With all the news about the massive problems we face, and of the massive attempts to fix them, I’m reminded of other big problems we’ve tackled and of just how well those efforts have fared. Like the old saying that ‘no man is an island,’ none of these issues stand on their own. They are all interrelated and filled with common threads. I will attempt to give my own ‘fair and balanced’ look at these issues in this series of articles, listed at the end of this introduction.
An initial insight into what I think is reflected in the lyrics to Pink Floyd’s The Gunner’s Dream:
“Floating down through the clouds
Memories come rushing up to meet me now.
In the space between the heavens
and in the corner of some foreign field
I had a dream.
I had a dream.
Good-bye Max.
Good-bye Ma.
After the service when your walking slowly to the car
And the silver in her hair shines in the cold November air
You hear the tolling bell
And touch the silk in your lapel
And as the tear drops rise to meet the comfort of the band
You take her frail hand
And hold on to the dream.
A place to stay
“Oi! A real one …”
Enough to eat
Somewhere old heroes shuffle safely down the street
Where you can speak out loud
About your doubts and fears
And what’s more no-one ever disappears
You never hear their standard issue kicking in your door.
You can relax on both sides of the tracks
And maniacs don’t blow holes in bandsmen by remote control
And everyone has recourse to the law
And no-one kills the children anymore.
And no one kills the children anymore.
Night after night
Going round and round my brain
His dream is driving me insane.
In the corner of some foreign field
The gunner sleeps tonight.
What’s done is done.
We cannot just write off his final scene.
Take heed of the dream.
Take heed.”
And more in the lyrics to Pink Floyd’s Outside The Wall:
“All alone, or in two’s,
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down outside the wall.
Some hand in hand
And some gathered together in bands.
The bleeding hearts and artists
Make their stand.
“And when they’ve given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it’s not easy
Banging your heart against some mad bugger’s wall.”
No prose better could reflect my feelings on these issues, not to mention how important it is for me to get it right.
Note that these posts are listed in the order in which they were published
I Want Ice Water! 