At times, when hitting rock bottom life throws out a lifeline ~ at least that's how it felt when I first heard Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know" featuring Kimbra.
A fantastic song, a phenomenal video ~ addictive ...
Somebody That I Used To Know
By Gotye
Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company
But that was love and it's an ache I still remember
Surfing around the web something about a poll on religious freedom caught my eye. What's there to poll you may ask, as I was wondering, shouldn't everybody just be pro? I continued scanning and found out that apparently the majority was for more religious freedom ... for Christians not so much for other religions. Of course, the outcome of any poll depends of a variety of factors including, but certainly not limited to, the demographics and the manner in which questions are phrased. Nonetheless, things like that poll are scary, I think. Doesn't it makes a wasted effort out of the struggles of those who have fought hard -and even given their lives- to ensure liberties such as freedom of religion ... Of course, I'm well aware that such issues are rarely if ever painted in black and white and there are infinite nuances and facets adding to the total picture. Alas, the weeks past have been rather trying and I'm feeling utterly wretched tonight ...
"May the living let us live before the dead tear us apart" ~ "Let's let love give what it gives"
Worlds Apart (The Rising)
Bruce Springsteen
I hold you in my arms, yeah that's when it starts
I seek faith in your kiss and comfort in your heart
I taste the seed upon your lips, lay my tongue upon your scars
But when I look into your eyes we stand worlds apart
Where the distant oceans sing and rise to the plain
In this dry and troubled country your beauty remains
Down from the mountain road where the highway rolls to dark
'Neath Allah's blessed rain we remain worlds apart
Sometimes the truth just ain't enough
Or is it too much in times like this
Let's throw the truth away we'll find it in this kiss
In your skin upon my skin in the beating of our hearts
May the living let us live before the dead tear us apart
We'll let blood build a bridge over mountains draped in stars
I'll meet you on the ridge between these worlds apart
We've got this moment now to live then it's all just dust and dark
Let's let love give what it gives
Let's let love give what it gives
It is the type of music that sneaks up on me and burrows deeply into my mind to be fully anchored there before I'm even aware of it. Just some song accompanying scenes in a "Bones" episode well prior to the crescendo and yet ... the steady rhythm kept beating in my veins well into the night. It took me a while to identify the song as "Keep the Streets Empty for Me" by "Fever Ray" which is an alias of "Karin Dreijer Andersson". I've since discovered quite a number of other Fever Ray songs with an equally compelling rhythm and melody that, in my mind, speaks of darkness and inevitability ...
Keep The Streets Empty For Me
By Karin Dreijer Andersson
Memory comes when memory's old
I am never the first to know
Following the stream up North
Where do people like us float
Seven weeks between the old job and the new one. Seven weeks to my own; time to unwind, to relax, to renew, and to take a deep breath.
For reasons I wouldn’t know how to put into words Canada always was a land I wanted to visit and finally there was my chance.
My memory of the first day heading into Canada is fuzzy thanks to an uninvited travel companion: a severe cold no doubt caught on the flight over to Seattle. Surely, my nose then was as big and red as that of Rudolph the Reindeer, dripping remnants of the brain that was being pounded to mush by a headache without equals – ‘nough said … Although the recollection of that first day is spotty at best, two things stand out bright and clear.
Hey brother! There's an endless road to rediscover
Hey sister! Know the water's sweet but blood is thicker
Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do
Artists have an immense amount of tools at their disposal to paint their mental picture of the world and convey it to their audience. Be it the colors of the rainbow and the texture of the brushstroke used to paint a picture, the words, syntax and possibly the rhyme to tell a story, the melody, the rhythm and instrument to perform music. A song can expand the palette of the artist by adding words.
Reflection by Pentangle to me is a perfect amalgam of words and music, voices and instruments. It is hard to believe that it dates back to 1971 – more than 45 years ago.
