D is for Diner

Edward Hopper’s Nighthawk

Gottfried Helnwein
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Alone he walks

Down the empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
He walks a lonely road
When the city sleeps.

Silence shouts in the shadows
A diner on Murly Square
Hiding in the shadows, a hint of light
Hidden among the sleeping streets
Disillusionment echoes

Darkness skitters, dancing with light
A solitary man, a felt fedora
Counterman, bent, washing cups
A man - a woman, a silent fight

Like Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer
Wearing his trademark fedora,
Lingering over a cup of joe
Vigilant, he waits - his normal manner

In my fantasy, the detective remains
Stacy Keach tipping his fedora
Hiding in the shadows, a hint of light
Opening the box Pandora
I hear his voice over, speaking the refrain

Lyrics by Green Day -

“I walk a lonely road,
I walk the empty street,
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
When the city sleeps
I’m the only one, and I walk alone”
Hiding in the shadows, a hint of light
The credits roll - the image of the diner fades
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.




Research Notes

• Edward Hopper painted Nighthawks in 1942
• Gottfried Helwein painted Boulevard of Broken Dreams replacing Hopper's characters with pop culture icons (1984)
• Mickey Spillane Mike Hammer detective novels were printed in 1947 first movie 1953
• Stacey Keach is a classically trained actor who played Mike Hammer on the TV series.
• Green Day is a punk rock group that recorded "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (Who nicked the title from a James Dean Poster - Helwein's painting)

Links for further discovery

• Stacy Keach http://www.stacykeach.com/index.htm
• Paintings By Edward Hopper http://bertc.com/subfive/g78/index.htm
• Edward Hopper Web Museum http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/hopper/
• Info on Edward Hopper http://www.helnwein.com/news/update/artikel_3799.html
• Boulevard of Broken Dreams http://www.arts-wallpapers.com/classic_star/Boulevard%20of%20Broken%20Dreams/01/Boulevard-of-Broken-Dreams8.jpg