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A letter to Mike Lindup
By ella | April 4, 2005
Dear Mike
I came to see you play at Larry’s Room last night. What a great evening! The music was superb, the atmosphere was great, the venue was very cool - the Latin feel to some of your tracks adding to the cool vibe - the food, well let’s just say that was passable, the beer was cold and I had the best time I have had in a long time.
I?’ve been trying to find the words to express exactly how much I enjoyed it, but I can’?t, so you will forgive me if this is rather rambling. For many of those in the club I imagine the decision to come and see you play was no harder than picking up the phone and reserving tickets. But for me, it meant leaving my babies for the first time. Ever. I used to play music, all the time, live, eat and breathe music, hear other musicians play whenever I could. Since I had children, that part of me has been put to one side temporarily. Last night, listening to you play, I remembered how much I have missed music for it is essentially music that defines who I am.
One of the most engaging moments last night was when you said how you had been enjoying our unseasonably warm weather by having a picnic lunch in Hyde Park with your eight month old son. When my first baby was born, I loved to go out with him whenever and wherever I could. I could imagine how much fun your lunch in the park was and I felt nostalgic for the early months of my first baby’s life. For since my second son was born I have suffered from post-natal depression. To say it has not been fun would be an understatement. Your music has been the soundtrack to the highs and lows that I have experienced during that time. It has been one of the few constants in what can really only be described as a really-crap-time. Hearing you play many of the tracks last night made me smile at their familiarity and at times brought me close to tears. You launched in with ‘Let faith be my shield ad let joy be my steed‘* and I imagined my three year old singing along in his mock deep voice as he does when he sees me teary and hopes to cheer me up (the young can be so perceptive). Later you enquired ‘how’s the pizza?’ (nothing special, since you asked) and then, barely pausing, you sang ‘Days, I love these golden days, they won’?t be here forever, so savour them I must’?** (Life Will Never Be The Same could be reinterpreted as THE song for all parents-to-be) and I tried to remember exactly that during those times when each day seemed more than I could cope with. (I bet you never imagined that a stay-at-home post-partum- depression-suffering mother would be interpreting your lyrics quite like this when you wrote these songs.)
Your reinterpretation of ‘Something About You’ was beautiful and when you finished with ‘The Sun Goes Down’ you could see fans of your previous band would go home happy. But it was your tracks from your solo albums ‘Changes’ and ‘Conversations with Silence’ that were the highlight. The tracks you played from your latest album reflect your passion for the grand piano and your talent as a pianist and a performer. It was a privilege to be sitting in such an intimate and informal setting listening to your music. You are an incredibly kind person, generous with your time and wonderfully talented. It is no surprise that so many people are drawn to you and your music.
Yours,
Ella
* copyright 1989 Jan Struther
** copyright 1990 Mike Lindup
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