V. CAVALERI
The Old Laughing Lady
written by Neil Young
“Don’t call pretty Peggy, she can’t.
t hear you no more
Don’t leave no message ’round her back door
They say the old laughing lady been here before
She don’t keep time, she don’t count score
You can’t have a cupboard if there ain’t no wall
You got to move there’s no time left to stall
They say the old laughing lady dropped by to call
And when she leaves, she leaves nothing at al
See the drunkard of the village falling on the street
Can’t tell his ankles from the rest of his feet
But he loves his old laughing lady ’cause her taste is so sweet
But laughing lady’s loving ain’t the kind he can keep
There’s a fever on the freeway, blacks out the night.
There’s a slipping on the stairway, just don’t feel right
And there’s a rumbling in the bedroom, and a flashing of light
There’s the old laughing lady, everything is alright”!
May 23, 1966. Buffalo Springfield opens for Captain Beefheart, at The Whisky go-go.
Neil and I are walking home alone, Donna has a date.
Walking home from the Whisky is about 3 miles, we stopped for some food and arrived at
The Commadore Gardens at little after 2 am.
Peggy, the manager of our apartment building, sign hung on her door. DO NOT DISTURB
We tried to be quiet, we knew that meant that her boyfriend was spending the night and Peggy was very serious about not being bothered for any reason.
We made it past her door, almost to the stairway that led to only 2 apartments, ours, and a young couple. before hearing a commotion. It was our neighbor’s, the girl was trying to get her husband up on his feet, he was half passed out and complaining loudly when she touched him.
The girl was expecting a baby. We had been trying to be supportive and befriend them. The boy was a handful for the young girl.
Neil got the guy up and helped him into their apartment, but not without waking up Peggy.
The other couple’s door was closed before we saw Peggy standing at the bottom of the stairs. She was shaking her fist and shouting, “You are evicted, be out by 8 am.”
We tried to explain by that only made her angrier.
We didn’t expect Donna until morning. Neil and I packed our belongings, it didn’t take long. We tried to sleep but sleep didn’t come.
I loved the apartment at Commadore Apartments. We were lucky to have a one-bedroom apartment, all others were studios. Peggy liked us. She had promised Neil a studio when one was available.
If Donna didn’t get home soon Neil and I would be walking down Hollywood Blvd. carrying everything we owned.
It was 7:45 am, the front door opened and in walked Donna. We told her what happened.
She said wait here!
Donna was able to explain to Peggy that it wasn’t our fault.
Peggy almost in tears, she really did like the 3 of us. pleaded with us to forgive her.
As a bonus she said Neil could have his own apartment, someone had moved, she would have it cleaned and he could move in tomorrow,
Neil was excited, he had a lot of shopping to do.