Tineke De Meyer
Old Refrain
A piece of sound and spoken word,
commissioned by the artist Aidan Moesby
and created in response to his project about climate change and mental health ‘I was naked smelling of rain’.
It was installed as a sound-installation, in the hall of Arnolfini, Bristol.

It is about the inability to ‘talk about the weather’ as a common trait of anxiety.
About the difficulty of (emotional) communication, about desiring connection through daily dialogue while at the same time resisting it.
Sound-installation, Arnolfini Bristol, March 14, 2019
Also appears as a track on The House Was Alright
Teach me to talk about the weather like you do.
When you meet an old friend unplanned
at the graveyard or the bank.
I have listened to you,
now teach me how you
take your time
to talk about the rain in the late summer.
And without going into detail or pain
you make the talking mean something too.

A chill, a slow cold
You look right as rain
Drop some leaves love
Let some light mist in

I used to talk about how I wanted to turn landscape paintings upside down:
hills up, clouds down.
But until this day, the closest I’ve come
is meeting someone who used to paint.
And after meeting me, he never painted again.

Even knowing perfectly well that at 6, it's gonna rain,
and that it will stop at 8,
you end up in a bus full of people smelling wet.

A chill
A slow cold
You look right as rain,
drop some leaves love, let some light mist in.

The BBC weather forecast speaks of thick cloud and light winds.
'Cloud', not 'clouds'.
'Clouds' plural, would at least suggest the possibility of space in between, for some sunshine to break in.
'Cloud' in stead sound like one, big, have thing.
Thick cloud and light winds.
Not one wind, but winds. Coming at you, lightly, all of them.
Tell me,
what are the consequences of thick cloud at this time of the day?

Who was it that wanted to talk about the weather anyway?
Who said it's a sunny day, the winter kind?
Who stands in clothes forgetting what it meant to be dry?
Who speaks of a week of rain as if it were to wash away, diluting what remains?
Tell me, how does the weather falls upon you today?
Does it weigh?

A chill
A slow cold
you look right as rain,
Drop some leaves love, let some light mist in

The BBC weather forecast also systematically
describes the weather with an adjective and a noun.
It speaks of moderate breeze,
light cloud,
gentle snow
heavy rain,
except for when speaks of sunshine,
that's just plain
sunny.
Sunny, must be blown away by light winds, easily.
Listening to forecasts, does not inspire positivity.

Still, it rains.
And when it rains, going out is more difficult.
And when it rains, staying in is more difficult too,
because going out means going into the rain.

To feel its tiny pressures on your head.
Trying to keep dry.
Trying to remember warm days.

This could be the coldest, wettest day of the year. What do you think?

(Text by Tineke De Meyer)
Picture by Winne Lievens
Collaboration with Duncan Speakman