Back in 2000 I travelled to Paris for a week to perform with Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan. I invited Kim to join me. One of the things we did, besides enjoying café noisettes and tartine, was to go on literary walks that were laid out in a book she brought, Time Out Book of Paris Walks.
On one of the walks, it could have been Walk Like a Man (Ernest Hemingway) designed by Michael Palin, or Walking for Godot (Samuel Beckett), we ended up in the Père Lachaise Cemetery at the site of Jim Morrison’s resting place. The grave was adorned with fresh flowers from recent visitors who still mourn the loss of the American singer. It made me curious about the Morrison allure. Was it that he embodied the spirit of the post-beat generation and became an icon of the baby boomers when he died so young? To be honest, I was never a fan. Though I like Roadhouse Blues, but more for the feeling and structure of the music than the lyrics.
Here's beautiful performance by Ella Fitzgerald.Sonny Burke wrote the mysterious lyrics,
capturing a feeling of loneliness in waiting for a lover
you ultimately know won't be coming back.
Paul Francis Webster wrote the music.
BLACK COFFEE
A.
I’m feeling mighty lonesome, haven’t slept a wink
I walk the floor and watch the door and in between I drink
Black coffee
Love’s a hand me down brew
I’ll never know a Sunday in this weekday room
A.
I’m talking to the shadows one o’clock ‘til four
And lord, how slow the moments go when all I do is pour
Black coffee
Since the blues caught my eye
I’m hanging out on Monday my Sunday dreams to dry
BRIDGE
Now a man is born to go a lovin’
A woman’s born to weep and fret
To stay at home and tend her oven
And drown her past regrets in coffee and cigarettes
A.
I’m moaning all the morning, mourning all the night
And in between it’s nicotine and not much heart to fight
Black coffee
Feelin’ low as the ground, it’s driving me crazy
This waiting for my baby to maybe come around
CODA
My nerves have gone to pieces
My hair is turning gray
All I do is drink black coffee
Since my man’s gone away