Sunday, July 23, 2006

From a distance ......

"Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace..."
- John Lennon, Imagine


"From a disance you look like my friend,
Even though we are at war.
From a distance I just cannot comprehend
what all this fighting is for."
- Cliff Richard, From A Distance


"If all the people around the world
They had a mind like yours
We'd have no fighting and no wars
There would be lasting peace on Earth."
- MLTR, Sleeping Child

The world's greatest musicians could write moving music pertaining to world peace, and songs about harmony and goodwill among mankind. But alas, their talents are wasted on our world's leaders. We're living in a trying time. It's a world of chaos. A world fraught with suffering and pain.....

Category: Musings

14 comments:

iml said...

Hi! that song from my all time favourite guy-Cliff!!!
How did you get the music into the blog?

Victor said...

Since when did you become a peace activist, Chris? And since when did you become a Cliff Richard fan? This guy seems a bit 'before your time'. I thought you should have been more familiar with the version from Bette Midler?

Victor said...

Sorry that I didn't discover that you have new piped-in music on your blog because I normally switch off my PC's sound output while surfing the Internet. This is because I usually have my earphones on (to listen to TV programs, especially news and documentaries, aka multi-tasking).

Chris Sim said...

iml - I've dropped you an email. Hope it helps! I learned it from a blogofriend, too. Her name is Evan.

Victor - I'm no peace activist. Just find it sad that the world leaders are just sitting and doing nothing while innocent kids and people get killed. I'm sure they have their hidden agenda... whatever they are.

As for the song, I've always preferred the version by Cliff Richard. Unlike Bette Midler's more gentle version, the orchastral rendition by Cliff somehow brings across the message of peace and God's love more forcefully and strongly. And I'm not sure who actually sings this song first? I'd always thought Bette Midler was the original singer... Cliff Richard "before my time"? Please lah victor, music is timeless, and knows no boundaries. Don't you know?

Victor said...

In that case, the lyrics from Michael Jackson's "Heal the World" is also appropriate for this post of yours:

Heal The World
Make It A Better Place
For You And For Me
And The Entire Human Race
There Are People Dying
If You Care Enough
For The Living
Make A Better Place
For You And For Me

Chris Sim said...

Thanks Victor. That was truly beautiful. I meant the lyrics, not MJ :P

There are tons of music about war and peace, Victor. But guess what? They don't make any difference to what's happening in the world today.

Here's another one called Zombies, by the Cranberries. I don't think you know them. They are so "after your time", if you don'mind me saying...

Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And if violence causes the silence
Who are we mistaking
But you see it's not me
It's not my family
In your head in your head
They are fighting

With their tanks and their bombs
and their bombs and their guns
In your head in your head they are crying...........

Chorus:
In your head...
In your head...
Zombie zombie zombie ei ei
What's in your head...
In your head...
Zombie, zombie, zombie ei, ei, ei , oh.....do,do,do,do,do,do,do,do

Another mother's breaking heart is taking over ... the violence causes silence
we must be mistaken
its the same old thing since 1916
in your head in your head
their still fighting
With their tanks and their bombs
and their bombs and their guns
In your head in your head they are dying...........

Anonymous said...

thats the reason why i don't wanna hv kids. why bring them into this world to suffer? its not exactly a beautiful place 2b. and it seems like only the extremely positive ppl who view this world as a good one will hv kids.

Lam Chun See said...

I much prefer Bette Midler's version. Anyway, for every sad song about war, you can find a happy one about what a wonderful world we have.

Lam Chun See said...

Evan. Your statement about kids is one of the saddest statements I have read on the blogoshere.

"Children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. ... Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them."

Anonymous said...

sad or not, i'm just speaking the fact. alot of things the Lord has not intended, has happened on this earth. this earth is a FALLEN one. tell it to the people who're addicted to porn. tell them that "he who looks at a woman lustfully has committed adultery even in his heart". so you cant just quote the bible and expect everyone to follow it. sorry if i sound disrespectful but this is my two cents.

Victor said...

Wah fiery man. Evan, you talking 'bout me?

Lam Chun See said...

Evan, pls don't be angry. I am not trying to judge you or impose any values on you. I just feel sad that you will be missing the blessings that the Lord has in store for those who put their trust in him.

For society as a whole, it is more than sad, it is tragic if many young Sporeans have same thinking. Who is going to defend our country in the next generation? Who is going to take care of you when you are old?

As for the rest of the stuff about porn and so on, I don't even understand what you are trying to say.

Chris Sim said...

Victor! We're having a serious discussion here! You ah.

Er.. Evan, I guess everyone is entitled to her/his way of life. But surely there are always two sides to a coin... just like there's day and night, joy and suffering, good and evil, and kid and no kid. Hehe.
But there's no reason to be so pessimistic in life. If you think this world is full of sadness and suffering, then the more reasons we Christians should have more kids, and make them happy, God-fearing kids, spreading sunshine wherever they go? Yeah, be a testimonial to our Lord by bringing good cheers and good news everywhere they go?

Come on, life is not all gloom. Take time to smell the roses, have a cuppa accompanied by the many wonderful cakes and pastries that come with your talent.

Nobody is judging anybody here.

Anonymous said...

chris/uncle lam, i wanna clarify that i'm basically a positive & optimistic person. just NOT in every aspect of life. i'm esp. pessimistic when it comes to having kids thats all. nothing to do with religion, so pls do not use God to make me feel guilty ok...as if its my fault that i missed out the blessings that God gave =) and chris, don't u think its easier said than done when u mentioned "be a testimonial to our Lord by bringing good cheers and good news everywhere they go?" i'm sure u agree with me its not easy being a christian coz if my memory did not fail me, u had this struggle in u while u told me abt sometime ago. maybe ur now better in yr faith i dunno. for me, unfortunately, im not a very strong christian myself. still need alot of guidance.

uncle lam, as for the porn thing, i'm just stating an example only. coz u quoted that verse in the bible "Children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. ... Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them". so i'm saying, by quoting all these verses, it doesnt make a person who doesnt feel right abt having kids suddenly feel right. its like those ppl who are addicted to porn. will telling them "a man who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery even in his heart" help? i don't think so. i hope u get what i mean.

i guess to tell myself "God will make everything right" does sound like an impossible task and a fairytale to me now.