Poets often dwell, perhaps, in the no man's land - torn between the expressed and the inexpressible. Armed with a canvas of a handful of letters and their finite permutations on one hand, and the accumulated shadows, dreams, images, some half-formed, some still-born and some in ruins on the other. The shadowy labyrinths of a restless mind confounded by the shrouds of perception - can it ever be (accurately) mapped on a piece of paper, transformed by the (magical?) powers of expression? I have often groped in darkness - for answers, for enlightenment, for truth... At times it seems a function of time, a function of inspiration, and at times- the unknown, the unknowable(?)...
It is the former that provides me hope, though not the answers...
Riding on the same train of thought but migrating to another man's (very popular) canvas, this monologue is intended to give you a peek into a song that I've often admired for being able to express the sublime.
It is a song called One Tree Hill by U2 from the album The Joshua Tree. Sample these:
It is the former that provides me hope, though not the answers...
Riding on the same train of thought but migrating to another man's (very popular) canvas, this monologue is intended to give you a peek into a song that I've often admired for being able to express the sublime.
It is a song called One Tree Hill by U2 from the album The Joshua Tree. Sample these:
The sun so bright it leaves no shadows
Only scars, carved into stone
On the face of earth.
Isn't it ironical how brightness, fame, spotlight can be taxing and burdensome. However, my favourite lines from the same song are:
And in the world a heart of darkness
A fire zone
Where poets speak their heart
Then bleed for it.
Jara sang, his song a weapon
In the hands of love
You know his blood still cries
From the ground
(For complete lyrics go to: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/u2/onetreehill.html )
To provide some trivia for the curious, songfacts.com (http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=916) gives the following information about the song:
"U2 wrote this about Greg Carroll, a Maori from New Zealand who became an assistant and close friend of Bono after he met the band in 1985 while they were in his country. He was killed a year later when he was hit by a car while running an errand for Bono on Bono's motorcycle. The album The Joshua Tree, as well as this song, are dedicated to Greg Carroll."
"One Tree Hill is the tallest of 5 volcanic islands in Auckland where Greg Carroll took Bono his first night in New Zealand. It is a tourist attraction in Auckland, with a monument at the summit dedicated to John Logan Campbell, one of Auckland's founding fathers. In 1994, the One Tree Hill tree was the victim of a chainsaw attack by a Maori activist which almost ringbarked it. A further attack in 1999 all but finished the job and the life expectancy of the tree was estimated to be only three years. By October 2000, the pine had become unstable and was a danger to the public. After careful study of the condition of the tree, the decision was made to take it down. The felling operation was successfully carried out on October 26 amid much public attention, and the Auckland skyline was changed forever. (thanks, Copper - Auckland, New Zealand)"
"Jara refers to the Chilean folk singer/songwriter Victor Jara. When dictator Pinochet overthrew the government, Jara was tortured by having both his hands cut off and made to play the guitar while he bled to death."
"... for us, from this part of America (Southamerica I mean, not the USA), the Victor Jara's part is quite touching. His death was awful but yet evidence of artistic integrity, honesty and compromise. The man was taken to the Estadio Nacional de Chile, with tousands of students. They were tortured there, but there were people like Jara, who became counselors and guides for the young students there. They suffered, bleed, but they kept believing in freedom, in democracy. Jara himself was thought to be a comunist! The fact is that Jara's death itself is an allegory of comittment to art and social issues. Jara's hands were cut, chopped, and then, thos military pigs threw a guitar at him and told jara to play it. Jara picked up the guitar and used it as a drum with his bleeding arms.... He was shot after that. ("And in the world a heart of darkness A fire zone Where poets speak their heart Then bleed for it Jara sang, his song a weapon In the hands of love You know his blood still cries From the ground") Truly, just like many many others's, Jara's blood "still cries from the ground" - ALE, Necochea, Argentina"
"The lyrics describe the traditional Maori burial that Greg Carroll was given at One Tree Hill. Bono felt he could perform this only once, and did just one take in the studio."
