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Contemporary Music For A Better WorldFeb 10 '06 (Updated Feb 21 '06) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line A mix of pleasant-sounding songs with positive messages.
First off... Just a reminder to be sure and check out my W/O I've decided to extend the deadline for being sure of having your story hyperlinked to anytime during March 20--but don't put it off until the last minute! For a long time, I've been thinking of writing a series like this, even before a longtime friend and her husband went through having a wonderful "little old lady" (age 76) they knew and loved senselessly murdered. Micky had, ironically, just undergone eye surgery and had gotten new glasses and was happy to be seeing so much better--and Jan (my friend) had, just last fall, planted bearded irises in Micky's garden because it was lacking in blue. Micky, Jan, and Ricky had been looking forward to seeing the new blue hue to her garden with the coming spring. Thinking of those blue flowers blooming this spring without Micky's being there except in spirit made me think of this one part of the movie The Last War where the teenaged daughter of this couple was out in the backyard (where her mother had recently planted tulip bulbs) crying because the tulips would be coming up in the spring but they wouldn't be there to see it happen. What I've written in the series so far (before this) are these two pieces: Why!?! A Tribute To Miriam "Micky" Waltch What happened to Micky is one of the symptoms of a many-facited disease going on and spreading in our world: the disease of not having our priorities straight. The music mix I'd originally featured here contained the lyrics to songs meant to touch us, make us think, and, hopefully, inspire us to get involved somehow. I'd included URLs to the websites from where I'd copied and pasted the words, along with other helpful URLs and links. However, bob_tomato pointed out to me that including the entire lyrics to songs was, at the very least, in violation of Epinions.com TOS--and, at the worst, could result in lawsuits directed at me from the singers and/or songwriters. Recently, I'd been told that this wasn't necessarily true, if items were well-documented, but it's better to be safe than sorry, so I have revised this somewhat. You can still read the lyrics to the featured songs, because I'm including URLs taking you to where you can find them. I hope you will, because the words are so meaningful. In some cases, there are extra URLs that will take you to where you can find more information about these songs. I regret that I'm no longer able to list the complete lyrics here where they're more handy, but that's the way it is. However, I'll replace the lyrics with my own descriptions of them... Don't Laugh at Me This song puts faces (and, at times, life stories) on various people in society who, sadly, become the objects of ridicule, sick jokes, taunting, and/or bullying by those who have the very mistaken idea that they're superior to them. http://www.disabilitynetwork.com/life.html ******************** Let There Be Peace on Earth A prayer for peace and the realization that it takes people promoting it for it to happen. http://www.jan-leemusic.com/lyrics.htm ******************** "Someday At Christmas" Just as Bing Crosby sang of dreaming of a white Christmas, Stevie Wonder sings of dreaming of a peaceful Christmas--though one he doubts that he'll see in his lifetime... http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/steviewonder/somedayatchristmas.html ******************** Pass It On This song focuses on the passing on of God's love by each individual until it spreads like wildfire! http://www.bethquick.com/sermon7-4-04.htm ******************** Day Is Done A father observes his child's reaction to the world unrest around him--first observing the boy's fearful tears, which makes him sigh; then, seeing his little boy's smile, which makes him feel more hopeful about the future of this little one. http://www.lyricsfreak.com/p/peter,-paul-&-mary/107756.html ******************** IF I HAD A HAMMER The singer's first reaction to life is that--if he had the right tools--he'd fix things. Suddenly--and joyfully--he realizes that he has the right tools all along! http://friendship-village.com/music/E/IfI.html ******************** Here I am Lord This is a conversation between God and a human being (which could be any of us) about His dreams for bettering humanity. But He doesn't want to accomplish this with a wave of His hand or a word from His mouth but, instead, by involving individuals. The human being in the song is eager to do whatever is needed to be done. http://my.homewithgod.com/heavenlymidis2/here.html ******************** I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing This song is about an individual hoping to, in some way, change the world for the better. http://www.goldlyrics.com/song_lyrics/lea_salonga/ little_ms_lea_salonga_tomorrow/ i_d_like_to_teach_the_world_to_sing/ ******************** It's A Small World After All This familiar song often associated with things Disney (even though it first made its debut at the New York World's Fair over 40 years ago) celebrates the wonderful ways in which we're alike in spite of our differences in language, location, color, etc. http://pcmunoz.com/vcv/102505.html For this song, I've decided to add another website that has lots of interesting information about it... