Pixie dust and absinthe

I was listening to Polly Scattergood the other day, and ‘Unforgiving Arms’ came on. I really love the song, but it suddenly occurred to me that Polly sounded like someone else. I couldn’t quite pinpoint who, but I definitely got a familiar vibe from her vocals. It all came together when I read a post on Miss Tart’s blog, that in turn led me to a post on Song By Toad, wherein he mentions Kylie as a guilty pleasure. So I listened again today, and yes, I swear Polly is channeling Kylie on that tune. It’s not a bad thing at all, but it sounds very Minogueian at certain points.

The thing is, Polly reminds me a bit of a girl I used to know. Or at least, what I imagine Polly’s personality to be based on her music and interviews is what reminds me of that girl. She’s what I’d call a pixie – not a Tori Amos ‘oooh look aren’t I eccentric’ pixie, more just a fluttery girl that could just as easily fly out of a room with tiny wings you’d never noticed before as walk out of it. Very emotional and passionate, with moods subject to rapid and unpredictable change. She could be crying her eyes out one minute and the next be laughing hysterically and completely over whatever caused her to laugh in the first place.

For example, I remember taking that girl to see Moulin Rouge when it first came out. Everything was great, she was really enjoying the movie, but when Nicole Kidman’s character died (sorry if you haven’t seen it, but come on, it’s been 8 years get with the program), she burst into the lengthiest period of uncontrollable sobbing I have ever personally witnessed (and I’ve been to far more funerals than I can count). She was quite literally inconsolable from that point until long after the movie had ended. I remember we were sitting in the very back of the theatre, and she just collapsed into my lap for at least a half hour. The ushers & cleaning crew seemed to instinctively realize disturbing her would be a poor decision, so they left us alone as long as they could, but finally one guy came back and kind of gave me the signal that they couldn’t let us stay any longer. I managed to get her out into the lobby, where she cried some more, then finally into the car.

I felt like I was the worst person in the entire world. There is no worse feeling for a guy to experience than that of making a girl cry. It’s like wandering the streets kicking puppies or punching your grandmother in the mouth. Plus, everyone we encountered eyed me with total disgust as if to say ‘What kind of degenerate are you to have made that poor little girl cry?’. I wasn’t even trying to date her or get romantically entangled – I just thought it would be fun to see a movie where Ewan McGreggor sang Elton John!

There’s really no point to any of this, other than I remembered that Kylie is actually in Moulin Rouge as The Green Fairy. And since Polly sounds a bit like her in the new song, while also reminding me of this other girl, the whole thing comes full circle. Or something.

Polly Scattergood – Unforgiving Arms

Tags: kylie minogue, moulin rouge, Movies & TV, polly scattergood