A night in New York

I went out to dinner with a friend last night.  We had been thinking of going to one of the two Bobby de Niro restaurants in the area but, at the last minute, spontaneously decided to go to a new place.

We went to a restaurant in my neighborhood that we hadn't been to before and we were surprised to find out there was a show during dinner.  There was a pianist, a singer and three dancers - all dressed as if they were in the early 1900's.  The piano and the microphone also looked like they belonged in a speakeasy and the restaurant itself was a throwback from another era with blue velvet in some of the seating areas and a beautiful, large, chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the center of the restaurant.

The restaurant was almost full.  I saw an acquaintance of mine leaving with his partner at some point.  I met him a couple of weeks ago when I met with him to interchange ideas about his fledgling business.  We said hello to each other although I wasn't quite sure he recognized me.  I couldn't introduce him to my friend because I drew a blank and couldn't remember his name.  That was a little awkward.  The food was excellent and gave credit to the high Zagat rating it was awarded.  Then the pianist and a singer appeared and the fun began.  Their performance was intermixed by songs performed by the dancers who came in two's or separately at different phases of the show.

There was a married couple in front of us that looked bored.  They were in their late 30's and he rolled his eyes when one of the dancers started singing a very funny song about selling nuts and doing a slow and mild striptease ending with no bra and tassels. The woman with the bored husband would look at us every so often to see if we approved and when she saw we were having fun, she started enjoying the show as well.  Having fun is contagious!  The striptease was elegantly done...it reminded me of the Crazy Horse show in Paris where you see nudity but it is very tastefully done. The Crazy Horse shows are a few notches above what I saw last night because it's highly sophisticated but it's all the way in Paris and this was pretty good for a neighborhood place! All three dancers did some sort of striptease singing old songs and throwing their gloves, bras, and plumes to the audience...

The music was from before anyone in the restaurant was born, a bit of Cole Porter, a little bit of Edith Piaf and many songs I never heard before.   One song in particular was beautiful and the interesting thing is that there is no known author.   Here is the version of the same song by Perry Como:

Lyrics 

I’m confessin’ that I love you . . .
Tell me, do you love me too?
I’m confessin’ that I need you,
Honest I do, need you every moment!
In your eyes I read such strange things,
But your lips deny they’re true . . .
Will your answer really change things,
Making me blue?

I’m afraid someday you’ll leave me,
Say’n can’t we still be friends?
If you go, you know you’ll grieve me,
All in life on you depends . . .
Am I guessin’ that you love me?
Dreamin’ dreams of you in vain,
I’m confessin’ that I love you,
Over again!

I’m afraid someday you’ll leave me,
Say’n can’t we still be friends?
If you go, you know you’ll grieve me,
All in life on you depends . . .
Am I guessin’ that you love me?
Dreamin’ dreams of you in vain,
I’m confessin’ that I love you,
Over again!


I must confess (forgive the pun!) that I fell in love with this song! I had not heard it before.  It was cleverly written and it's all about the disjointed - and almost schizophrenic - experience of loving someone that may not love you back.   And how while the desire to be friends is there if the person doesn't love you back, being friends may not be possible.  It's a  good example of the tug of war that ensues between two people that may or may not be feeling the same about each other.

It made me think how exciting and fun it is to have the experience of loving someone and not knowing if we have that person's love.  That's a great stage in a relationship because while there is a level of angst there is also the expectation that something wonderful may happen to transform the doubt into the certainty that we won that love.  It's the kind of win that goes beyond winning anything else in life because it fills the heart with joy and anticipation of more love to come.

It is a much better feeling than already knowing it's not going anywhere...or it goes somewhere and then it doesn't work out and while it gets resolved one is in love limbo.  I should include that sometimes it works out but sustainability of the relationship becomes the challenge!

A great feeling and a great song!  Enjoy!