LONELINESS

I don't remember ever really suffering from this, though I know others who do. It really is terribly sad to discover that a lot of people ARE lonely. But what IS loneliness? Who suffers from it? What causes it? When does it occur? Can it be cured?

I can't honestly pretend to be able to answer all these questions, and quite frankly I'm not sure I'm qualified to try and do so. I have done a little research on the subject, though, and I'm convinced that you can deal effectively with loneliness by increasing your physical and social activities. Join a club, any club, or an association, any association. Take up a new activity, a new hobby, such as painting, or pottery, or solving puzzles, or making small models. Design your own clothes, write a book, or a diary, or poetry. Read, and read, and read: other people's experiences will undoubtedly make your own suffering lighter. Chat on the internet, or by sms. Send e-mails. Look for information on the internet - there are literally millions of interesting webs you can browse through. Reach out, with your hand, with your phone, with your mind. There's always someone out there waiting for YOUR call.

But above all, BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. You probably don't think it's true, but you are the object of admiration of more than one person. Other people really do like you. Other people love you. Other people think you're great, fun, interesting. DON'T LET YOUR SELF-ESTEEM GET LOW. Try looking at yourself in the mirror every morning and say to yourself over and over again: "I AM SPECIAL, I AM SPECIAL" Because you really ARE special. I think, I really do think, you're very special.

Although ultimately commercial, these links seem interesting.
http://www.selfesteem4women.com/index.php?ad=
http://www.retirement-matters.co.uk/gparchive/loneliness.htm
http://www.seniors.gov.au/internet/seniors/publishing.nsf/Content/Loneliness+and+social+isolation
Spanish speaking readerswill find these links quite useful.
http://revista.consumer.es/web/es/20011001/interiormente/
http://www.elmundo.es/magazine/m64/textos/soledad1.html

Some songs that tackle "loneliness are:
Goodbye my loneliness by Zard (will really make you feel on top of the world!)
Loneliness by Tomcraft / The loneliness by Babyface / Killing loneliness by HIM /
4 seasons of loneliness by Boyz II men / love steals us from loneliness by Idlewild /AND MORE

Here's one song, though, that stands high above the rest. The lyrics are beautiful, the music is lovely, the voice is so special - Gladys Knight - Help me make it through the night. I just Love it! She starts by dedicating it to "especially for all of you out there...." . (Try Elvis Presley's version too - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2yMPsAsHQY

APOLOGIES and PEACE CONCERT

First of all, I want to apologise publicly to Georgina for spelling her name wrongly. I'm sorry georgina, I thought it was spelt the Italian way.

Next week - on Thursday 26th, to be precise - we're holding a peace concert at the FIAC Escola d'Idiomes in Sabadell. (C/Fortuny - touching near Plaza d'Angel). The occasion is the end of the course. Some of the teachers there thought we could also pay a tribute to all the students who demonstrated against war and injustice in 1968 (Paris, especially).

One of the songs we'll sing is a 1963 Bob Dylan classic: "Blowing in the wind".

Here's a video from youtube.com. It's an original version sung by Bob Dylan and Joan Baez - two giants of the protest song movement. The lyrics are on the left.

WA, YEAH

A few days ago, while zapping, I stumbled across a pop concert at the Liceu. I thought they were singing in English, at first. The group was backed by an orchestra and the tune was quite catchy. Before I could make out the words, the song had ended. However, after a short pause, they sang it again, this time in Catalan (I say Catalan, but in fact it was the Catalan spoken in Majorca, which is only slightly different, I think).

Anyway, I checked up and, to my great surprise, nobody had heard of this song until Giorgina, one of my students said:"Antonio Font". In fact, their name is Antònia Font - a curious name for an all-male group! The song was great and I really enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy it too. Video on the left. Lyrics below

WORDS AND MUSIC BY - JOAN MIQUEL OLIVER
Jo cant sa lluna i s'estrella, sa jungla i es bosc animat,

es tren, es vaixell, s' avioneta i es teu submarí aquí aparcat.

