I’m tired, the same kind of tired you feel when you get to London, jet-lagged and wanting to cry from the complete ineptitude of Heathrow, and you finally figure out which Tube to take, and you sit your tired, recycled-air ass down, as your body, previously running on adrenaline, starts to slowly run out of that particular chemical and one need takes over: you must get to sleep, and you must get to sleep now.

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But, you’re an hour from the city, so you sit. Quietly, not wanting to be a loud American. And so you try to stay awake and you listen to the accents of everyone around you. They’re real and they’re beautiful and they signify one thing: you’re not in the USA anymore. It sounds obvious but you don’t really get that you’ve left, that you’re far away, until you hear the accent and all of a sudden, you’re the one talking funny.  But hey, you’ve made it across the ocean and you’re ready to drink some warm beer.

1. Blur, “Coffee & TV”

Coffee in London is not like it is here. The tea is better and you can go to little Middle Eastern kebab shops to get it where the owner will dress it for you, full of milk and sugar. When the going gets tough, the tough go to Starbucks.

2. Oasis, “Don’t Look Back In Anger”

The Parliament, or Big Ben is the most beautiful structure I have ever seen up close. You never realize how much of a kid the United States is, until you go elsewhere and see how fucking old everything else is. I’d like to tell you my boyfriend did not have me wait until 4:20 to snap a picture of Big Ben, but then I’d be lying.

3. James, “Say Something”

British people don’t talk on public transit. The most gauche thing I saw someone do was eat a candy bar.The loudest ones are the kids and the Americans, acting like complete dumbasses because you’re on a double decker bus (OMG IT’S LIKE THE BUS TIMES TWO!) and it is taking you two whole hours to get from one end of Oxford Street to another.

4. Jesus Jones, “Right Here, Right Now”

I’m going to step out of my “narrative” here and say how surprised I am to see that Jesus Jones is listed as Britpop (thanks wikipedia!). But, this song is truly wonderful and pretty much cements the early 90s for me. Except let’s never go back to being 12 years old again.

5. Coldplay, “Trouble”

Is it Britpop? Is it British music that is also pop? Yes. I think I win this one.

London is really expensive and almost entirely like America. But, I love it, the same way I love to hate this horrible, melodramatic song.

At this point, you’re in your hotel room, it’s 11am and even though you vow that you’re going to push through, stay up until a normal time, get on the British schedule, what ends up happening is you lay down on the bed and you are gone, out until at least 9:30pm. And then you go out, utterly confused by what time it is, and you find yourself a nice old pub to sit in. Until they kick you an hour later. It’s okay, though: warm beer doesn’t really taste that good.

Till next time…

Counterforce After Dark