So many things I want to rant about, with the idiocy and hypocrisy of Donald Trump and the Republican Party trying to destroy the American Constitution today. (My apologies to the international visitors who may not be quite as invested in our national politics, but suffice it to say that it was a dark day, indeed.)
But, for now, I just need to step away from it all. And when I do that, I often turn to music, especially those songs which continue to speak to me over the years. The following are the lyrics from the 10,000 Maniac’s song “Verdi Cries”. There is nothing ultimately profound here, other than the evocation of a moment in time when both the grandeur and simplicity of life coexist in harmony. We’ve gotten away from that, somehow, and I yearn to return. Enjoy.
The man in 119 takes his tea all alone
Mornings we all rise
To wireless Verdi cries
I’m hearing opera through the door
The souls of men and women, impassioned all
Their voices climb and fall
Battle trumpets call
I fill the bath and climb inside
Singing
He will not touch their pastry
But every day they bring him more
Gold from the breakfast tray
I steal them all away
And then go eat them on the shore
Singing
I draw a jackal-headed woman in the sand
Sing of a lover’s fate
Sealed by jealous hate
And wash my hand in the sea
With just three days more
I’d have just about learned the entire score
To Aida
Holidays must end as you know
All is memory
Taken home with me
The opera, the stolen tea
The sand drawing, the verging sea
All years ago
Lyrics by Natalie Merchant.
Hope by Brian.
Peace.
Categories: Hope
Bonnywood Manor 
Trump, being such an utterly awful human being, is not our biggest problem.
Our biggest problem is that 40-50% of Americans love him
This is a serious problem.
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I agree completely. Impeachment is not going to solve the issue. It’s going to take some serious cult deprogramming and humane bridges across the cultural divide. That is not going to happen overnight…
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Sorry to hear, Brian. Try not to let that nasty chunk get you down.
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I’m okay, Lynette. I just have to shut of the receptors every now and then and recharge…
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Give the big blonde boy a gold star for perverse persistence, A lyric, slightly changed, to be sung in a chorus of despair.
And so I wake in the morning and I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I look on high
And I scream at the top of my lung
What’s going on?
4 Non Blondes
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Excellent lyric choice, perfectly apt. Music can soothe the ravaged beast…
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I can’t possibly imagine what it must be like to have someone like Trump as your president. stay strong….
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Thanks, Marina. I’m usually very strong, but we all need time-outs here and there…
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Impressive that you can step away. I’m still ranting.
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Well, my stepping away rarely lasts more than a day or two, then I’m back in the saddle and nothing is sacred… 😉
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Our need for distraction from dire political dumbassery is shared. We apparently have Monty Python writing ours at present.
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It’s stunning how profoundly rampant the idiocy has become. It’s satirical gold for writers and comedians, but it’s a treasure best left buried, rotting in the dark…
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Never lose hope, my friend. It’s what keeps us going.
I suppose you know the Steinbeck quote, I think if it during times like these: It isn’t that evil will win — it never will — but that it doesn’t die.
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Spot-on quote. It just amazes me that some humans are incapable of being human…
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The only hope I can grasp right now are his words “I don’t need to do this” – it is my fervent hope that those words will prove to be the death of his “emergency”. At my age, it is unwise to wish time passes quickly, but the next couple of years – yeah. Gone, would be good. Just hoping the Dems don’t also shoot themselves in the foot.
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Sadly, his inane words should have resulted in his exile so many times before, yet they didn’t. And with the current, illegal deconstruction of the Supreme Court by the Republicans, led by Turtle McConnell? All bets for jurisprudence are off.
And yes, the salt in the wound is the inability, so far, of the Dems to get their act together and pursue a well-defined course of action…
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Another classic (in the tradition of that one other guy up there who spoke of 4 Non-Blondes):
R.E.M.
It’s the End of the World (as we know it)
Chorus:
It’s the end of the world as we know it (time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it (time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel horrified (real lyric is fine, I don’t feel ‘fine’ at all unless it’s fucked up, insecure, neurotic and emotional) (time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel horrified (time I had some time alone)
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I love this song. One day I will learn all of the roughly 10,000 words in the lyrics (swear!). And R.E.M. is one of my favorite bands. I’ve been a fan since way back to my college days, when I was a bright-eyed believer who still believed that decency would triumph in the end.
It still can. But the road has so many potholes…
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As a Canadian citizen, I try not to pay attention to the worst of U.S. politics, but the simple fact is a problematic U.S. presidents is Everyone’s problem. We’ve certainly felt that here in Canada.
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That’s exactly it: Trump is everyone’s problem. Every erratic, illogical, uninformed thing that he does sends out a mushroom cloud across the planet. This may sound unpatriotic, but this country does not deserve the influence it wields, not with the madman in the Oval Office. Perhaps it’s time for other countries to take up the Torch of Progress…
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The national emergency is two fold. An incompetent in the White House and those who enable him.
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I cannot disagree. Trump didn’t elect himself, and that’s the horror of it all…
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Those are some beautiful lyrics. Thanks for that today:-)
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The lyrics really are wonderful. And the musical arrangement of the song makes them even better. I tried to include a video, but everything I found on the web was really poor quality, audio-wise. If you ever get a chance hear a decent recording, please do so. The original from the album “In My Tribe” is a lovely, swooning song…
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