TUESDAY BLUES!! Pale Seas - Something or Nothing
Do you like Singer/Songwriters, or do you have a unhealthy affection to the sadness, if so you may have a case of the Tuesday Blues!
Musical discovery is a good thing. Take Pale Seas, how I managed to let it pass me by I'll never know. Pale Seas are a four-piece from Southampton who used to record under the name ‘Netherlands’. There is certainly something about "Something or Nothing", whether it is its Waltz like tempo, its gorgeous harmonies, swirling guitar or just the xylophone that twinkles under the surface. Its the sort of song that will feature in your next favourite Indie Movie and fans of Elliott Smith, Pink Floyd and Beach House will be enraptured.
Pale Seas? In my early twenties I went to Turkey and to be a little adventurous, I went on a days sailing trip. The idea was to stop off at secluded bays, eat, swim, get some rays and to try not to look like Simon Le Bon in the Save a Prayer video. The locals however, had other things on their minds and always wanted the customers to keep busy. We slowly drifted into a shallow bay and they came up with the not-so-original game of getting the holiday makers to drop their things into the sea (snorkels, fins, etcs) and encouraged them to dive in, collect the item and come back to the surface. At the time I considered myself a strong swimmer and I said that "I'd do it".
One of the boat hands, who was probably about 14 years old, jumped in, quickly swam to the bottom, collected the item and brought it back to the surface. It looked so easy.
The first Brit tried but failed miserably, the second, who was Dutch, looked like he was going to drown and had to be rescued. After a few more failed attempts it was finally my turn to go.
I was still fairly confident and I climbed on top of the platform, took a couple of deep breaths and prepared to dive in like a fat Tom Daley.
I pierced the water like a kingfisher hunting a fish, but I soon realised that the water was far deeper than I expected. I kept on kicking my way down down but the pressure was starting to get to me. Using my last breath I kicked a little further, grabbed the snorkel and started to exhale. Halfway up I started thinking that this wasn't a good place to be and at that time my ear popped....and I dropped the mask. With no air left I struggled to the surface and emerged spluttering. My ear was in agony, I didn't have the mask and the local boy was the only one to succeed. Now everytime I see pale clear seas, I can still see my pride, and the mask at the bottom of the sea!
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