I’m a bit of a sucker for plaques.
I might be late for a meeting, or running to catch a bus, or caught outside in an electrical storm. But if I see a plaque on the side of a house, I’ll read it. I can’t help myself, and it’s getting worse with age.
Seriously, if someone wanted to abduct me, it would be pretty simple: hide up a tree with a big net, put a plaque at the base of said tree, and wait. I might forget to read my emails, but if you carve something in tiny letters on an oval-shaped piece of metal, I’m there.
I don’t know of many songs that have their own plaque, but “Sleepy Lagoon” is one of them. So hey, the next time you find yourself on the coast of West Sussex near the town of Sesley on the south coast of England, keep your eyes peeled for this one:
You might just see me there.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. The opening 10 seconds. The official sponsor of flashbacks and dream sequences.
2. The vibrato in the clarinets. The official vibrato of the 1940s.
3. The trumpet solo. The official solo of sauntering with a martini in your hand.
Recommended listening activity:
Imagining what the plaque outside your house might say a hundred years from now.