Helen Avakian and Nien Cheng. Ms. Cheng was imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution in China for over 6 years. Not for any crime, though if she would have confessed to one, or lied about someone else, she would have been released much sooner. Her book "Life and Death in Shanghai" is fascinating! It is very difficult to put down! I finished it at 3:20 AM one night when I had to get up at 6:00!
Helen's song "Drifting Days" is based on a section of this book. Being in solitary confinement for so long, Ms. Cheng took notice of every little thing in her surroundings. During a cold winter she saw a tiny spider in her cell trying it's best to brave the elements and survive, just as Ms. Cheng was. The spider's web was in the window, and as frigid as she was, Ms. Cheng would not close the window for fear of killing the spider.
One day, she noticed the web was no more. At first she felt some sorrow for her kindred spirit in a sense. But the she noticed he finally had built a web deeper in the cell away from the window. She was finally able to close her window! Not that the cell had heat, but at least it no longer had the cold air from the window blowing in!
Helen wrote "Drifting Days" some years ago, and she sent it to Nien Cheng (who lives in the Washington D.C. area) in 1999. Well, they have been pretty good buddies since! Helen has been to her house three times, and they also stay in touch by phone and letter. Nien Cheng is close to 90 now. Helen is over 90 - pounds.....but not by a whole lot really :-)
p.s. As inspiring as "Life And Death In Shanghai" and "Drifting Days" both are, there has been an unplesant side-effect. My home is infested with spiders now because...well, cuz I just feel funny about killing them!
UPDATE JANUARY 2003: Video Tape Lecture By Nien Cheng
While web surfing one day, I found a video tape exists of a talk Ms. Cheng gave at Principia College for their Moral Courage lecture series. See this Principia link
http://www.prin.edu/moralcourage/speakers.htm for info on this lecture series, including of course Nien Cheng, the very first speaker in the series in 1998. Text of her speech is also available at this link.
When I found this existed, I emailed Principia and asked if the tape was for sale or rent, and they said "No... but you can borrow it". It's part of their library, but they don't know me at all, and they sent it and asked I return it in a few months. It's about 70 minutes long. Ms. Cheng is as facinating live as she is in her book. She doesn't use notes, she just speaks and has complete command of her material.
I loaned it to Helen of course, who was equally facinated. Helen said it's very much like meeting her live... sort of. Of course you don't get all that live energy from a tape as when you are with someone, but Helen loved it too. I thought it was too bad that just a few of us in he Hudson Valley had a chance to see it, so I emailed Principia again and asked if I could do a public showing, and the said "Of course, and let us know how it goes!".
So on January 31, 2003, 7:30 PM at Oblong Books and Music in Rhinebeck, NY, Helen Avakian and I (Pat Daley) will present this video. Helen will open with her song "Drifting Days", then we will play the tape, then for those interested, Helen will answer questions as she can regarding her pal, Madam Nien Cheng... and maybe play another song or two if time allows. Ms. Cheng no longer tours, so this is a wonderful opportunity to see and hear her. I am most grateful to Principia College and their generosity!
Drifting Days lyrics:
Drifting Days Lyrics
DOWNLOAD the "Drifting Days" MP3 right here!!
This is the out-of-print version that Helen recorded live at the Rosendale Street Festival. Some people like this even more than her studio version on her "Vanishing Point" CD as this one is just Helen and an acoustic guitar. This may help convey the isolation of the song. Helen does a short introduction to Drifting Days as well. Both are available to download:
Drifting Days MP3
Drifting Days Introduction MP3
Helen's own homepage: www.HelenAvakian.com