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« Number 5: Think Young | Main | The Mythology... of Aging »

October 16, 2007 |Permalink |Comments (1)

Brothers...

Life is short, and fragile. It is a good thing when art plucks the chord of our mortality..

Comments ( 1)

I've always loved this song. It is both haunting and beautiful.

Although it speaks of war and battle, contextually, I see it as a war and battle on many levels.

It reminds me of the fight and uphill battle we have as a society and globally to preserve the dignity of our elders.

In thinking of the lyrics "Through these fields of destruction, baptisms of fire, I've watched all your suffering as the battles raged higher."

In battling ageism, in disregard and lack of quality and dignified treatment of our elders, we suffer as a whole. We can see how lack of insight and distorted priorities can create and perpetuate suffering for our elders, and eventually ourselves, by potentially being the recipients of our own making.

In the lyrics that state "There are so many different worlds, so many different suns and we have just one world but we live in different ones"
and sequentially, "We are fools to make war on our brothers in arms" to me, speaks of our unity and connectivity as a human race.

What we do and what we believe and perpetuate ourselves and as a society have global implications. Whatever we may project out in the universe we receive back on some level. In focusing on positive, human change and reinforcement we create our own path, our own destiny.

We have much work to do to see beyond ourselves, to see our interconnectivity in the broader picture of our human race. But first, I need to start with me. Just as one person can shift the direction of a situation or of a country...it starts with one. I am responsible for myself and my part of the equation.

This song also brings to mind in the first few lines that whether logistically, or in our minds, we long for home and the roots and comfort and familiarity it brings. To me, it is the cycle of life in returning to our birthplace, literally and figuratively... our home...where we began...all that we are.

It reminded me of what a classmate mentioned in that many elders, even living in this country most of their lives, plan and long to return to their county, their homeland, at the end portion of their life. I truly see it more as a spiritual full circle..of all that we encompass in our lifetimes-the whole.

Watching this video and listening to the words again also brought to mind a song from the Alan Parsons Project-Old and Wise, which I also love. Old and Wise, to me, reflects meaning of connectivity and coming to a point where negativity in words are not as significant as they once were when a sense of deeper purpose has become paramount.

These are solely my opinions and interpretations from my perspective.

Posted by Diana Givens
October 29, 2007 7:34 AM

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