Blister in the Sun
‘Blister in the Sun’ by the Violent Femmes – see the Official Femmes page here: vfemmes.com and please consider buying Blister in the Sun and other Femmes music here: itunes.apple.com/us/album/violent-femmes/id305098251
This is Diane Caney’s favourite dance song of all time. When she was in her teens, Diane’s daughter, Elsie, would come home late and night and ask Di to get up and dance with her to this song. They lived in an old church so it was fun, and Diane didn’t ever refuse to get up and dance with Elsie. Diane had seen the Violent Femmes at the Palais in St Kilda a few months before her daughter was born, so maybe that was why Elsie loved the song so much.
Anyway, you can imagine Diane’s happiness when Brian Ritchie of the Femmes moved to her island home, and later invited Di to be the resident poet in the tea shop run by Brian and his wife, Dr Varuni Kulasekera. Diane had so much fun there.
It was only right that the song was played by a band in The Time Virus, on a beach, at a birthday eve party.
See below for an excerpt from Chapter 10.0111 – Full Swing
Minnow and I jumped onto the stage and hugged Decker.
‘This is going to be a killer party!’ he said.
‘So good!’ shouted Minnow.
Decker laughed, and started playing ‘Blister in the Sun’.
All along the beach, everyone jumped up.
‘Blizzter in the Sun!’ shouted Jax as she swooped past with Blizzard.
Escher and Solo were madly dancing with Sixx and Jem, and Stella ran over to grab me. Frank, Ben and Minnow formed a trio and we all cavorted down the beach and into the water. It was so warm that before too long we were involved a wild splashing dance. A troupe of merpeople came into the shallows and joined in, jiving all around us.