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_a_small_world_after_all ******************** Love In Any Langage This song brings to mind something that happened back in the summer of 1966 when we were ready to pick up Uncle Finley & Aunt Marce to take them on our road-trip through Mexico. They had been staying with some of Aunt Marce's relatives in El Paso who, although they lived in El Paso, Texas, still used Spanish as their first language--at least, in the home. One of Aunt Marce's great-nephews was around two years old, and it was time for his afternoon nap. Before he crawled into his little bed, he knelt beside it and prayed silently. Suddenly, something occurred to me, and I turned to Aunt Marce and asked her, "Is he praying in Spanish?" She told me that indeed he was and then made the comment about how wonderful it was that God understands all languages! http://www.lyricsexpert.com/sandipatti/sandipatti-lyrics01.html ******************** He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother This song might make you think of an older brother carrying his younger brother--or, if you're familiar with Boys Town (now Boys & Girls Town), of both the movie made about it and how this is the theme of this special village. But I think it's meaning can be expanded to include many examples of people reaching out to other people in their need. http://ntl.matrix.com.br/pfilho/html/lyrics/h/he_aint_heavy_hes_my_brother.txt Here's an extra treat from our own jankp ******************** We're The World (USA For Africa) This is a song to encourage people to reach out to people living in places to which we've, likely, never been and might never go to. But there are people living there who need our help, and we need to see their problems as our problems, because we're all connected and each life touches another life. http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/michaeljackson/weretheworldusaforafrica.html Go here for some more facts about this inspiring song: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_The_World ******************** Finally, here's a place to go where you can find the lyrics to several more meaningful songs: http://www.youthontherock.com/viewtopic.php?t=4309&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30 ******************** One more thing... I've just received this really neat story in my e-mail from Wynn and, somehow, thought that it would add to this. You're supposed to pass it on, so please do--along with the rest of this Epinion... FROGS Once upon a time there was a bunch of tiny frogs.... who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants.... The race began.... Honestly,no one in crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You heard statements such as: "Oh, WAY too difficult!!" "They will NEVER make it to the top." or: "Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!" The tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one.... Except for those, who in a fresh tempo, were climbing higher and higher.... The crowd continued to yell, "It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!" More tiny frogs got tired and gave up.... But ONE continued higher and higher and higher.... This one wouldn't give up! At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower. Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top! THEN all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it? A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal? It turned out.... That the winner was DEAF!!!! The wisdom of this story is: Never listen to other people's tendencies to be negative or pessimistic.... because they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you -- the ones you have in your heart! Always think of the power words have. Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions! Therefore: ALWAYS be.... POSITIVE! And above all: Be DEAF when people tell YOU that you cannot fulfill your dreams! Always think: God and I can do this! Pass this message on to 5 "tiny frogs" you care about. Give them some motivation!!! Most people walk in and out of your life......but FRIENDS leave footprints in your heart In two days tomorrow will be yesterday. Today is no special day and I have no particular reason for writing to you... I have no news to tell you.... nor any problems to discuss with you.... or gossip to tell you... It's only one of those happy moments... when I thought of you... and I would like to share these thoughts with you... MANY SMILES BEGIN BECAUSE OF ANOTHER SMILE... To The World You Might Be One Person; But To One Person You Might Be the World. You have been Tagged by the Froggy, which means you are a great friend!! If you fall down 10 times, Stand up 11. My dream is a world where people celebrate all others. My intention is to use my love to create results. My name is Peter James Sutton. I am a powerful, loving, disciplined, and intuitive man...forever. for my shared photos, see http://photos.yahoo.com/peter.sutton@rogers.com The Second Coming (a.k.a. Rapture), The "Social Gospel," etc.  |
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