Jo cant es cafè i sa galleta, quan dius tu podries ser meu,

què sexy, que dolça i que freda, wa yeah!

Sa zebra que passa un semàfor i com se desmonta un bidet,

cosmètics i Margaret Astor, ja sé com s'escriu Juliette.

Jo cant sa rosa i es cactus i moltes més coses també,

un llapis d'Ikea, un pistatxo, wa yeah!

Què divertit lo que escric quan estic avorrit,

per exemple es teu cos, es jersei destenyit,

es carrer blanc de sol, es meu cos a damunt,

per exemple, es teu llit de penombra i llençols

amb es termo espenyat, per exemple dormits ...

Jo cant sa lluna i s'estrella, sa jungla i es bosc animat,

es tren, es vaixell, s'avioneta i es teu submarí aquí aparcat.

Jo cant sa fruita vermella i quan acabi riuré,

calàpets, nenúfars, princeses, wa yeah!

REPEAT TWICE - from "Què divertit ..... to .... dormits ..."

On the death of BO DIDDLEY

The great man has just passed away.

Most of my younger readers have probably never heard of him. He created the rythm: TUM - tu - tum -TUM - space - TUM TUM (also known as the Bo Diddley beat and copied since by a large number of groups and singers).

You can read his full biography in English at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Diddley

and in Spanish at:
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Diddley

Here's a great video (posted by "fredys" on youtube.com - thanks, fredy) taken from the 1972 or '73 film "Let The Good Times Roll". It shows Bo Diddleys in great form; a truly unbeatable sound.

Lyrics: With a beat like that...... WHO NEEDS LYRICS!

Belinda Carlisle

Belinda Carlisle's fans will know that she was the lead singer of the all-female group "The Go-Go's". Gifted with a powerful voice, she was one of the founder members of this New Wave music band. The Go-go's broke up in 1985.

B.C. went solo and, in 1993, she released her album "Real", her fifth, which was quite different from her previous work. "Big Scary Animal" , from this album, was an instant hit.

I like this song, especially the introduction. The heavy drum beat, reminiscent of a jungle tom-tom, really does transmit the strong animal feeling that passionate love can lead to.


Lyrics on the left.

For more information, try these links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belinda_Carlisle
http://www.musica.pro/artistas/Belinda-Carlisle/

A moving ballad

I chose this song to start this blog for several reasons. In the first place, I've been a fan of Eric Clapton ever since I saw him in a concert in Camberley, Surrey. I was 18 at the time and Clapton was a member of The Cream, together with Ginger Baker on drums and Jack Bruce on the bass - see http://www.es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cream. I was absolutely captivated by his dexterity with the guitar. I wish I could play half as well!

The song itself was composed together with Will Jennings. This is what Jennings says:

"Eric and I were engaged to write a song for a movie called Rush. We wrote a song called 'Help Me Up' for the end of the movie... then Eric saw another place in the movie for a song and he said to me, 'I want to write a song about my boy.' Eric had the first verse of the song written, which, to me, is all the song, but he wanted me to write the rest of the verse lines and the release ('Time can bring you down, time can bend your knees...'), even though I told him that it was so personal he should write everything himself. He told me that he had admired the work I did with Steve Winwood and finally there was nothing else but to do as he requested, despite the sensitivity of the subject. This is a song so personal and so sad that it is unique in my experience of writing songs." – Will Jennings

The words "my boy" refer, of course, as everyone probably knows, to Eric Clapton's 4,5 year-old son who died after falling fron a 53rd floor in Manhattan. As a father myself, I can imagine the pain and suffering he and his wife must have gone through. Thankfully, he has now overcome that tragedy.

http://www.terra.com/ocio/articulo/html/oci52662.htm

The following link shows Clapton singing this beautiful song.

http://www.videos-star.com/watch.php?video=VRsJlAJvOSM