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04/08/2006
Happiness is a Sad Song
Happiness is a Sad Song is the title of an old book I got from my Aunt Judy quite a long time ago. It's a compilation of Peanuts (i.e., Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and so on) comics, each page illustrating a theme which begins with "Happiness is..." Other than sad songs, happiness includes things like:
Waking up, looking at the clock and finding that you still have two hours to sleep.
A Christmas vacation with no book reports to write.
Being too sick to go to school, but not too sick to watch TV.
I like the Sad song one the best though, because it can be so true. Today actually I've been transcribing a piece of music called "Hear My Prayer O Lord" by Orlando Di Lasso (who lived in the 1500s). It's very beautiful but the words are, well, melancholic to say the least:
Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my crying come unto thee.
Hide not thy face from me in the time of my trouble;
incline thine ear unto me when I call
O hear me and that right soon;
For I have eaten ashes as it were bread
And mingled my drink with weeping.
My days are gone like a shadow and
I am withered like grass.
But thou O Lord shalt endure forever
And thy remembrance throughout all generations.
Let's just say it's written in a minor key. ;-) I'm going to try recording the various parts on my cello (so you won't hear the words unfortunately) and try mixing it to form the cohesive song again. I'll post it to my website if the experiment works.
It's a very sad piece but at the same time inspiring. Basically it's saying, life sucks so bad I would practically rather be dead, but Lord, you're still so great I'll teach my children to love you. The faith is so strong even when life was so rotten. How many times people nowadays, even me, stumble in faith when things start to get a little rocky!
Last night I also just finished reading a book: Dragonfly in Amber, by Diana Gabaldon. Let's just say I went through more than one kleenex! There's a very sad part where the two main characters (husband and wife) must part, as the husband heads to certain death. They both know it and both know it can't be avoided, and try to enjoy their last few moments, trying to record last memories of each other. Boy, is it EVER sad. Even though I know it can't be the end of either of them because there are 4 more books in the series, I was still acutely feeling that anguish. (The sign of a good book!) Like with a sad song, happiness can be a sad book. :-) I can't wait to read more! Anyway, I'll probably find time in a later post to wax poetic about all the things that are right about Jamie, the highlander who's the lead male character (whose "certain" death I alluded to earlier), and why so many women wish that more men were like him! :-) (Might start with the kilt. I think if men knew how sexy they are in kilts, it would be a whole lot more fashionable that it currently is!!)
00:35 Posted in Books | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this