"Remember"

This is one of the most haunting songs I ever heard; Harry Nilsson's (1941-94) Remember, which I heard on the unforgettable soundtrack of You've Got Mail, a movie I have seen so many times it's pointless keeping count anymore. P and I have had dinner-time You've Got Mail quizzes, everyone else looking on with a mixture of disdain and amazement. It's the kind of look you'd imagine the archetypal geeky Star Trek fan in the USA getting. I love this movie; it's such an beacon of hope for hopeless romantics like me! Every time I see it, something new dawns on me. Like when I looked up this clip

on Youtube, I realised she was talking all along about River, a beautiful Joni Mitchell song from her album Blue, that Uncle David sent to me in the big bundle of CDs that he shipped me from Hawai'i last year. I had been singing River ever since I heard it for the first time I heard it, and it was great to find yet another cross-reference that I had missed before, when I hadn't been introduced to Joni Mitchell. There are lines in this movie that you just don't forget. Like The Fall:

Joe Fox: Don't you love New York in the Fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly-sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms.

Or The Bloomingdales Butterfly:

Kathleen Kelly: Once I read a story about a butterfly in the subway, and today I saw one. I couldn't believe it. It got on at 42nd and got off at 59th, where I assume it was going to Bloomindale's to buy a hat that will turn out to be a mistake. As almost all hats are.

Another movie that's always stayed with me is City of Angels. I just can't help it; it has dialogues like

Maggie: Why do you wear the same clothes all the time? Why won't you give me your phone number? Are you married?
Seth: No.
Maggie: Are you homeless?
Seth: No.
Maggie: Are you a drummer?

Even my Dad can't get over this bit! Then of course, there's Hemingway's Pear:

Seth: What's that like? What's it taste like? Describe it like Hemingway.
Maggie: Well, it tastes like a pear. You don't know what a pear tastes like?
Seth: I don't know what a pear tastes like to you.
Maggie: Sweet, juicy, soft on your tongue, grainy like a sugary sand that dissolves in your mouth. How's that?

Sigh. I think I'll cut it out now. I need to get a life!