Privilege and Fractures

Carol at Wanderings of an Elusive Mind has done a great job of explaining the problems facing The United States of America…and it starts with the haves, afraid they will lose something, vs. the have nots, who are struggling with the long-held belief that upward mobility is possible. This applies equally to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Interesting to note that UNITED appears in both country titles, but fails to appear in everyday living!
Thanks to Margo at https://margosviews.wordpress.com for her initial re blog of this post.

Wanderings of an Elusive Mind

Privilege is defined as “a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group”.

As a white-skinned man, you have always been granted the privilege to “sit at the counter”, drink from a water fountain, live in the better neighborhoods, be given credit for some degree of intelligence, admitted to the school of your choice, enter in the business of your choice, ride in the front of the bus, vote for the candidate of your choice. Women have had to fight hard for these privileges. People of color have had to fight harder for these privileges.

Even today, when equality is purportedly granted to all, some experience much more privilege than others.

As a wealthy white man, you have always had more privileges than those of a lower “class” or income group. As a wealthy man, you have always had the privilege of being…

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Song Lyric Sunday Theme for 07/04/2019 – Burn/Fire/Flame

Thank you to Jim Adams, who hosts Song Lyric Sunday, and gives us the chance to share lots of favourite, and some not so familiar, songs.

The theme for this week is Burn/Fire/Flame.

If you fancy sharing one of your favourite songs you can find out how to participate, and also listen to all the great entries, here.

One of the first things I like to check, when choosing what music to share with you lovely people, is what music I have on my MacBook that will fit the theme.

Sure enough, I came up with a couple of choices and decided to go for something completely different, a Gregorian Chant from an album that I’m sure everyone has at home!!!! The album is “Gregorian Chants – Greatest Hits”. Yes, it really does exist.

I chose to offer you “The Mystic Flame” by Simon Cooper, which is a modern version of a Gregorian Chant, first released in 1998 on his album “Hymns of the Ancient Fire.’

That was the easy bit. The next bit I failed completely. I have no idea what the lyrics are and, really, I don’t think it matters, it just goes to show that good music is good music whether there are words or not, although it does rather fail as far as SLS goes.

However, it is as it is. I hope you enjoy the music. I find it relaxing and very pleasant. Simon Cooper is quite prolific in his writing and even writes music for babies in the womb. The chant doesn’t start until about the 2.40 mark!

Just in case you cannot access this I’m adding another version below.

https://youtu.be/3KgQsGpDz0k

Because Fire and Flame Burns brightly, and to make your day even brighter, I’m adding the song Bright, by Echosmith which I came across on J-Dubs Grin and Bear it site on her entry for atozchallenge. Thanks to JilyWily. I love this!

 

 

 

 

Song Lyric Sunday Theme for 24/02/2019 – Melody Fair

Jim Adams continues to look after Song Lyric Sunday, giving us the chance to share lots of favourites, and some not so familiar songs.

The theme for this week is Harmony/Melody/Music and you can find all the great entries here.

Some will have not heard this one before. It is a song by the Bee Gees, written in 1968 and released in 1969 on their album Odessa. It  was never released as a single but appeared on many compilation albums and was a hit in Japan (which probably explains the video footage). The album was not a great success when released, and the group’s fortunes declined soon after, although later the album received positive critical reviews and came to be regarded as their most significant release in the 60’s.

Andy Gibb‘s 1974 group, was named Melody Fayre after this song, which is, of course, called Melody Fair.

LULU, who was married to Maurice Gibb from 1969, until their divorce in 1973, also recorded this song. Here she is singing it, to my mind, not quite as effectively!

Melody Fair

Bee Gees

Who is the girl with the crying face looking at millions of signs? 
She knows that life is a running race, 
Her face shouldn’t show any line. 

Melody Fair won’t you comb your hair? 
You can be beautiful too. 
Melody Fair, remember you’re only a woman. 
Melody Fair, remember you’re only a girl. 

Who is the girl at the window pane, 
Watching the rain falling down? 
Melody, life isn’t like the rain 
Its just like a merry go round. 

Melody Fair won’t you comb your hair? 
You can be beautiful too. 
Melody Fair, 
Remember you’re only a woman. 
Melody Fair, 
Remember you’re only a girl.

