I have been staying by myself in Riverton Aparima during the first three months of this year, taking the opportunity to fossick on Southland beaches. I have been listening to quite a bit of music – at my accommodation, on the drive to different beaches, and occasionally through headphones while fossicking. This song, “How Long Will I Love You?”, is one that has kept me company. It reminds me of my wife Petra, holding the fort in Whanganui in my absence – a reason why I’ll be heading home in early May rather than sticking it out until mid-July.
I stumbled upon this song when I caught glimpses on television of the movie “About Time”. It’s about a young man with the ability to travel through time, and the complications that result when he time-travels to try to develop love relationships. At one point in the movie, three guys are playing “How Long Will I Love You?” in a subway, and they sound a lot like a New Zealand group, The Warratahs, with the violin weaving a tune alongside the guitar (and mandolin or ukelele?). So I looked the song up, and fell in love with it. It was written by a member of The Waterboys who also recorded it in 1990, with Ellie Goulding doing a very popular cover in 2013. It appeals to the romantic in me, musically and lyrically. The reference to the sea washing upon the sand gives me an excuse to link it to fossicking on the beach for stones. The movement of the stones in the sand and waves produces the smooth colourful pebbles I seek. And those highly treasured finds from the beach – how long will I love you? Always! [Lyrics are below.]
“How Long Will I Love You?”
How long will I love you?
As long as stars are above you
And longer if I can
How long will I need you?
As long as the seasons need to
Follow their plan
How long will I be with you?
As long as the sea is bound to
Wash upon the sand
How long will I want you?
As long as you want me to
And longer by far
How long will I hold you?
As long as your father told you
As long as you are
How long will I give to you?
As long as I live through you
However long you say
How long will I love you?
As long as stars are above you
And longer if I may…
Hey there, I just wondered if you’d been out to a beach near Tiwai point? I’m not sure what the beach is called, but just before the long bridge there, there is a beach full of what looks to be yellow jasper, or maybe its Chert or Flint I am unsure. It is a very interesting stone, some look flint knapped.
Hi! I’ve heard of Awarua Beach, I think it’s called, and I believe there are ventifacts there – stones shaped into a knapped kind of shape by the wind and blowing sand. I haven’t been there, partly because I’m looking for stones to tumble polish (which will be smaller than most of the ventifacts – and ventifacts are interesting in themselves, not to be tumbled). John