When I was a kid I love watching cartoons, well I guess just like any other kids, and I thought I will never outgrew it. Back then there wasn't much cartoons on television, unlike now you have a lot of options from the Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, local tv networks among others. But how I long for the days where everything in life were much simpler and cartoons have more sense and values.
The cartoons that I am referring to are "The Flying House" and "Super Book", cartoons of the mid 80's. Those who are familiar with these, must have grown up in the same era as I was, gotcha! I may not realize it back then, but these two are my major source of Biblical stories. Hmm it's kinda sad that I got my information from here, but that's why these cartoons came to be in the first place for this reason and to teach children good morals and values. That's fair enough. I love the interesting characters, the stories, and I love the opening songs especially that of The Flying House - "We were having fun, playing hide and seek, then a summer storm appears..."
You can try to "at least" sing-a-long with me as we try to relive these cartoons...
Its been awhile since I posted something in here. Guess I was busy lately doing important stuff, one of them is learning a new language. Its been challenging but fun at the same time, I always wanted to learn another language aside from English, so yeah I am fulfilling one of my things-to-do-before-i-die list. And when you are older and learning a new language its difficult compared to when you start at a very young. For me, its like I'm back in kindergarten and learning the basic.
Also I feel like I seem to ran out of things to say in this blog lately. But i know that's not really the case, because deep inside I have a lot of things to say, the problem is I don't know where to begin! As i write this, I just remembered something my husband said to me quite a few times before, he said that I never ran out of things to say. But he loves it, anyway if he complains he can't escape it, hehehhe.
I am looking forward for things to post because in that way it helps me to know myself too.
Last month, I posted a song called “Laughing With” by Regina Spektor. The lyrics caught my attention, and it actually reminded me of another song this time from Bob Dylan called “With God On Our Side”. This song was written around the 1960s so its kinda very old now but still timeless, and that’s the beauty of Dylan songs. Songs like “Times They are A-Changin”, "Blowin' In The Wind" "Mr. Tambourine Man" among many others are very relevant. Bob is no doubt a legend in the music industry and has influenced alot of musicians. He was also on the list of Time Magazine's Most Influential Person of the Century.
I first heard the name Bob Dylan from a Counting Crow’s song “Mr. Jones”, and this was way back in highschool, more than ten years ago. I got to know Dylan from my brothers, no surprise there. But I can’t really call myself a hardcore Dylan fan, I only know little of his music but I do know he is influential to other musicians and considered a (living) legend in the music industry. And his music is deep for my taste - political, philosophical, social, and its like reading a poetry - deep! If you read some poetry, then you know what I mean.
So, this song had got me thinking before (and now)... maybe Regina had this song in mind too. She specifically named Dylan as one of her primary influences, so who knows? But both are beautiful and I like songs that are not just about love but songs that make you think and be aware...
Anyway, here is the song I am referring:
"With God On Our Side"
Oh my name it is nothin' My age it means less The country I come from Is called the Midwest I's taught and brought up there The laws to abide And that land that I live in Has God on its side
Oh the history books tell it They tell it so well The cavalries charged The Indians fell The cavalries charged The Indians died Oh the country was young With God on its side
Oh the Spanish-American War had its day And the Civil War too Was soon laid away And the names of the heroes I's made to memorize With guns in their hands And God on their side
Oh the First World War, boys It closed out its fate The reason for fighting I never got straight But I learned to accept it Accept it with pride For you don't count the dead When God's on your side
When the Second World War Came to an end We forgave the Germans And we were friends Though they murdered six million In the ovens they fried The Germans now too Have God on their side
I've learned to hate Russians All through my whole life If another war starts It's them we must fight To hate them and fear them To run and to hide And accept it all bravely With God on my side
But now we got weapons Of the chemical dust If fire them we're forced to Then fire them we must One push of the button And a shot the world wide And you never ask questions When God's on your side
In a many dark hour I've been thinkin' about this That Jesus Christ Was betrayed by a kiss But I can't think for you You'll have to decide Whether Judas Iscariot Had God on his side
So now as I'm leavin' I'm weary as Hell The confusion I'm feelin' Ain't no tongue can tell The words fill my head And fall to the floor If God's on our side He'll stop the next war
Before Regina Spektor, before Coldplay (and a few other bands in between), I was first and foremost a Corrs fan. The Corrs is an Irish band consists of four exceptional siblings – Jim, Sharon, Caroline, and Andrea Corr. Aside from being Irish who are known for their music, they come from a family of musicians as their parents were both in their own band back then called the Sound Affair (sounds cool for a band's name). So it’s no surprise that they got the genes from their folks.
I first heard of them when I was a freshman in college, that would be 11 years ago, and I’m still a fan to this day.I used to read a lot about them, their biographies and such! I was ashamed by how much I read about them. You know you are a big fan when your friends hear a Corrs' song and they think of you immediately. Then my brother got me a copy of a magazine (above photo) with them as the cover which he bought overseas, that meant a lot to me. I also got a postcard from a friend who had been on one their concert, that was so sincere of her. Ahh, how I wish it will be my turn to see them in concert someday.
I can’t also seem to decide who my favorite Corr sister is, at one point I wanted to be Sharon, then Andrea, and then Caroline. All of them are pretty and talented, but when I base it on the instrument I wanted to play the drums, it is by far the coolest thing to play next to the violin, the tin whistle,...There were times that I pretended I was on stage singing too. On the other hand I put on the cd on my walkman, closed my eyes and allowed myself to go places...
I think musicians should be a goodwill ambassadors of their countries too, the Corrs got me interested in Ireland. They represent their already beautiful country when they play Celtic music and just even using some of their traditional musical instrument to their own music.
These days The Corrs is on hiatus, but I read they will have a comeback soon so I'm excited for the new stuff. As for now, here are two of their songs in their first studio album “Forgiven not Forgotten”…I miss the Corrs and watching these videos below just brings back memories. Ah, how music has been part of my life, it has been a refuge…