Thursday, December 14, 2006

LEAN ON ME.



(Just click the little triangle play button. It will turn into a pause button. Beside it, you will see the words, "Preloading Track", appear. A light grey bar will proceed to fill the center rectangle. The song should start playing right after that. The dark grey bar is for you to adjust the volume.)

Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's
Always tomorrow

Lean on me

When you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

So just call on me brother
When you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem
That you'd understand
We all need somebody to lean on

Lean on me

When you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help to carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

Became addicted to this simple but catchy song while watching a pretty famous 1980s movie, Lean On Me, which featured Morgan Freeman (who gave an excellent performance) and Beverly Todd, at 4 am in the morning on HBO. Its a really classic film based on a true story, which leaves you smiling to yourself, somehow a little more optimistic and empowered, when it reaches the end. Interestingly, for such a predictable plot (quite a great thing really, because you can just relax and you don't have to think so much), theres quite a lot of dimensions and literary themes to chew on- inner and outer conflicts, good vs evil, man vs society, man vs self, etc. Click here for one of the highlights of the movie.


Anyway, as cheesy as the lyrics are, I do agree with it. I find myself surrounded by a striking number of friends who are cynics ("realists", they will correct me indignantly) and who are prone to the mentality that "I am alone and I have to fight for my own survival", which goes against all my attempts to make them see my point of view that, "You are never, never alone". But what does it matter? I don't want and I don't see the need to make a judgement call on what's right and what's wrong- debates which have gone on for centuries, just as religious and political ideologies have been slaughtered and salvaged over and over again. There's no end to this. Differences should simply be celebrated without any justification for the sake of superiority or self-righteousness.

While it is true that no human being can ever truly always be there for anybody else, considering the unpredictable forces of life, death, time, human nature and the probability towards inconstancy, as well as the infinite variations of the question, "What if...", I want to give it a shot (sounds so easy huh). At the end of the day, I want to first define my own character and beliefs and be able to boldly say, "Yes, there might be people out there who betray you, who use you and who hurt you for their own selfish benefit. That is their choice. But I refuse to be such a person and I will do all that I can, and all that is in my power, to stay on the right path. (Lord help me if I ever do stray.)"

I'll try, I'll try... It is all that matters to me, since it is all that I am able to do, and there is no point fretting or being enraged about what is beyond my control. There is only so much a person can do, can give, can become. But why can't it be sufficient? Why can't it be possible that it is just right and just enough? If theres nobody out there for me to lean on, thats fine. I will be the very person that I am searching for. I will be a person that can be leaned on. If not for all time, then for 99.9% of the time. Tehehe. So, just call on me brother, when you need a hand. We all need somebody to lean on.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

hurhur

yar yar i prefered to be called a realist. wadever. it doesn't make much of e difference anyway.lol

Anonymous said...

Cynic, realist, pessismist, etc. Perhaps they are all just different names for the same thing.

Anonymous said...

Euphemisms. And the Euphemism treadmill . A bigot's salvation.Our wonderful language.

Anonymous said...

Euphemisms. And the Euphemism treadmill . A bigot's salvation.Our wonderful language.

Anonymous said...

Euphemisms. And the Euphemism treadmill . A bigot's salvation.Our wonderful language.

Anonymous said...

喂新加坡人! 我是Mu Tai! 我注意您有精液的blog!! 您似乎找到我滑稽! 我喜欢您的blog 神色! 颜色滑稽!
你好Miao! 我享用交朋友在Sinapore! 您知道介入圣诞树的任何食谱从新加坡? 中国人民庆祝圣诞节吗? 我。
Feeds the Singaporean person! I am Mu Tai! I pay attention to you to have the seminal fluid blog! ! You found me to be funny as if! I like your blog look! The colour is funny!
Your good Miao! I enjoy make the friend in Sinapore! You know the involvement Christmas tree any recipes from Singapore? The Chinese people celebrate the Christmas day? I.

Anonymous said...

You should read Mu Tai Dong's blog. In one of her entries she wrote that I'm her good friend and that I'm specially flying over to her country to celebrate Chinese New Year with her TONIGHT. And she also posted a translation of my Chinese poem on her blog, and the translation is so abysmal that I genuinely feel like crying. And her friend, Mutleythedog, actually copied and pasted the entire exchange on Estelwen's blog onto his own blog and entitled the entry "International Understanding and Cultural Exchange". Seriously, why are there so many idiots popping up in my life? Firstly there was the lunatic who vehemently denies her lack of hair, and now there are the two MTDs.

Faith said...

I LOVE mu tai dong. Please please write more nonsense on my blog! It cracks me up like crazy! Me welcome you very much. You farking funny. Speak better than Singaporeans. Singlish so so out of fashion. Thank you for liking my "seminal fluid blog". We should all learn to be like mu tai dong.

Anonymous said...

Dear Faith, she is incapable of grasping the notion of sarcasm.

Anonymous said...

我不是讽刺的。我只交朋友所有在世界。信念您是我的新朋友! 我将连接您! 我认为您的blog 是非常俏丽的! 我并且喜欢Damon 的桃红色坦克blog! 我寄发他我的歌曲!
am not the satire. I only make the friend to possess in the world. The faith you are my new friend! I will connect you! I thought your blog is extremely pretty! I and like Damon pink tank blog! I send send his my song!

Anonymous said...

Mu Tai not the satire OH NO not at all! She hundred percent for real!

Faith said...

Haha. mu tai dong really is quite cute, just that she/he shouldn't be destroying great poems and great languages. Oh wells.

mutleythedong:

Seems like you're in this for the humour. The question is, do you really think everything is one big fat joke? Maybe we just take ourselves way too seriously, or in your case, not at all. Balance people, balance.

Oh and mu tai dong, damon and miao and estel are mine. You no go their blogs disturb them. You hundred percent for real so what, I hundred and one percent for real.

Anonymous said...

LOL.

Anonymous said...

Blanace is all - as the tightrope walker said to the angry pigeon

Faith said...

Balance is all - as the tightrope walker said to the angry pigeon, forgetting that one had the power to fly, while the other, was merely waiting to fall.

Anonymous said...

Dear old Flo
I love her so
especially in her nightie

When the moonlight flits
across her tits
Jesus Christ almighty!

Anonymous said...

Woooo blog war!

Cynicism is just a way to be cool. It's good to have a small dose of cynicism, but it makes life a lot less enjoyable.

And why is every blog I go to from Miao's blog infested with the chuckle brothers from Bridport?

Anonymous said...

Jingoistic is right! ( By "infested" he means "has comments". Hes not used to it with his own blog.)I think the anonymous was Old Knudsen by the way!

Anonymous said...

oooooooh that was cruel mr mutley. My self-esteem is at an all time low now. I shan't get any sleep tonight.

Faith said...

HAHA. Cute.

Anonymous said...

woooo cute! complimented by a girl... and thus I end the day on a high.