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Poem by Sara Teasdale (1884-1933), pictured opposite.
Teasdale was always very frail, and caught diseases easily.
For most of her life, she had a nurse companion that took care of her.
Teasdale also grew up in a very sheltered atmosphere.
This poem seems to allude to the problems Teasdale had with her health.
In the final line of the poem, when referring about her body, she writes - "Without the joy it longed to know."
In 1933, Teasdale caught a chronic pneumonia which weakened her body as well as her mind & spirit.
Teasdale further lost her appreciation for the beauty in simple things, and committed suicide (barbiturate overdose) soon after (January 29, 1933), aged 48 years.
Longing
I am not sorry for my soul That it must go unsatisfied, For it can live a thousand times, Eternity is deep and wide.
I am not sorry for my soul, But oh, my body that must go Back to a little drift of dust Without the joy it longed to know.
Pete Townshend described this song as "A masterpiece".
Ray Davies' description of some of the lyrics - "It was like an extract from a diary nobody was allowed to read."
The lyrics are from the viewpoint of a lonely man on the south bank of the Thames River (London, UK) watching a romantic couple at Waterloo Underground & then crossing Waterloo Bridge (pictured).
It has been suggested that the line, "Terry meets Julie, Waterloo Station every Friday night" is about the relationship between actor Terence Stamp & actress Julie Christie, though Ray Davies denies this.
“When the record was finished and it was coming out", Ray Davies reminisces, “I got my wife Rasa to drive me down to Waterloo Bridge to see if the atmosphere was right.
On the 23rd February 2003, Ray Davies joined David Bowie on stage and performed a duet of this song at Carnegie Hall in New York City for the Tibet House benefit.
A London FM radio poll (2004) named this the "Greatest Song About London".
Waterloo Sunset
Waterloo Sunset (Lyrics)
Dirty old river, must you keep rolling Flowing into the night People so busy, makes me feel dizzy Taxi light shines so bright But I don't need no friends As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset I am in paradise
Every day I look at the world from my window But chilly, chilly is evening time Waterloo sunset's fine
Terry meets Julie, Waterloo Station Every Friday night But I am so lazy, don't want to wander I stay at home at night But I don't feel afraid As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset I am in paradise
Every day I look at the world from my window But chilly, chilly is evening time Waterloo sunset's fine
Millions of people swarming like flies 'round Waterloo underground But Terry and Julie cross over the river Where they feel safe and sound And they don't need no friends As long as they gaze on Waterloo sunset They are in paradise
