie, go?

Come tae the Barrowland tonight

Swing yer maw, swing yer paw, swing yer granny up the wa

Come tae the Barrowland tonight!

Cuppa: an exquisite builder's tea with two sugars

View: the retro interior of Guido's Coronation Café on Gallowgate, Glasgow.

I don't go into the city as much as I used to, as I've changed jobs. It's nice to have a reason to come intae toon on a sunny evening, and this Friday I had the best of reasons.

The Barrowland Ballroom was just that, a popular dancing spot until it burned down in the 50s and was rebuilt in the swinging 60s. The perfect place to spend a night at the dancing, and maybe find a cute boy to walk you home. Now that ballroom dancing isn't so much the thing, the Barrowland has become a world famous music venue.

Warning: flashing lights

When they started this way, I knew which song they were going to lead with! If you want to hear the rest, here's the lockdown version (there's a studio version and an official video too, I just like that one!)

I am a huge fan of Tide Lines. The man above has the voice of a burly Gaelic angel. And this guy here is a wizard on a different set of pipes:

We even got a wee cover of another act that famously played here:

It was a wonderful night. Especially the moment that Robert Robertson forgot his own lyrics, while the crowd confidently went on singing. Maybe we should hold up prompt cards.

I'll leave you with a couple of Glasgow's famous murals, on the Barrowland itself, and on the Winged Ox pub at St. Luke's, another excellent music venue just along the street.