Insane On The Seine

October 25, 2010
One of the zany things Charlie Waters and I did while we were in Paris is make good on a gag that goes all the way back to 1964 when Steve Burford joined the Exits.

We needed a bass player and Steve played guitar and dabbled in Kingston Trio type folk songs, so we recruited him to join Kingman's best dressed rock band (we wore matching jackets with a big Old English E over the left breast, letterman-sweater-style). Steve learned our ten songs and then proposed we add "The Seine" by the Kingston Trio.

Well, we were a rock band and this was a tad corny for the drummer (that would be me). Fast forward to the Girl's Gym and our fist gig with Steve on bass. When it came time to premiere the song, I left the stage in protest and Charlie and Steve played the music while Steve belted out the following lyrics:

One night along the river, at St. Germain de Pre,
I first met my beloved at a small sidewalk café.
We walked along the river, the shadows passing by,
But we only saw each other, the shining water and the sky.

Chorus:
The Seine, the Seine, when will I again,
Meet her there, greet her there,
On the moonlit banks of the Seine?

Standing there across the river, mid sound of horn and tram,
In all her quiet beauty, the cathedral Notre Dame.
And as we passed beside her, I said a little prayer,
That when this dream was over, I'd awake and find you there.

Chorus

We walked along the river, 'till dawn was coming nigh.
Beneath the Eiffel Tower, we said our last good-bye.
There on that splendid morning, I saw you all in tears.
And the beauty of that hour will shine in me through the years.

Chorus

The Seine, the Seine, when will I again . . .
Meet her there on the Seine?

The song more or less went over like a lead balloon because the Kingman crowd was there to rock out, but leave it to Charlie to bring the lyrics to Paris last week and we stood on the banks of the Seine at Saint Germain de Pre and belted out the tune for all of Paris and dear old Stephen Craig Burford:



Yes, Charlie is wearing a French beret and holding a cigarette like a Frenchman. Other than that we did it straight.


"A fisherman can spot another fisherman from far away."
—Old Russian proverb