A Desirable Name

There are countless musical posters on display in the Edward Johnson (Music) Building at UofT. They are everywhere, all competing for my attention. Some are practically invisible, some jump off the wall.

This one caught my eye. It's a pleasant design but what really got my attention was the name of the singer...Désirée. That's not a name that you hear every day!

Have you ever heard of anyone else with the name Désirée, Ian?

Oh yes, but it wasn't the same kind.

Sorry, I just had to throw a Mootharism in there.

Neil Diamond wrote a song called Desiree. Neil Diamond, being American, was unable to spell Désirée properly. Americans, you see, are unable to spell using accents. They don't understand them at all. They think they're cute little French roofs that keep rain and snow off the letters.

Here's what Neil said about Desiree....

Desiree
Oh, Desiree
There I was found
By the sweet passion sound
Of your loving song

Almost makes you wonder if Désirée was named after the Neil Diamond song. I hope not because the song is about a middle-aged 'cougar' who pounced on a young guy, half her age. I wonder if Neil was writing from personal experience? I suspect there was drinking involved although there was no mention of it in the song. Assuming that the sing was autobiographical, Neil would have been drinking beer as it's the bevvie of choice for young men. Hmmm, I wonder what cougars drink? Certainly not lemon gin, that stuff will remove paint from a wall or just about anything else! I suspect Desiree was drinking Dubonnet. I'm not sure why I say that other than Desiree and Dubonnet sound good together. C'est si bon!