When I visited JOE.PSC's An Icy Dream @ jp-sijun.blogspot.com on a holy day, and also recently catching certain songs of something nu'e, sumthin olde, I was fascinated by one obsevation. Some songs elicit an immediate response from the listener,au natureil; poetry does the same to Desi.
So it was a natural comment on the spur of the moment after reading a poem by, I guess, a Singaporean poet:
~~~~~~~~
Xenophon: "Blessed are the cicadas, for they have voiceless wives."
The Cicada
(by K L Teo)
Shrill singer of our tropic day,
I hear you pass your time away.
Amidst the markings of a bole,
A tremulous, railing, wailing voice,
Seeming in censure to rejoice
And wild outpourings of your soul.
A fairy 'twas your wont to be,
The guardian of a camphor tree,
Before you changed yourself in fear
Into a winged thing to rove,
Forevermore in a palm grove,
A cicada that we hourly hear.
Why tremble still? 'Twas long ago
You let your worthless lover know
The secret of the camphor tree.
Why rail and wail? Have not the years
Assuaged your grief and dried your tears
For love and child you had to flee?
Ah, must you stir the mouldering heap
Of bliss and sorrow buried deep
In the graveyard of memory
When each day brings its joy and grief,
Its measure of suffering and relief,
Which must suffice for you - and me?
The past is gone. Let it be dead!
Call not to life its phantoms dread
With fearful shrieks and tearful cries
To haunt the present and annoy
Its fleeting minutes, blighting each joy
With taunting lips and mocking eyes.
posted by joepsc at 10:58 PM on Apr 06 2006
~~~~~~~
desiderata said...
to teo:
you've a lovelier voice
than a thousand cicadas
but still'd lose to a spouse
with thunder in her sonatas
even her whisper
can s a man in tatters
can a man then do better
marry a cicada?
Tuesday, April 11, 2006 2:38:24 PM
Then I remember my banter with allofhelen.blogspot.com teasing about her finding
Paradise at the Dashboard Lights -- and getting much help from JOE.PSC in desi-ciphering the meaning behind the lyrics --
and my subsequent detour into the deep recesses of a Harlot's Mind as she laments
about her experiences (Reprised here) in:
I've Never Been To Me
( Charlene )
Hey lady, you lady, cursing at your life
You're a discontented mother and a regimented wife
I've no doubt you dream about the things you'll never do
But, I wish someone had talked to me
Like I wanna talk to you.....
Oh, I've been to Georgia and California and anywhere I could run
I took the hand of a preacher man and we made love in the sun
But I ran out of places and friendly faces because I had to be free
I've been to paradise but I've never been to me
Please lady, please lady, don't just walk away
'Cause I have this need to tell you why I'm all alone today
I can see so much of me still living in your eyes
Won't you share a part of a weary heart that has lived million lies....
Oh, I've been to Nice and the Isle of Greece while I've sipped champagne on a yacht
I've moved like Harlow in Monte Carlo and showed 'em what I've got
I've been undressed by kings and I've seen some things that a woman ain't supposed to see
I've been to paradise, but I've never been to me
[spoken]
Hey, you know what paradise is?
It's a lie, a fantasy we create about people and places as we'd like them to be
But you know what truth is?
It's that little baby you're holding, it's that man you fought with this morning
The same one you're going to make love with tonight
That's truth, that's love......
Sometimes I've been to crying for unborn children that might have made me complete
But I took the sweet life, I never knew I'd be bitter from the sweet
I've spent my life exploring the subtle whoring that costs too much to be free
Hey lady......
I've been to paradise, (I've been to paradise)
But I've never been to me
(I've been to Georgia and California, and anywhere I could run)
I've been to paradise, never been to me
(I've been to Nice and the isle of Greece while I've sipped champagne on a yacht)
I've been to paradise, never been to me
(I've been to cryin' for unborn children that might have made me complete)
I've been to paradise, never been to me
(I've been to Georgia and California, and anywhere I could run)
I've been to paradise, never been to me
Somehow, this past week the following lyrics from Steven Wonder's coming over the airwaves seem a direct response to CHARLENE's woefull laments about a WHORE's past... present... future...
Some profession never changes through the passage of time.
My Esteemed Readers, can you tell Desi if the emotional responses are the same on you.
Listen intently to first the Harlot's Laments, and then Stevie Wonder's Promise of a Shelter.
