I began this blog in March and, as is often the case, I never finished it. But a month ago, out of the corner of my eye, I happened to see some of the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.
Yet again I was reminded of Dr Johnson’s words on the phenomenon of women preachers being like a dog walking on its hind legs – ‘The wonder is not that it is done well but that it is done at all.’
All those little Chinese girls walking along waving and smiling. Thousands of people, each doing the same thing at the same time, reminiscent of a Nuremberg rally or a Busby Berkeley musical, but as impressive as neither.
Then the inevitable fireworks. Is that what's supposed to make us go, 'Aah'? Is that all there is?
It was Sunday morning and British Summer Time had begun. As if in response to the new regime, the sun was shining and the sky was clear. And the song I was listening to was a jaunty ragtime piece by Peggy Lee, which seemed very much in tune with the mood of the day.
‘I’ve got those feeling-too-good-today blues.’ That was the song and that was Peg, always a little sting in the tail of a cheerful or romantic song, always that little touch of pessimism and world-weariness. I was already wondering if it might rain soon. Best not go forth without my cloak today.
I first heard Peg – she’s always Peg to me, although most people feel the need to use the more respectful ‘Miss Lee’. But then I knew her for a long time, since I was about five in fact when she slunk onto the cinema screen disguised as a dog to sing ‘He’s a tramp.’
Later I knew her for ‘Fever’, ‘All Right, OK, You Win’ and ‘I’m a Woman’, great songs which she delivered with that wonderful, controlled purr of a voice.
But it was a long time before I heard what for me is her greatest recording. It was introduced to me by a good friend, who may well have found that I was living proof of the song’s sentiments.
‘Is that all there is?’
Written, surprisingly, by Leiber and Stolle, who based it on words from Thomas Mann’s story, Disillusionment.
http://www.leoslyrics.com/listlyrics.php?id=9115
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is_That_All_There_Is%3F
I heard it again a few days later on Desert Island discs, where the guest was Stan McMurtry, better known as ‘Mac’, cartoonist on the Daily Mail. Here’s a link to some of his work by the way:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=505282&in_page_id=1770
It’s a strange song, with lyrics, part-spoken, reviewing the disappointments of life, accepting that things will inevitably go wrong and that nothing will ever live up to expectations.
So don’t set your hopes too high or put all your eggs in one basket, for ultimately nothing is all that important.
We spend our lives avoiding pain and seeking pleasure and happiness. But we find that nothing is ever completely or lastingly satisfactory.
That bike you saved up to buy as a child, that dress, Christmas, a job, a lover, a wedding day, a divorce, retirement.
Don’t we prefer it that way? Like ancient Romans who would make themselves vomit to prevent the satiation of their appetite.
Imagine that one act of sex was so memorable and fulfilling that we never wanted to do it again; that we never sought it out once more in the hope that this time it would be better, or in some way just different.
Where would the human race be if we did not think that the grass is greener over the hill? Or that there might be a way of making ourselves run faster, jump higher and fight with greater strength.
Sisyphus’ apparently meaningless labour of pushing a huge boulder up a hill only to see it roll back down each time he reached the summit may seem like a cruel metaphor for our lives. But I know he took pleasure in his striving – the sense of accomplishment at the end of each climb; the sardonic laugh as he watched it rumble down; perhaps, as he strolled back down to begin again, he whistled and enjoyed the break from work; maybe he set his mind to methods of making his work easier or more efficient.
Does this seem like a philosophy of despair? Yes, it is despair but not the kind of despair which leaves no option but suicide. It is the despair of the day which creates hope for tomorrow.
Just one more day, please. Who knows?
Yet again I was reminded of Dr Johnson’s words on the phenomenon of women preachers being like a dog walking on its hind legs – ‘The wonder is not that it is done well but that it is done at all.’
All those little Chinese girls walking along waving and smiling. Thousands of people, each doing the same thing at the same time, reminiscent of a Nuremberg rally or a Busby Berkeley musical, but as impressive as neither.
Then the inevitable fireworks. Is that what's supposed to make us go, 'Aah'? Is that all there is?
It was Sunday morning and British Summer Time had begun. As if in response to the new regime, the sun was shining and the sky was clear. And the song I was listening to was a jaunty ragtime piece by Peggy Lee, which seemed very much in tune with the mood of the day.
‘I’ve got those feeling-too-good-today blues.’ That was the song and that was Peg, always a little sting in the tail of a cheerful or romantic song, always that little touch of pessimism and world-weariness. I was already wondering if it might rain soon. Best not go forth without my cloak today.
I first heard Peg – she’s always Peg to me, although most people feel the need to use the more respectful ‘Miss Lee’. But then I knew her for a long time, since I was about five in fact when she slunk onto the cinema screen disguised as a dog to sing ‘He’s a tramp.’
Later I knew her for ‘Fever’, ‘All Right, OK, You Win’ and ‘I’m a Woman’, great songs which she delivered with that wonderful, controlled purr of a voice.
But it was a long time before I heard what for me is her greatest recording. It was introduced to me by a good friend, who may well have found that I was living proof of the song’s sentiments.
‘Is that all there is?’
Written, surprisingly, by Leiber and Stolle, who based it on words from Thomas Mann’s story, Disillusionment.
http://www.leoslyrics.com/listlyrics.php?id=9115
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is_That_All_There_Is%3F
I heard it again a few days later on Desert Island discs, where the guest was Stan McMurtry, better known as ‘Mac’, cartoonist on the Daily Mail. Here’s a link to some of his work by the way:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=505282&in_page_id=1770
It’s a strange song, with lyrics, part-spoken, reviewing the disappointments of life, accepting that things will inevitably go wrong and that nothing will ever live up to expectations.
So don’t set your hopes too high or put all your eggs in one basket, for ultimately nothing is all that important.
We spend our lives avoiding pain and seeking pleasure and happiness. But we find that nothing is ever completely or lastingly satisfactory.
That bike you saved up to buy as a child, that dress, Christmas, a job, a lover, a wedding day, a divorce, retirement.
Don’t we prefer it that way? Like ancient Romans who would make themselves vomit to prevent the satiation of their appetite.
Imagine that one act of sex was so memorable and fulfilling that we never wanted to do it again; that we never sought it out once more in the hope that this time it would be better, or in some way just different.
Where would the human race be if we did not think that the grass is greener over the hill? Or that there might be a way of making ourselves run faster, jump higher and fight with greater strength.
Sisyphus’ apparently meaningless labour of pushing a huge boulder up a hill only to see it roll back down each time he reached the summit may seem like a cruel metaphor for our lives. But I know he took pleasure in his striving – the sense of accomplishment at the end of each climb; the sardonic laugh as he watched it rumble down; perhaps, as he strolled back down to begin again, he whistled and enjoyed the break from work; maybe he set his mind to methods of making his work easier or more efficient.
Does this seem like a philosophy of despair? Yes, it is despair but not the kind of despair which leaves no option but suicide. It is the despair of the day which creates hope for tomorrow.
Just one more day, please. Who knows?
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