February 13, 2004
ASHES TO ASHES
Rob Sheffield:
"Oddly enough, the one time I ever got to meet Ashbery, we talked about George Michael. I’m not sure why. This was 1989, 11/15/89 to be exact, he was reading at Virginia, and a bunch of us were standing around trying to impress him by talking about poetry and he was bored out of his skull. He had just read “The Songs We Know Best,” and explained how it was inspired by hearing “Reunited” constantly on the radio, and I asked if he knew Wham!’s “Last Christmas,” which of course has the same melody as “Reunited.” He smiled very graciously and we chatted about George Michael and Wham! for less than a minute and he went back to not saying anything about anything and I was mortified and my friends were furious and I will go to my grave wondering why oh why did I spend my one allotted earthly moment in the presence of this great man talking about George Michael but I guess that’s the double dream of dipshit that I am."
Posted by Sasha at February 13, 2004 11:34 AM | TrackBack