An after poem to a song from The Lost Boys

My dark poetic reinterpretation of Beauty Has Her Way by Mummy Calls

Dear hopeful reader,

Before Twilight, there was The Lost Boys—personally, a much sexier and more sanguine film about vampires. And while the iconic musical theme Cry Little Sister by Gerard McMahon, or G Tom Mac, perfectly embodies The Lost Boys and no doubt mesmerized many ears over the years, there’s another song that’s also mesmerizing—Beauty Has Her Way by Mummy Calls—likewise featured in the movie.

Beauty Has Her Way is indeed hypnotic, sensual, and, depending on your interpretation of it, romantic or chilling. After learning what The Police’s Every Breath You Take is actually about, I can’t help but guess every song’s meaning now, especially if I’m disturbed by the lyrics. Mummy Call’s words “I know where you go / I know what you do / Better than you do / When nothing remains / I come to you” are rather alarming to me, although my naive younger self would have thought them seductive.

Sometimes I write after poems reinterpreting original works. Beauty Has Her Way that keeps mesmerizing and disturbing me to this day inspired “I Shine For No One.” It’s meant to be unsettling and mischevious. Can you hear the haunting sing?

Also read: “She comes / she goes,” an after poem on unrequited love

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I Shine For No One

You see what you want
You want what you see
And you promise
You think you do

You know where I go
You know what I do
And when no one remains
You come for me

Excuse me but
Beauty has my way?
I shine for no one
And I shine always

When the lights go down
I won’t go with you
My shine is not
For you to take

You take such great lengths
You’d set me in flames
You follow me
Just to touch my shine

But I twist your dreams
Turn bitter those kisses
You realize it’s too late
I tricked you

It’s true after all
Beauty has my way!
Yet I shine for no one
And I shine always

When the lights go down
You go down with them
My shine is not
For you to take

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Are there lyrics whose true meaning surprised you recently? Have you ever written a poem after a beloved song?

Yours hopefully,

Nadia

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