January 23: Amalgamation 2

This track was released in 1970 and is one of the THE classic tracks of that decade. It was released on January 26 1970 and February 28 1970 it reached number one of the Billboard Hot 100 where it stayed for six weeks.  It also hit the number one slot of the adult contemporary chart in the US, and stayed there for six weeks also. It also reached number one of Canadian RPM Top Singles, Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks, New Zealand Singles Chart, U.K. Singles Chart, French Singles Chart and Australian Singles Chart (Go-Set). It was recorded and released by Aretha Franklin in 1971 and she won the Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 1972. Elvis Presley recorded it in November 1970.

Problems come in all shapes and sizes
Like being out in the snow or rain
Winning rubbish that are boobie prizes
Or suffering badly from extreme pain

With the dreams of some bursting like bubbles
And that sometimes causes the mind to deaden
As some families are overcome with troubles
Then there’s others that reach Armageddon

Remember you don’t always need to rip and rend
Not all of the problems are made to last
Of course everyone wants their trouble to end
To see everything bad in the past

So whether you are a mum, dad, aunt or uncle
Whether you have a nephew, niece, son or daughter
Maybe you should listen to Simon and Garfunkel
With their classic Bridge Over Troubled Water

My Letter To Me

After reading Richard Hammond‘s “Letter to my younger self” in this week’s The Big Issue, it got me thinking. What would I say in a letter to a 14/15/16 year old me?

I would tell me to knuckle down at school. Not give up. Being seriously bullied every single day you go into school is seriously demoralising. Because I was quiet (yes I was) and kept to myself, the only two other people I tended to hang around with were Larry Bond (no, not the author) and a guy called Nigel, and a neighbour, but none of them wanted to be with me during breaks. I was quiet and only ever had hand-me-downs. As a result, they were clothes that were a bit tatty, the wrong size or seen before. I would tell me that giving up was not the answer, that would only make things worse later. I could have been so much more had I done my work rather than just go inside myself and hide there.

I would also tell myself to be careful. Not every body who says they are your friend really are. Don’t take everybody on their word. Just because people were speaking to me after I left school, doesn’t mean that they are as friendly as they appear. It’s easy to put on a face and pretend to be who you are not. There are people out there just hoping to prey on the naive.

The main subject I would tell myself about though, would be to be careful when carrying things. Be careful on stairs. Look after your health. Above all, if you slip down stairs carrying a 50 kilo sack, PUT IT DOWN! Don’t stand with it still on your shoulder, it will squash your vertebrae and you will pay for it later in life.

On the subject of love and romance, I would tell myself to just go with it. You will get your heart broken, you will be cheated on, you will be used by girls who want things. But that is the nature of the heart. Change that and you change who you are. That aspect I would never tell myself to alter.

I think the one thing I would say would be … “You will be asked to go to a meeting in April 2009 in the evening. DO … NOT … GO!” I am all one for not changing the past, when it comes to my kids’ health and happiness, I would move mountains.

Would you say anything to a younger self?

 

There’s Always A Bright Side

Remember:

Don’t Quit

I originally posted this on September 3^rd this year, but after a personal friend of mine posted on her blog, I thought I would post this and two others again. If you could go to her page and give her some encouragement, I would appreciate it, and I think she would as well.

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill.
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a fellow turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man.
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup.
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar.
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit,
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.

Author Unknown