Woke up with this Nirvana cover of a David Bowie song looping endlessly in my head.
Apparently, Bowie was inspired by this poem by Hughes Mearns titled “Antigonish [I met a man who wasn’t there]:
“Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away…
When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door… (slam!)
Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away…”
Bowie’s title reminded me of Robert Heinlein’s book “The Man Who Sold the Moon.” Checked that out, and I was pleased to learn that I was right.
Anyway, here is Kurt Cobain’s haunting rendition, which Bowie (reportedly) really liked: