Category: lyrics

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So many different worlds in this world

There’s so many different worlds,
So many different suns.
And we have just one world,
But we live in different ones.
— Mark Knopfler, Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms

These words are so powerful. They belong to one of my favorite songs, sung by Dire Straits.

As I listen I imagine looking out at the countless planets and stars and I wonder how many inhabited worlds there might be. I then think of the inhabitants of this world and I’m reminded of a saying in Spanish: “Cada cabeza es un mundo”, which means “Every mind is a world”.

Infinite distances can exist between the worlds in these heads though they may be physically close in proximity. I am constantly saddened that there has to be so much misunderstanding and fighting in the world we share.

I think there are double meanings in the song which make the lyrics even more powerful. For example, “so many different suns” could just as easily be rendered “so many different sons”—the brothers in arms who find themselves on both sides of a conflict. And at the same time they are all brothers.

We are fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

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Goodbye to Sandra Dee

Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee (Reprise)

Look at me, there has to be
Something more than what they see
Wholesome and pure
Oh so scared and unsure
A poor man’s Sandra Dee

Sandy, you must start anew
Don’t you know what you must do?
Hold your head high
Take a deep breath and sigh,
“Goodbye to Sandra Dee.”

I heard this song today, and it make me think back on all the female singers who have chosen this path. Criticism of their innocence has caused some very notable superstars to say goodbye to the clean image that brought them to fame. It makes me sad. Purity has somehow become a shameful thing, and lewdness is considered desireable. It is interesting though how their careers tend to fade once they become more known for scandal than for making music—not that I have numbers to prove it, but it seems to be the case.

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Don’t worry. Be Happy.

“Don’t worry. Be happy.” It’s a cute song and I remember it being popular for a while. Bobby McFerrin’s advice sounds simple, but I wonder how many of us thought it could really work. And yet, if we look at it from another angle, do worrying and unhappiness somehow better a bad situation?

I was listening to the audio version of “The Hiding Place” and Corrie was expressing her concern that her ailing Tante (aunt) Bep should spend her last days living in their home where she was so clearly unhappy. Corrie wished she might be with the family where she was previously employed – one she spoke highly of.

Corrie’s mother explained that Tante Bep didn’t speak so highly of that place when she was actually living there. It was only after she left that she changed her assessment. It seems she was unhappy in whatever her current residence was, and only after leaving a place could she see any good in it.  Moving her to another place wouldn’t make her any happier.

“Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings. It’s something we make inside ourselves”, said her mother.