notes on a seabird

one song at a time #1

by Lucy Campbell

i am sat by my windowsill this morning watching the birds fly somewhere new or somewhere old. it hasn’t stopped raining for days now. i am trying to imagine what it would feel like fly. to lift the body relieved of its gravity and get the fuck out of here. i wonder how long it would take to get to Greece, Spain, switzlerland. how far do the local pigeons get? i thought i was thinking this in my head and then my dad answered “probably cleethorpes.” i really hope not. that would be depressing.

oh to be a seabird for a day. a day is all i’d need.

tbh what i really just need is a holiday and a violently fat jug of sangria. this would cure me.

what came first? the seabird’s cry or the soul imagined into being by the cold dawn that heard it? - seamus heaney

i have always felt a pull to be close to the water. i lived in Deal, Kent for a bit as a kid and some of my happiest memories were spent by the sea. we’d eat fish and chips on the pier, daring each other to jump off. there were always seagulls nearby swooping down to nick someone’s ice cream or snag a stray chip.

“i hate seagulls. cheeky greedy gannits” my mum would say.

i used to hate them too, but over the years ive grown a quite fond of them. they’re mischievous and they ruthlessly live for the drama. i have to respect it.

i remember the smell of salt in the air, the way the wooden boards of the pier creaked under our feet and the sun glinting off the water like a scattering of tiny stars. grandad telling us another tale about how he’d seen another ghost in his greenhouse stealing his tomatoes. (i must write about him soon, he had insane lore.)

Deal Kent, Boatmen in front of the old pier

The innovations - Seabird

anyway why am i talking about birds, well the other night during my usual youtube rot i discovered this song and i can’t stop listening to it. there isn’t much known about the innovations. they were a small Peruvian band from the late 70’s and it's a cover of the more well known Alessi brothers original. there sound is described as yacht rock and unfortunately they only have one other song, that i can find anyway.

still though, the fact they only have two songs released makes it feel even more special. the song drifts open rather than builds, it’s gorgeous and dreamy and the second it started playing i felt a pull to be on a beach somewhere, cocktail in one hand, cigarette in the other. nowhere to to go but everywhere. god why am i close to tears.

it also reminded me of all the cockatoo’s in australia that would sweep in overheard for no apparent reason other than to cause mass destruction. but still, people love them. how could you not?

i love that about music. how it bypasses any kind of logic and has a way of transporting you back to another time entirely or makes you remember things you thought you had forgotten. i’ve listened to this song about 40 times and still i’m nowhere near bored of it yet.

“a familiar riff can make the years fold into a single breath.” - luca romano

found on pinterest

a poem from my journal: January 26th 2024 ettalong beach.

i found this really beautiful essay on seabirds by Andy Nicholson the other night, i really loved it. in awe of seabirds the way he talks about these birds is so tender and gorgeous, learning about them has been his whole life’s work and it lowkey made me want to go bird watching lmao. honestly maybe i will.

anyways if you listen to the song, i hope you love it and it finds you at the right moment.

*fly’s away*

Eva xx