Who is the girl with the crying face, 
Looking at millions of signs? 
She knows that life is a running race. 
Her face shouldn’t show any lines. 

Melody Fair won’t you comb your hair? 
You can be beautiful too. 
Melody Fair, 
Remember you’re only a woman. 
Melody Fair, 
Remember you’re only a girl.

Songwriters: Barry Gibb / Maurice Gibb / Robin Gibb

Melody Fair lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group

Song Lyric Sunday Theme for 10/02/2019

Song Lyric Sunday continues to give us lots of familiar, favourite songs, and yet never fails to let me hear something new, to my ears at least!

Jim’s theme for this week is River/Stream/Brook, and for next week, Hill/Mountain, so I’m going to combine the two and offer you an all time great from Tina Turner. You can see all the great music here.

This song was Written by Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, and Ellie Greenwich, and was among the first recordings that Ike & Tina Turner did for Phil Spector’s Philles Records. Spector was well aware of Ike Turner‘s controlling attitude in the studio, and therefore he drafted an unusual contract: the River Deep – Mountain High  album and single would be credited to “Ike & Tina Turner”, but Ike was paid $20,000 to stay away from the studio, and only Tina Turner‘s vocals would be used on the record.

The song is, of course, the title track, River Deep Mountain High. I hope you enjoy it.

River Deep – Mountain High

Tina Turner

When I was a little girl, I had a rag doll
Only doll I’ve ever owned
Now I love you just the way I loved that rag doll
But only now my love has grown

And it gets stronger in every way
And it gets deeper, let me say
And it gets higher day by day

Do I love you, my oh my? Oh baby
River deep, mountain high
If I lost you would I cry
Oh, how I love you, baby, baby, baby, baby

When you were a young boy
Did you have a puppy?
That always followed you around
Well, I’m gonna be as faithful as that puppy
No, I’ll never let you down

‘Cause it grows stronger like a river flows
And it gets sweeter, baby and heaven knows
And it gets sweeter, baby, as it grows

Do I love you, my oh my? Oh baby
River deep, mountain high
If I lost you would I cry
Oh, how I love you, baby, baby, baby, baby

And it gets stronger in every way
And it gets deeper, let me say
And it gets higher day by day

Do I love you, my oh my? Oh baby
River deep, mountain high
If I lost you would I cry
Oh, how I love you, baby, baby, baby, baby

I love you, baby, just like Robin loves to sing
I love you, baby, like a flower loves the spring
And I love you, baby, like a school boy loves his pet

Songwriters: Jeff Barry / Ellie Greenwich / Phil Spector

River Deep – Mountain High lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management

Song Lyric Sunday Theme for 27/01/2019

Jim, over at A new title for me, where you can find all this week’s great music, is continuing to do a fine job in standing in for Helen and keeping us all on our toes to find lyrics to fit in  with this week’s theme of “No”.

I’ve chosen a song by one of my favourite groups, Mumford & Sons.

Without further ado, here it is. It’s called Sigh No More. The words are on the video, but I’ve also included them at the bottom. There is also a link to a live recording at Glastonbury. WARNING This recording contains strong language! They really do enjoy performing!

Sigh No More

Mumford & Sons

Serve God love me and mend
This is not the end
Live unbruised we are friends
And I’m sorry
I’m sorry

Sigh no more, no more
One foot in sea one on shore
My heart was never pure
You know me
You know me

And man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing

Love that will not betray you, dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be
There is a design,
An alignment to cry,
Of my heart to see,
The beauty of love as it was made to be

Love that will not betray you, dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be
There is a design,
An alignment to cry,
Of my heart to see,
The beauty of love as it was made to be

Love that will not betray you, dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be
There is a design,
An alignment to cry,
Of my heart to see,
The beauty of love as it was made to be

Songwriters: Benjamin Walter David Lovett / Edward James Milton Dwane / Marcus Oliver Johnstone Mumford / Winston Aubrey Aladar Marshall

Sigh No More lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

#WeRemember

There are still lessons to be learned, as hatred and bigotry are still widespread in all countries. It was reported today that 1 in 10 in the UK do not believe the Holocaust happened. Thank you to Kelly for the reminder.

