May be I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one

Dear Reader,

Four days ago, I was writing about who I am. Of course if you’ve found my blog, found it interesting, came back and, even follow it, then I tend to think we are digital friends and we may be friends in the physical world (actually, I know some of my physical friends are there sometimes, and I like that). Based on a couple of comments over the last days, allow me to explain the title and the URL of this blog. A picture is worth a thousand word they say:

There are a couple of things to this picture. For those of you who were not born in 1975, it’s the fourth album of Supertramp, one of the iconic rock band of the seventies and early eighties that released hits like Dreamer, Breakfast in America, and It’s Raining Again. Think that in 1975, the year of the release of this album, the world was in the middle of the « oil crisis » with oil prices going to the roof and recession all over the place (sounds a bell no?), and just one year after resignation of president Nixon following the Watergate scandal.

Now in the middle of these crisis, of the increasing industrial footprint (40 years before the COP 21), sits this guy, relaxing on his lounge chair, getting tanned. Some can see a selfish dude not caring about what’s happening around him, I see hope. And this is the meaning of the title of the album, Crisis? What Crisis? that I chose for this blog (I chose it before realizing it was the title of the Supertramp album, read it here). To me this means that yes, there’s a crisis outside, there are many crisis actually, financial, moral, etc. But since the beginning of mankind, crisis have been ongoing. In other words, there’s always a crisis somewhere. However, we all have the power to act positively against those crisis, to switch off the TV to avoid being bombarded by desperation, and to get happy with the little things in life.

Finally, in this album you’ll find what I consider not only the best song of Supertramp but one of the best songs of all. A video if worth ten thousand words.

I had the chance last summer to see Roger Hodgson live in Carcassonne, A Soapbox Opera Fool’s Overture (See the correction footnote below) live was the best moment of the show.

Supertramp may not be your kind of music and I understand this, I can say I love almost all kind of music because I believe in diversity and because music speaks to the soul. But beyond Supertramp, I truly believe in three things:

  1. Our happiness is between our hands. It’s a choice!
  2. The world is the best world right now. You have to live now, not in the past that is gone, not in the future that had not yet happened.
  3. The future is bright. Stop listening to the negative noise of many people, starting with TV. You make your future!

Dear friend, if like me you want to look at the positive side of things and are constantly looking for ways to enhance your days, then I hope you’ll find ideas and posts that will make your day and contribute to your happiness.

Crisis? What Crisis?

 

Correction… I f***d up my mind… A Soapbox Opera is great but I mixed it up with Fool’s Overture, from the album Even in the quietest moments… And by checking my phone, I just realized that I videoed it during the concert in Carcassonne but ran short of memory on my phone. damn it! Anyway, here’s a wonderful version:

For those who have been knowing me for a while, this was one of the pieces I was playing on my piano (when I played, a long, long time ago). and this is the one I put against Bohemian Rhapsody, not A Soapbox Opera… And this gives me an idea of writing about those two symphonic pieces of rock in a future post.

10 réflexions sur « May be I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one »

  1. Happiness in the little things – my thoughts exactly! Love the title of your blog, especially since French is quite special to me.

    • Merci Jaime for passing by and leaving a trace. I went to your blog and love it. Your 30 by 30 project is just awesome, it brought a smile to my face and some tears in my eyes. Just beautiful!

  2. Interesting piece, but are you talking about positivity or denial? Do we lounge or do something about a crisis? And when do we do it? Only when it’s in our backyard? I enjoyed this and look forward to reading more from you.

    • Hi Laura, thank you for passing by and leaving a trace. You are right about the fine line between denial and positivity. You can sit next to the railway tracks and mourn about the fact that no trains are passing by anymore or you can sit at the right same time and decide that you want to dedicate your life to making train run on these tracks. I do not judge either or, but my guts tell me that the second attitude is the one that makes happy. On the overall crisis, we can believe the conspiracy theory and let us fooled by the fact that we cannot do anything about it. But once again history is proving us wrong, we can do little things that make life better, our own and others’, and we can start bigger things that may end up in a revolution. Whatever side you are on, if you want to be in positivity and not denial, the only thing that’s left is « do ». Without doing there’s only denial.

      Marc

  3. Good advice, overall. Crises, however, and the photo on the album, was less about hope than it was about ignoring the crises and continuing to record an album when they weren’t ready. Certainly not their best work. It was more a personal reflection of what was going on within the band. Although it coincided with what was happening in England, the band was unaware of the financial crises until they returned home, according to John Helliwell. Still, hope is more important now than ever.

    • Thanks for passing by and leaving a trace. I went to your blog and loved the spirit of it, the « nonsense » as you tagged your « another introduction », which is actually the best sensible post on self-image I’ve read. Thank you for your comments. I did not know the England story about the album. I agree it’s not their best album, but there some songs in it I just love, A soapbox Opera being one of those. I always put this one against A Bohemian Rhapsody. Different voices, different instruments, but I think the musical search was alike. Now, I am not a music expert, just loving some work and less other. As my boss used a say a while back, hope is not a strategy. So if hope is necessary, action is mandatory.

          • I tried to comment earlier and it didn’t work out. I love all their work as well… Even the stuff that was not commercially well-received. I graduated high school in ’75 and there will never again be music like that era. Or any other, I suppose.

            Thanks for the high praise of my work, it means a lot to me to hear that. You look to be a Lennon fan as well.. Do you recognize the banner on my site?

  4. And, thank you for the high praise of my work, it means a lot to me to read something like that. I love Supertramp as well, even the stuff that was not commercially successful. I graduated high school in ’75 and there will never again be music like that era. Or, any other I guess.

    Looks like you are also a Lennon fan. Do you recognize the banner on my site? Either way, thanks for your kind words.

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