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I could see the indecision in his eyes, weighing up the options, which one would benefit him the most. If I moved, I would make up his mind for him and he would raise the alarm. The smoke and smell and shouts of the bidding faded into the background. I didn’t plead with my eyes, because he would feel manipulated and resist. If I looked afraid, he would despise me. So I just looked blank, which is all I ever looked.
I found the bushes with little effort, not looking to see if I had been noticed or followed, and used all my strength to open the manhole. I levered myself down and felt strong hands catch my hips. An elderly Ambossan man was holding a torch and smiling. Oh, all these thoughts were whirring around in my brain as I manically raked under the ground beneath my sleeping pallet and brought up a cloth pouch filled with a few hundred cowrie-pounds. I had managed to pilfer a shell here and there during nearly two decades of shopping for Bwana and his family.
Take Me Home Lyrics
He stood next to her, looking so smug, as if he knew the truth, as if the whole whipping spectacle was to punish his wife for her promiscuous ways. As soon as they were further down the avenue, sand kicking up in their wake, I darted out of the alley. I had to get away from these awful people. I stood there, paralysed, peering down the avenue. I knew I was being such a wuss but I couldn’t help it.
And nostalgia would not get me to the station on time. I flew out of Bwana’s office and rushed across the compound, across the green lawn studded with huge cacti which looked like men with their arms raised to the sky. I entered the hut which I shared with four of my female “colleagues”, knowing they would be busy elsewhere in the house. Even when it seemed that every job had been completed, Madama Comfort, Bwana’s imperious No 1 wife, demanded we all get down on our hands and knees and scrub her cherished marble floor - with soap and a nailbrush.
Take Me Home Oh Lord Song | Mikko Joensuu | Amen 1
This song is about mental illness and those who suffer from it. The lyrics to the song made a lot of sense once I learned this. "I've been a prisoner all my life" is the confinement which the illness imposes on those who are ill.
I had been taken from Europa when I was eight years old, yet I still had such vivid memories of my parents, our little flint cottage on the farm and my adorable cocker spaniel, Rory. They were probably dead now, if they had survived the raids by warriors from the neighbouring tribe of New Castle Land, who had been my first captors.
Know any other songs by Lisbeth Scott? Don't keep it to yourself!
At first I thought she was sorry for Frank, then it dawned on me that she was brimming with self-pity. You see, we were generally invisible to the Ambossans - something we cultivated, to blend into our surroundings, lessening the chance of being singled out. I can see how they have hardened their hearts to our humanity. They convince themselves that we do not feel as they do, so that they, of course, do not have to feel for us. It’s very convenient and lucrative for them, isn’t it. I wish my heart would ice over like that.
To get deep into the grooves, she explained, as we hid our venom behind impassive faces. The woman did not have an inner strength which made her powerful, I had long ago realised; rather, she had been given power over us. I wanted to print out the email and rush around showing it to everyone. But no, I had to control myself or I wouldn’t be going anywhere except the gallows or the electric chair. No leniency was shown to those who tried to escape.
LyricsOh Lord Take Me Home
Food, fabric, people - what’s the difference? I held my breath as I walked past Demerara’s Coffee House. These men could sniff out a slave a mile away.
The irony was that Madama Subria was always trying to seduce him, rolling her ample Ambossan bottom whenever she passed him in the corridor. He ignored her advances until one day she asked him to repair the wardrobe in the master bedroom, suddenly stripped off her clothes and stood there naked, cupping her enormous breasts which runneth over her hands. He about-turned and walked out without saying a word. He was fit, he was toned, he had a six-pack. He had thick, wavy fair hair and compassionate brown eyes. The message gave me only one hour to get to the disused Paddinto Station and directions on how to find the manhole hidden behind some bushes through which I could slip down into the subway.
Lorde sung a little part of “Take Me Home” by Phil Collins in an interview with Marc Maron, citing it as a song that has inspired her deeply. Lorde has had a long history of showing love for Phil Collins' discography, covering “In The Air Tonight” in the BBC Live Lounge in 2017. Here he was after all these years, staring at me, knowing full well I was where I shouldn’t be and there could be only one reason why. He’d been a big lad, was a big man now, typical of the Ambossans with their long, strong limbs and fierce, powerful bone structure.
The thoroughfare was littered with nut shells, tobacco butts, camel droppings and the debris of city life. I tried to walk quickly without appearing to hurry. I tried to walk straight-backed. I was tall anyway, which gave me a natural majesty when I worked it. I had 20 minutes left to get to Paddinto Station. It was going well until I came upon a group of raggedy whyte men, free, who were playing dominoes on a mat.
But how I longed for those grey skies, the constant drizzle, the harsh wind slapping my ears. How I longed for my warm winter woollies and wellington boots. How I longed for Mum’s cheese-and-pickle sandwiches and hot minestrone broth. How I longed for a house of my own. How I longed for Sunder Land, the far northern district whence I was taken. Sunder Land, where my tribe were quiet farming people.
Some were agents for West Japanese planters, there to buy new stock. Others were owners of the slave ships, there to sell off newly arrived stock. But we can’t always have what we want, can we. In fact some of us never get what we want, ever.
When he met Delilah DiCrescenzo, Plain White T's lead singer Tom Higgenson told her he'd write a song about her, and came up with the first verse of "Hey There Delilah" on the spot. I think it’s about a guy who doesn’t mind this person. In a 2019 Australian interview, Phil Collins named this song as one of two he enjoys performing live the most. The other was 1993's "Can't Turn Back The Years". Too many images flashed through my mind as I deleted the email and switched off the computer. For the first time since I was taken away I could seriously consider that I might be returning home.
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