Drawing (37) from THE BASIS OF MAKE-UP
"The embalmed corpse of Elvis Presley laid out among a trellis of little toes. In his 1960s song Stuck On You, I understood 'I am the wall' rather than 'Hide in the hall'. That’s how we used to learn English back then, by trial and error while listening to the British Forces Network hit parade in northern Germany. I was standing at the railway embankment when Elvis was transported from Bremerhaven to southern Germany on the Flying Roland in 1958. Bill Wyman was just completing his military service in Oldenburg. Baby legs drifting off symbolize the soul of Elvis. A carousel with dead fish hanging from its chains was turning to his songs. Adolescents started making out at the 'Caterpillar'. The most daring of them used to wear bright blue blousons with tigers embroidered on the back. I fell in love with a young English soldier called Storky, who had to carry out a military exercise near our place at the railway embankment and lived in a combat tank. I used to give him pears from our garden and didn’t get anything back from him in return." (From: arsenal, february 19).
(1983)