Yesterday, while cooking dinner I was  listening to The Smiths, The Queen is Dead LP.  While listening to Side B, I was transported to age 17.  I'm a passenger in a Green 4-door Honda Civic, driving along PCH near Dana Point, a late night, stars in the sky, and the melancholy sound of Morrissey's voice drifting out the window. 

 

Whenever I hear 'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out' , I am inevitably transported to some variation of this image--those carefree  days after getting into college but before high school was out, spending time with a short-lived boyfriend, JorgeMirIII.  Amazing how  music and lyrics have the power to evoke such a strong image or memory. I hear this song and I always think about driving around in his car as a teenager.  Pronounced George, I would sometimes call him The Third (wonder what he thought of that? I never knew anyone before him that was a III and I found it mesmerizing).  Jorge  was a brief kind-of sort of boyfriend  late senior year--a friend of some friends.  He lived blocks from my high school but went to Bosco Tech, an all boys school near where we lived.  He was fun to hang out with, was friends with my friends, and I recall I very much enjoyed kissing him.   Actually, he was a great kisser!  But I started dating him after I found out about getting into Stanford and so it was always going to be short lived and fun, a somewhat steady kind of relationship without a whole lot of stress or pressure...at least for me. I liked that he didn't go to my school so I had my own space, but we'd hang out after school b/c we were all in the same circle of friends. The breakup was messy ( ends up he was a lot more serious about me than I was about him). I didn't handle breaking up with people that well when I was a youth, and  I probably treated him poorly there at the end, but overall I still consider it a decent and positive dating experience in high school.  The only negative I can recall about this guy is that he punched a hole through a hotel room door in Mazatlan because he was so pissed off at me...and we weren't even together at the time! Also, I think I made him cry once.  Ah, but that is a whole other story.

 

Anyway, he is the one that got me into The Smiths.  My best friend listened to the Smiths, but for whatever reason I never really appreciated the music until Jorge made me my first Smiths mixtape.   I would spend hours listening to that tape.  We spent a lot of time together driving around various Orange County beach communities, listening to the Smiths, hanging out and talking, smooching, sunning, shopping, etc. The Civic was pretty cool too--it had a sunroof.  I'm sure it must be a perk for high school boys to have nice rides...certainly they must get all the ladies...esp if the car has a sunroof and a good sound system.  He was very good to me, and I will always thank The Third for introducing me to The Smiths.  I even ran across the mixtape when we moved.  I can't remember if I kept it (we were purging cassette's) but I hope I did cause it was a good one.