This is a new strand for this blog. As the world drifts into self-isolation we all need to keep in touch, have a bit of light relief and keep ourselves going. What I’m going to try to do is write something every day, or maybe every few days, using a piece of music (well this started as a music blog), photograph, piece of writing, tv show… or even just a thought to reflect on these unprecedented times.
I’ve called this strand ‘Strolls in Isolation’ because just because we are stuck inside doesn’t me our minds have to be… let’s wander far and wide and see what we encounter on the way.
When I started doing this a couple of days ago I did not really think I’d be getting into the whole ‘self-isolation’ lifestyle quite so quickly. One of my sons came home from school with a temperature yesterday so we need to follow the government guidelines of staying in for two weeks, having no contact with others.
Last evening while I was cooking the tea I decided to play a Spotify playlist that I made several years ago. Simply called ‘Me’ it has many of the songs that have been personally special over the years. The first track was ‘Love is Stronger Than Death’ by The The.
As the acoustic guitar began I felt a flood of emotion come over me, I had no idea that this was first up on the playlist so it was a complete surprise… as was my reaction. If you look at the lyrics you can perhaps see why:
LoveLoveLove
LoveLoveLoveMe & my friend were walking
In the cold light of mourning.
Tears may blind the eyes but the soul is not deceived
In this world even winter ain’t what it seems.Here come the blue skies Here comes springtime.
When the rivers run high & the tears run dry.
When everything that dies.
Shall rise.LoveLoveLove is stronger than death.
LoveLoveLove is stronger than death.In our lives we hunger for those we cannot touch.
All the thoughts unuttered & all the feelings unexpressed
Play upon our hearts like the mist upon our breath.
But, awoken by grief, our spirits speak
“How could you believe that the life within the seed
that grew arms that reached
And a heart that beat.
And lips…
I think the whole moment, the whole situation that we find ourselves in hit me at that point. I stopped what I was doing and just listened for a few minutes… thinking about how this whole novel situation will play out and how we as a family will move through it. Will we be able to cope in such close proximity for what might be months on end?… how will this moment scar the children, and their generation? Will life ever be the same again after this is all over? Will it ever be over?
But I was also somehow comforted by the words of the song… not in any trite way but just in a sort of confirming and comforting way. ‘Love is Stronger Than Death’ is something that is perhaps easier to say than to believe sometimes… and while I wasn’t think of the death of anyone in particular; rather, I think, of life as we’ve known it… I felt that we could make the difference here… we could be the ying to the yang of the Coronavirus. We need all the positives we can at the moment.
In case you’re interested this is my ‘Me’ playlist:
-o0o-
Hey,
Thanks very much for reading my blog, I really appreciate this. I write it as a labour of love to help me enjoy music, and to give something back to the many talented people who put out these incredible sounds.
To make it as enjoyable as possible for others I do pay extra so there are, for instance, no ads on these pages; but it would be great if the blog could pay for itself.
So, if you’ve really enjoyed your visit here and have found some music that you think is amazing, why not buy me a coffee (I write in independent cafés a lot) by clicking the “make a donation” button on the sidebar or footer depending on your device.
Cheers…
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The Fragmented Flâneur 