Song of the Day

I am Calling You
(Bob Telson)

A desert road from Vegas to nowhere
Some place better than where you've been
A coffee machine that needs some fixin'
In a little cafe just around the bend

I am calling you
Can't you hear me
I am calling you

A hot dry wind blows right through me
The baby's cryin' and I can't sleep
But we both know a change is comin'
Coming closer, sweet release

I am calling you
I know you hear me
I am calling you


This song, sung by Jevetta Steele, is one of the many memorable things from the film Bagdad Cafe (1987). So many more, including C.C.H. Pounder and Jack Palance. The luminous Marianne Sägebrecht is a German woman who emerges from the California desert in a way that brought to mind Harry Dean Stanton in Paris, Texas (1984). (I think it's because I spent formative years living in the desert that draws me to it over and over). But here's the thing: Bagdad Cafe was directed by Percy Adlon (German, although I wouldn't have guessed from the name) and Paris, Texas was directed by Wim Wenders. Strange and delicious.