In My Heart

Place: The Summer Triangle
Mood: Dreamy
Song: In My Heart * Moby

Sometimes I feel like I am still in Iceland.

I can feel the soft wind, the cascade of imageries, coffee & cake moments, running on lava fields, sharing a laugh with Óskar or having an argument with Grétar.

I have built a tie with both of them while there that made me think of the Summer Triangle in the August skies. Easily-recognized anywhere!

The Summer Triangle is a fictitious triangle composed of three luminous stars that link their constellations virtually in the Northern Hemisphere, during the summer. These stars are:

- Deneb (Cygnus Constellation / The Swan) – 20^th brightest star, visual magnitude: 1.25. Its real magnitude is -8.5, which makes it one of the most luminous stars of the universe to be known.

- Vega (Lyra Constellation / The Lyre) – 5^th brightest star: visual magnitude 0.03

- Altair (Aquila Constellation / The Eagle) – 12^th brightest star, visual magnitude 0.77

Whenever I think of them, I have to look at the Summer Triangle. And I could play five songs that take me back to Iceland and back.

Here they are:

01. La Femme d'Argent (by Air) - from the album Moon Safari [1998]

I heard this song a couple of years ago. And I forgot about it. Until I was in the Icelandair flight from Charles de Gaulle to Keflavik Airport. There was a music library on the little screen in front of my seat. I played this song over and over and over. And it's the perfect music to get introduced to Iceland.

02. Gling Gló (by Björk Guðmundsdóttir & Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar) - from the album Gling-Gló [1990]

Gling gló, klukkan sló
máninn ofar skýjum hló
lysti upp gamli gótuslóð
þar glaðleg Lína stóð

Translation:
Cling clong, the clock rang
the moon smiled above the clouds
lighting up the old street
where merrily Lína stood

My first song in Icelandic. We heard this on a car ride with Grétar and Óskar. I guess we were either going to or returning from Þingvellir. I am not a big fan of Björk but I appreciate what she does. I was so not prepared to this. It's such a wonderful gem. So intimate and volatile at the same time. This is the song that makes me think of Iceland most.

03. Sæglópur (by Sigur Rós) - from the album Takk [2005]

Sæglópur, á lífi
Kominn heim
Sæglópur, á lífi
Kominn heim
þaõ kemur kafari
Komin heim
þaõ kemur kafari
Komin heim



Translation:
A lost seafarer, alive
Has returned home
A lost seafarer, alive
Has returned home
A diver comes
Has returned home
A diver comes
Has returned home

Sæglópur, or Lost at Sea, is my favorite Sigur Rós track. I finally bought the album, a couple of days before I left Iceland. I am still waiting for the proper time to discover the photos that are in the CD. I guess when I will do, it will take me all the way back there and I am not sure I am ready to jump in time, especially since I feel I am still there. The diver has returned home.

04. La Javanaise (by Madeleine Peyroux) - from the album Half the Perfect World [2006]

J'avoue j'en ai bavé pas vous mon amour
Avant d'avoir eu vent de vous mon amour
Ne vous déplaise
En dansant la Javanaise
Nous nous aimions
Le temps d'une chanson

Óskar has introduced me to jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux and I instantly recognized on the jacket her cover of Joni Mitchell's River which she sings with Kd Lang. And now I can't stop playing this CD. Everyday I discover I have a new favorite track. Right now it's La Javanaise, a cover version (and a very good one) of this illustrious Serge Gainsbourg song. But there are other covers that are worth nothing, including Leonard Cohen's tear-jerker Half the Perfect World. A beautiful CD that I would recommend to anyone.

05. In My Heart (by Moby) - from the album Go – the Very Best Of Moby [2006]

Lord I want
To be up
In my heart

Be
Ohh
Just in my heart, oh Lord
Just in my heart, oh Lord

The song of the Summer. The song that makes me smile. The song that makes me forget everything and keeps me driving. I heard this song over and over and over upon my arrival to Beirut and it only brought me back the nice memories of my trip to Iceland. Memories that are In My Heart.