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WRITING|CREATIVE WRITING
Coffee, Reflections, and Music
When is swearing not really swearing? When it’s creative, of course
Imagine the following scenario:
You meet someone who makes you feel special. From the word go there’s that little spark, that magic that comes as a consequence of falling head over heels for their eyes, their accent or their laughter. Years later, when you look back on that relationship, long dead now, you remember how at first they ‘moved like the sunset’. The relationship is over, though. You think you’ll be OK.
But OK, you’re not. The relationship with your ‘northern lad’ turned out to be a half-baked cake affair. An unmoistened liaison that left you ‘only wet because of the rain’. Tucked under your duvet you lost hope little by little, craving warmth and companionship but knowing that outside “it gets so fucking cold…”
I can see why Tori Amos used the ‘f’ word in ‘Northern Lad’. It’s one of those rare examples where swearing is perfectly justified and understandable. You offer your whole self to another person, warts and all, only for your partner to throw it back at you, highlighting flaw after flaw. Or what they might think are your flaws and in reality they’re just your quirks. And don’t we all have quirks?