This is a continuation of the stories and songs that caused me to put together my book, Postcards From Hell, which is an exploration of how music probably saved my life on more than one occasion.
Rosa's Cantine is not a well-known song, but it's a classic to me.
It appeared on the brilliant but largely forgotten, Purpendicular album. It s by no means a typical Deep Purple song. The guitar is subdued and the music is driven by a relentless, almost sinister bass line. some of the keyboard chops from the esteemed Jon Lord are quite brilliant.
I'm not really sure what the song is about. It talks about "going back" to a place that could be heaven or could be hell on earth. It's all a matter of perspective, I guess.
It's an intriguing piece of work - a piece that eventually sparked my own work of fiction called "Rosa's Place."
I used the lines of the song to construct a story of wanting something so badly that no price was too high. It worked pretty well and has appeared in several small press magazines as well as winning a prize in the Tom Howard short story competition.
When I collated my works for the book, it became obvious that this story had to be included, not only because it actually represents an achievement of sorts, but also because it contains several themes that were running through the book.
The studio version of the song appears below.
