Tunesday : Black Velvet

Black Velvet

(Ward, C / Tyson, D) Performed by Alannah Myles

Mississippi in the middle of a dry spell
Jimmy Rodgers on the Victrola up high
Mama's dancin' with baby on her shoulder
The sun is settin' like molasses in the sky
The boy could sing, knew how to move ev'rything
Always wanting more, he'd leave you longing for

Black velvet and that little boy smile
Black velvet with that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring you to your knees
Black velvet if you please

Up in Memphis the music's like a heat wave
White Lightnin' bound to drive you wild
Mama's baby's in the heart of ev'ry school girl
"Love Me Tender" leaves 'em cryin' in the aisle
The way he moved, it was a sin, so sweet and true
Always wanting more, he'd leave you longing for

Black velvet and that little boy smile
Black velvet and that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring you to your knees
Black velvet if you please

Ev'ry word of ev'ry song that he sang was for you
In a flash he was gone, it happened so soon
What could you do?

Black velvet and that little boy smile
Black velvet in that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring you to your knees
Black velvet if you please

Black velvet and that little boy smile
Black velvet in that slow southern style
A new religion that'll bring you to your knees
Black velvet if you please

If you please
If you please
If you please

Not long after I first started working at the Mayfair Hotel in Edmonton in 1989, I came into work one day and heard that there had been some excitement the night before: apparently Alannah Myles -- who at the time was all over the radio with Black Velvet -- was playing some venue in the city and her people had put her up at our little establishment. The buzz was mostly about how, as her handler was checking her in, Myles slumped herself into a chair in the lobby, leather-pantsed legs flung over the chair's arm, leather-jacketed arms folded, with a do-not-approach-me scowl on her face. Some of my coworkers had been impressed to see her there nonetheless, some were put off by her attitude, and most of the chatter agreed that she seemed too big to stay at our little place; if she wasn't impressed by what she saw, most of us weren't surprised. As I wrote about before, Dave and I initially bonded over Elvis music, so the fact that someone who sang a song about Elvis had made an appearance in our lives had that "small world" feeling that makes a person sense that everything is on track.

Dave and I clicked right from the start, but it wasn't some hot romance; more like I had found my best friend; someone who finally got me. I've also written before about my boyfriends before Dave, and if they had one thing in common, it was that they treated me like a prize; something to jealously guard as their own; a protectiveness bordering on obsession. Dave, however, was the opposite of obsessed; if we were hanging, fine, if not, that was fine, too; he had other things to do. And at first I loved that -- the freedom was a good feeling to have just as I was breaking away from my parents and I initially thought that this was more honest; there's no way those other guys actually believed the fairy tale -- but eventually it was confusing: were we even a couple, or something more casual? Didn't Dave know that he was supposed to feel lucky that I chose him?

I had said before that there was another waiter at the hotel's restaurant, Jody, who asked me out when I first started (I had politely declined), and he talked like I didn't know what I was getting into with Dave; as though he had a reputation as a ladykiller and I was just one more victim (with muttered complaints that he, the prickly and unattractive Jody, would have treated me better). He especially liked to infer that there was something fishy going on when a big group of coworkers would go out together and Dave and this girl, Christine, were both in the group. I honestly remember nothing about Christine except her name, but Jody made it sound like everyone knew I was being made a fool of. I remember asking Dave about this and saying that I didn't like the idea of him and this Christine being out together when I wasn't around and he said that he didn't care what anyone was saying or even what I thought about it: he wasn't going to stop doing whatever he wanted to do. And this was so challenging to me: was this the kind of free and adult relationship that I wanted? Was this really an improvement over the boys who acted like they couldn't get enough of me? (As an immature game-playing test, I once said to Dave, "I get so tired of people making a fuss over my hair. I ought to just dye it brown or something." This was, obviously, Dave's chance to compliment me on my most striking feature, something that previous boyfriends were fascinated by, but he just said, "Yeah? Do whatever you want.") As I ended up marrying Dave, every time over the early years that he made me sad, I would think, "What was it in my brain that made me stay with the one guy who acted like he didn't care if I stayed or not?" I eventually matured out of my self-pitying stage -- reached a place where I decided to own my decisions -- but even looking back now non-emotionally and without any regrets (and I mean zero regrets), it's still strange that I doubled down on someone who didn't treat me all that well in the beginning. 

At some point, the bar at the hotel got a new manager, Gary, and he tried to bring in an evening crowd by playing keyboard and having karaoke nights (when this was still a hot new trend). When he found out that Dave could do a decent Elvis impersonation, Gary insisted that he put on a few songs in the bar, and even though Dave said he wasn't that good, Gary had posters made up for an evening of karaoke, featuring "Dave Thespian" as Elvis. He didn't own much in the way of a costume, so Dave wore jeans and a jean jacket, a button up shirt with some kind of scarf, and a wide leather belt of mine. He got up and sang his songs, performing to the crowd as I sat and drank and clapped delightedly at the fun of it all. Dave ended with Love Me Tender or some such, and as he swivelled his hips and crooned, a group of girls we didn't know screamed for him, and when he took off his jean jacket and threw it on the floor, one of the girls stepped forward, picked it up, and held it to her chest as though it was some great prize. And, seeing red, I jumped off my stool, strode over and grabbed the jacket from her hands before returning to my place. Sigh.

Dave was half-embarrassed and half-amused, saying that the girls had just been playing along -- and they probably were -- but I hadn't really been in control of myself; how was it I had become the jealous, obsessed one? I was supposed the be the prize. It was like the more I was sidelined, the bigger scene I was willing to make. 

My behaviour was as tacky as a black velvet Elvis; I was as petulant as a one hit wonder in a crappy hotel lobby; I was nearly capable of boiling bunnies. But then we got married. I get to hang out with my best friend every day. And we lived happily ever after.