A common man marvels at uncommon things. A wise man marvels at the commonplace. CONFUCIUS

Monday 14 December 2009

Countdown To Christmas (9): Longing And Yearning

Is the place you long and yearn for... a chimerical place?

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high,
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream
Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far
Behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly.
Birds fly over the rainbow.
Why then, oh why can't I?

If happy little bluebirds fly
Beyond the rainbow
Why, oh why can't I?

Eva Cassidy: Over The Rainbow

Is the person you long and yearn for... really the person you long and yearn for?

The guilty undertaker sighs,
The lonesome organ grinder cries,
The silver saxophones say I should refuse you.
The cracked bells and washed-out horns
Blow into my face with scorn,
But it's not that way,
I wasn't born to lose you.
I want you, I want you,
I want you so bad,
Honey, I want you...

Bob Dylan: I Want You

Sometimes the longing and yearning for justice, equality and freedom can stride far along the road to fulfilment...

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Martin Luther King: I Have A Dream

5 comments:

Rebecca said...

Over the rainbow - have always loved it. have always thought of it as the Kermit song. Thank you for posting it.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Dare I say that I prefer the Judy Garland version Robert? Happy Christmas.

The Solitary Walker said...

Naturally, Judy Garland's is the classic version. But I like this version too. Especially poignant, when we think of Eva Cassidy's early, untimely death.

gleaner said...

"The guilty undertaker sighs,
The lonesome organ grinder cries.." isn't this song the epitome of a classic Bob Dylan - one that really grabs your imagination with its words.

The Solitary Walker said...

Yep, absolutely, gleaner, classic Dylan... fantastic stuff...