I remember when I was still in primary school, I used to sing along to this particular song by mary hopkins. And I wondered then, whether the song will one day come to mean a lot to me because of its reflection of what I would eventually feel.
once upon a time, there was a tavern
where we used to raise a glass or two
remember how we laughed away the hours
dreamed of all the great things we would do
those were the days my friends
we thought they'd never end
we sing and dance, forever and a day
we live the lives we choose
we fight and never lose
for we were young and sure to have our way
then the busy years went rushing by us
lost our starry notions on the way
if by chance I see you in the tavern
smile at one another and we'd say
those were the days my friends
we thought they'd never end
we sing and dance, forever and a day
we live the lives we choose
we fight and never lose
those were the days, oh yes
those were the days
just tonight, I stood before the tavern
nothing seems the way it used to be
in the glass I saw strange reflections
was that lonely woman really me
those were the days my friends
we thought they'd never end
we sing and dance, forever and a day
we live the lives we choose
we fight and never lose
those were the days, oh yes
those were the days
through the door there came familiar laughter
I saw your face and heard you call my name
oh my friend we're older but no wiser
for in our hearts the dreams are still the same
those were the days my friends
we thought they'd never end
we sing and dance, forever and a day
we live the lives we choose
we fight and never lose
those were the days, oh yes
those were the days
To me, the tavern was cineleisure in the days when they still had california lemon, lasermania, netshock and the old foodcourt. Those were the days when we were young, wild and proud. Growing up with so much pride and so much angst, so much naivete and tainted minds that should have remained unpolluted at that tender age. I feel so small and caught up everytime I reminisce about that part of my life - one of the most memorable chapters in my nineteen years. More than two years of tears, angst, love and hate. Between friends, frienemies and beyond. And I know that a part of the little girl in me has never left that part of the life. It lives at the back of my head and sometimes it comes back to haunt.
Ghosts.