The factual details aside, the feelings perhaps have a universal echo. The world is likened to a heart of darkness as Conrad had expressed. Does one, more often than not, bleed for speaking one's heart?Are poets naturally pessimistic? Is the world really a firezone where one's heightened sensitivity leads one to observe the degree of burns of million hearts, thinly veiled; or feel the battle-scars of countless survivors engaged in daily crusades.... Questions galore... encore..
And though so much blood has been made to spill under various pretexts of religion, order, sacrifice, honour, society, evil, goodness, and so much more is destined to be spilled, and while they all cry vociferously from the grounds, how often do we really listen? And why pretend to reflect, if I haven't really been able to absorb. For, how often have I tried to listen, imbibe, introspect and then reflect in a soothing manner?
Cry Jara, cry in vain..........
To provide some trivia for the curious, songfacts.com (http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=916) gives the following information about the song:
"U2 wrote this about Greg Carroll, a Maori from New Zealand who became an assistant and close friend of Bono after he met the band in 1985 while they were in his country. He was killed a year later when he was hit by a car while running an errand for Bono on Bono's motorcycle. The album The Joshua Tree, as well as this song, are dedicated to Greg Carroll."
"One Tree Hill is the tallest of 5 volcanic islands in Auckland where Greg Carroll took Bono his first night in New Zealand. It is a tourist attraction in Auckland, with a monument at the summit dedicated to John Logan Campbell, one of Auckland's founding fathers. In 1994, the One Tree Hill tree was the victim of a chainsaw attack by a Maori activist which almost ringbarked it. A further attack in 1999 all but finished the job and the life expectancy of the tree was estimated to be only three years. By October 2000, the pine had become unstable and was a danger to the public. After careful study of the condition of the tree, the decision was made to take it down. The felling operation was successfully carried out on October 26 amid much public attention, and the Auckland skyline was changed forever. (thanks, Copper - Auckland, New Zealand)"
"Jara refers to the Chilean folk singer/songwriter Victor Jara. When dictator Pinochet overthrew the government, Jara was tortured by having both his hands cut off and made to play the guitar while he bled to death."
"... for us, from this part of America (Southamerica I mean, not the USA), the Victor Jara's part is quite touching. His death was awful but yet evidence of artistic integrity, honesty and compromise. The man was taken to the Estadio Nacional de Chile, with tousands of students. They were tortured there, but there were people like Jara, who became counselors and guides for the young students there. They suffered, bleed, but they kept believing in freedom, in democracy. Jara himself was thought to be a comunist! The fact is that Jara's death itself is an allegory of comittment to art and social issues. Jara's hands were cut, chopped, and then, thos military pigs threw a guitar at him and told jara to play it. Jara picked up the guitar and used it as a drum with his bleeding arms.... He was shot after that. ("And in the world a heart of darkness A fire zone Where poets speak their heart Then bleed for it Jara sang, his song a weapon In the hands of love You know his blood still cries From the ground") Truly, just like many many others's, Jara's blood "still cries from the ground" - ALE, Necochea, Argentina"
"The lyrics describe the traditional Maori burial that Greg Carroll was given at One Tree Hill. Bono felt he could perform this only once, and did just one take in the studio."
The factual details aside, the feelings perhaps have a universal echo. The world is likened to a heart of darkness as Conrad had expressed. Does one, more often than not, bleed for speaking one's heart?Are poets naturally pessimistic? Is the world really a firezone where one's heightened sensitivity leads one to observe the degree of burns of million hearts, thinly veiled; or feel the battle-scars of countless survivors engaged in daily crusades.... Questions galore... encore..
And though so much blood has been made to spill under various pretexts of religion, order, sacrifice, honour, society, evil, goodness, and so much more is destined to be spilled, and while they all cry vociferously from the grounds, how often do we really listen? And why pretend to reflect, if I haven't really been able to absorb. For, how often have I tried to listen, imbibe, introspect and then reflect in a soothing manner?
Cry Jara, cry in vain..........
1 comment:
Good words.
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