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You Remind Me of A Ghost

from Not Particularly Dignified or Newsworthy by Friend Friend

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about

I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Twenty minutes to the nearest gas station, fifteen minutes to my elementary school, forty-five minutes to my high school and an hour drive to the nearest movie theatre. While my surroundings were desolate I always fancied myself a cosmopolitan soul who was really destined to live in one of the world’s great cities--- New York, Los Angeles, Toronto or London. I’d read S.E. Hinton books and listen to LL Cool J and imagine myself as a true son of the city temporarily stuck on the prairies.

I eventually made my way to New York, squatting in a friend’s apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn and taking daily trips to Manhattan on the train. Carrie and I had just begun dating and she would send me letters and postcards of fields, grain pools and small Saskatchewan cities. I read every line carefully and every hidden message in her words. It made me miss the prairies and reminded me of all the experiences I’d had in them.

It reminded me of the years I lived in Regina and would climb the window-washing scaffolds of its skyrises by myself and watch the city breathe traffic until the sun came up.

It reminded me of being baptized in the North Saskatchewan river, which was once the highway for fur traders and first people.

It reminded me of the valley, behind my parent’s house, that my father farmed; the field that, among others, now failed to produce the crops that it once did. I would wait patiently each year for it to be covered in snow so I could slide down it on my GT with my brothers and sisters.

It reminded me of going to Diefenbaker Beach, where Carrie and I had first cuddled next to each other while sharing a tent with 9 other friends the weekend Friend Friend was born.

It reminded me of the summer I walked 5K through Alberta prairie into Smokey Lake and experienced a newfound love for these flatlands.
It reminded me of my great-grandfather leaving eastern Europe for Rama, Saskatchewan and building a new life for his family and eventually me.

lyrics

When this city was a brother I’d stay up all night
‘cause it felt good to be agreed with.
When this river was lover, how my lips would quiver
as she baptized me in her dirty water.
All that excrement that flows from Edmonton.

When this valley was my friend how my teeth would chatter
as the first snow fell as if to pardon our failures.
I parse your post. You remind me of a ghost.

You remind me of a ghost of this land that I love
These prairies have no borders

You remind me of a note I was writing out on Dief Beach all alone and small trying to get some things right. You remind me of the roads I was crossing and the fields I was coming to when walking into Smokey that night. You remind me of my great-grandfather saying, “There’s no land in Poland and no man’s a man with no land.”

You remind me of a ghost.

credits

from Not Particularly Dignified or Newsworthy, released February 23, 2019

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Friend Friend Saskatchewan

For their Sophomore release; Not Particularly Dignified or Newsworthy Friend Friend partnered with their band member and producer, Matt Froese to create 5 Indie folk power-pop anthems for the everyman/woman.

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