Shelter In The Rain
When the lights are down
And the stage is bare
And no more magic's in the air
There's not a friend in sight to care
Your tears no one will share
I'll be your comfort through your pain
I'll be your shelter in the rain
When your sad is bad and your bad is worst
And there's no who to turn to first
When you've done everything you can
No one's there to take your hand
I'll be you comfort through your pain
I'll be your shelter in the rain
When you've looked around
And haven't seen me anywhere
Though when you were down
I lifted you up from there
There isn't a thing you can ask of me
I won't do
Just you put your trust in me
My love will see you through
When the final candle's flickered out
"Why me" is all you can think about
When all your joy has disappeared
Your future isn't clear
I'll be you comfort through your pain
I'll be your shelter in the rain
When all the odds say there's no chance
Amidst the final dance
I'll be you comfort through your pain
I'll be your shelter in the rain
I'll be you comfort through your pain
Yes, I'll be your shelter in the rain, rain
I'll be your shelter,
Be your shelter, be your shelter in the rain
PS: Listen to the song's Intro again, do you hear like it could have blended seamlessly into Charlene's rendition of I've Been To Me?
9 comments:
THis lyric thing your new fetish? *scratch head*
Life in Mono
The stranger sang a theme
From someone else’s dream
The leaves began to fall
And no one spoke at all
But I can’t seem to recall
When you came along
Ingenue
Ingenue
I just don’t know what to do
The tree-lined avenue
Begins to fade from view
Drowning past regrets
In tea and cigarettes
But I can’t seem to forget
When you came along
Ingenue
Ingenue
I just don’t know what to do
Ingenue
I just don’t know what to do
Ingenue
I just don’t know what to do
Ingenue
I just don’t know what to do
Desi,
The poem "The Cicada"(written in 1958), and the songs "I've Been To Me" and "Shelter In The Rain" all have one common element - GRIEF.
The cicada was actually a fairy of the camphor trees, with a sad past to recall. The 'harlot' was someone who had gone through the myth of 'paradise' in this life, in a hard way, and was trying to tell younger people not to be misled like her. The song "Shelter in The Rain", was written by Stevie Wonder when he was feeling the grief of the imminent loss of his brother and ex-wife; the words are those offering help and consolation in times of grief and pain.
Those words used in the above songs can melt a heart; they express grief and pain of varied kinds. Being of similar genre, they can blend quite easily in my opinion, but seamlessly, I'm not too sure.
helen:
Adapting Beatles: You should've known better with a guy like me...
Life in Stereo
Desiderata
Max Ehrmann
How do I love thee
Elizabeth Browning
A rose by any other name
William Shakespeare
So lady do you 'ear me
Soft and tender
If you wanna win over Desi
That's easy via lyric meander
"Helen mui mui
You oughto to feed this babe
On Ingenue
Is she/he that mysterious lover?
joe:
tahnks for the backgrounding -- it really helps to APpreciate the lyrics and verses better.
Forgift this Ignoramus
Pls tell more about poet Teo
Was he from Kuala Lumpur (as KL suggests)
Or 100% Singapore?
Thanks mate, again & again
Thou enlightens
By and bye
Dreams not so Icy
Our quest is like a mysterious
L
a
d
y.
Better end with an I.S.Amen.
(Pls Don't tell Helen!)
Desi:
K L Teo, a Singaporean, was once my teacher and school principal, also, was my dad's classmate in the 1920s. He passed on some years back.
He was excellent in arts and literature - poetry, manuscript, etc. He had a collection of poems, maybe published (I'm not sure), but I kept a few of his since school days and I will post them all.
Cheers
Hi Desi,
Long time since I last dropped by... I hope you have been keeping well.
A really nice lyrical poem by your former principal, K.L Teo. I guess that is why I came ... being led here by the mournful song of a cicada. Hahaha
Thanks again for your e-mail, i really appreciated it.
Joe:
Thanks for reverting so fast.
You were lucky to have a teacher of such lyrical strength. If there was a collection of Teo's poems published, it must be "collector" item by now.
Hi dreamerI:
Yes, notice you've gone MIA too, like some of my Y&A mentees, but I know you have been also bee=sy with Puisy.poesy -- so don't worry -- drop by by parachute once a w'ile when you feel knotty!
BYW, the poem cited was by JOE>PSC's former teacher, he's the lcuky fellow -- we'are lucky that Joe became a messenger!
Thanks to 2 matey who APpreciate pomes.
Now I'm cultivation an Ipohlang named Helen -- she's got a li'l tired of dim sum and the SE7EN Seas, wanna a taste of Desi dan puisi.
My insect vocab is really bad. Learning something new everyday! I never knew cicada until today..
Oh boy, I should start reading the encyclopedia?
Theels: Reading encyclopaedia? -- 'tis like reading The Dick to master English!
If one nite should u feel l1ly,
Ketch a cicada and kIss it dearly
Presto, it transforms into that 'night
And Theels would t'ank Desi 4 such D'lite!
PS: If TH wana a rehaersal, no?
I sing like a cicak-A too!
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