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Concha Y Toro
Wild Strawberries
Quiver
1998

Finding that Concha Y Toro bottle of wine at the LCBO the other day made me reevaluate my interpretation of this song.  Firstly though, this is an all-time favourite, I think.  I recently rescued my Wild Strawberries albums from my mother's basement.  Listening to them was like being reunited with old friends (I think I've mentioned this phenomenon in other 5pm_weds posts).  Suddenly I was in my old bedroom, spinning around on the hardwood floor in my socks, catching glimpses of myself lip-synching in the mirror. 

I kind of miss The Wild Strawberries.  I stopped following their career sometime after they released Twist in 2000.  I was excited to see them at Lilith Fair in Ottawa in I think 1998 (the first of the three Lilith Fair concerts I attended--all of them with my dad).  This album was important to me when I was in grade 10.  I remember bringing the lyrics to "Concha Y Toro" with me to French class so that I could ask this girl, Alexis, what "Concha Y Toro" meant (she spoke Spanish).  She wasn't sure and could only say that it had something to do with a shell (concha) and a bull (toro). 

This brings me back to the LCBO and my subsequent reiinterpretation of the lyrics.  A quick Google search tells me that Concha Y Toro is one of the biggest producers of wine in Latin America.  I always thought this song was about a kind of addictive slash destructive relationship--I still think it is, BUT it is so much smarter now that I know what Concha Y Toro actually means.  The speaker is equating the object of her affection to a wine:

"...you're my little red
I met you at the liquor store
You were hanging with your friends
I can tell as much by the way you blush
There will be no bitter end
I love kissing you in doorways
I get drunk when you are near"

Ah!  It's all so clear now!  That is the sign of good writing, I think.  Something that can have so many layers and levels of meaning.  What my sixteen-year-old self and my thirty-year-old self get from the lyrics is very different and that's pretty cool.  I think both selves love the same things about the music.  The combination of grinding guitar and upbeat music-box dance music makes me want to jump and stomp and sway.  I love the sexiness of this song--the pairing of the makes-you-want-to-twist-music and Roberta Harrison's unique voice.  (Aside: how much do I fucking love the line: "I want you like a worn out suit wants another glass of gin").   This song is very warm--similar to the feeling of taking a sip of red wine; the way it works its way from your lips to the back of your throat, down to your stomach.