Kelly With A Why

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and marks the 74^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. I thought it was a fitting time to recount my visit to the Sydney Jewish Museum back in November.

The museum was established in 1992 by the generation of Holocaust Survivors who settled in Australia. This very special place continues to give a voice to the victims of the Holocaust, so their individual and collective stories can spark dialogues and inspire change. As well as preserving and documenting this important historical period, the museum also beautifully illustrates the richness of Jewish life in Australian society. The ground floor displays teach many aspects of Jewish faith and traditions. This Gentile found it fascinating.

The Holocaust exhibition stretches across three levels of the building, and details the persecution and murder of European Jewry from 1933-1945. The events of Hitler’s WWII are described in chronological order…

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Song Lyric Sunday Theme for 25/11/2018

Time again for Helen’s great challenge to come up with a Song Lyric Sunday memory for the theme of “first”. You can hear all the fabulous entries by clicking above.

I’ve recently taken the drastic step of clearing out all of my DVD’s and, dare I say it, my VINYLS!!!!!!!!!

I gave them all to my favourite charity shop and I hope that, not only do they raise a tidy sum for the charity but, they give lots of pleasure to many people. My, were they heavy!

I still have lots of music on reel to reel tapes, and on cassettes. I never had 8 track, or mini disc. I will, eventually dispose of those too.

All my memories of vinyl and dvd’s are now in my iTunes library, so for this week I searched there. This is what I came up with!

First Of May by The Bee Gees

Now I don’t know about you, but, I always found the Bee Gees to be an unpleasant group to look at. I found them rather ugly. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe it’s a man thing. Maybe I’m talking rubbish. They were, however, superb singers, and their harmonies were sublime.

Anyway, to spare my eyes, at least, I have chosen a recording that doesn’t show them at all. It does, however, include the lyrics. I hope you enjoy it.

Remember: not just Who and When, but also understand Why — babbitman

This makes so much sense to me. I hope it may make you think beyond the ceremony of remembrance!

Wars kill people. They devastate families. Wars should be a politician’s absolute last resort and they are an admission that they have failed their people.

via Remember: not just Who and When, but also understand Why — babbitman

The Seekers

Following on from my Song Lyric Sunday post  this week, I found this interview, from 2012, that I found to be particularly endearing. What a lovely lot these are. Not pretentious, not overbearing, just a nice group of friends. If you can spare 13 minutes, I think you will enjoy this.

 

Song Lyric Sunday Theme for 07/10/2018

It was Helen’s birthday yesterday, and the second anniversary of SLS. This fun challenge is a huge success, and enjoyed by more and more as the weeks progress, and don’t those weeks just fly by!

So, Happy Birthday to Helen, and to SLS, and thanks, Helen, for continuing to host this fun way of hearing old favourites, and enjoying new songs.

This week we are asked to share a song with the theme of find or found.

I found that I was travelling back to 1964 (which I tend to do a lot), to find a song from a group that hail from Australia.  

The Seekers recorded  I’ll never find another you  at Abbey Road studios, and it became a Number 1 hit in the UK in February 1965. The group still perform today, some 56 years after they formed, and with the original 4 members, although there have been comings and goings over the years, and a couple of breaks in continuity.

The picture quality is poor but it’s all about the music.  I hope you enjoy it!

I’ll Never Find Another You

The Seekers

There’s a new world somewhere
They call the promised land
And I’ll be there someday
If you could hold my hand
I still need you there beside me
No matter what I do
For I know I’ll never find another you

There is always someone
For each of us, they say
And you’ll be my someone
Forever and a day
I could search the whole world over
Until my life is through
But I know I’ll never find another you

It’s a long, long journey
So stay by my side
When I walk through the storm
You’ll be my guide, be my guide
If they gave me a fortune
My pleasure would be small
I could lose it all tomorrow
And never mind at all
But if I should lose your love, dear
I don’t know what I’d do
For I know I’ll never find another you

But if I should lose your love, dear
I don’t know what I’d do
For I know I’ll never find another you
Another you, another you

Songwriters: Tom Springfield

I’ll Never Find Another You lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc