The George Michael Cassette Tapes By CJB
"George's soul: a melody for life." ✨ CJB
Incorporating "Praying for Time" lyrics:
Song by George Michael ‧ 1990
This is the year of the hungry man,
Whose place is in the past,
Hand in hand with ignorance,
And legitimate excuses.
The rich declare themselves poor!
And most of us are not sure___
If we have too much but we'll take our chances—
'Cause God's stopped keeping score.
If desire runs toward our hearts,
Until the past becomes today,
Together we'll stand, forever,
Nothing can block our way.
This era's for the hungry soul,
Whose place is here right now,
Arm in arm with love,
As the hate and fear reduces.
The rich will see what we see!
And then we'll all be sure___
That we have enough with no need to take our chances—
'Cause God's in us now, that's what life is for.
The inspiration for this grew from yesterday's #vss365 poetry prompt (and today's #desire). So many of you reached out to me with your memories of playing vinyl records. Every memory was tinged with love. A memory of a soul happy place.
My mind started racing and I also considered cassette tapes. They were crap, but at the time magical. Their frailty, like with vinyl records that could easily scratch, meant that the joy of listening to the music was intense. It wasn't taken for granted. At any moment you could find your cassette play chewing up the tape! I have so many memories of using a pencil to try and correct the spaghetti tape that had occurred through a dodgy rewinding or fast forward. In those errors I learn to be patient and try and finish a song (Okay! I didn't but I am supposed to be some kind of self help guru 😁 so I had to try! Let's move on_).
__As I was saying__
These artworks, the video and the poem (part of it taken from George Michael's full lyrics of Praying for Time, from the album: Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1), came to life because of the happy memories I had of playing cassette tapes.
The song Praying for Time was a haunting favorite. I have lost track of how many times I have played it over the years. And then I listened to it again today! The lyrics that I have started my poem with are so apt for what the world feels like today. I won't get political, it is up to you to correlate the lyrics with politicians and what is happening in the world, whether you like it or don't. But those lyrics! Just magnificent.
George Michael may never realize the thousands of people his words have impacted and that it continues today. I named these artworks "The George Michael Cassette Tapes By CJB" because his cassette tapes, that I owned, had such a wonderful impact on my life. I dedicate this post and the artwork to him to say THANK YOU ❤️
Seeing as I have your attention, I hope you don't mind me mentioning one of George's and my favorite charities: The Rainbow Trust. It supports families with a seriously ill child. Such a loving cause always makes me want to move mountains. No child should ever have to go through the challenges of life that early. If you feel you want to help them, please click the button above and make a donation.
Bless you 🙏
CJB
PS: Quick extra note on the video creation. This is not just a straightforward recording of me just filming myself playing George Michael. No everything is separate. The video. The images in the video. The song. The sound effects. I pull them altogether to create something that "LOOKS" like it is meant to have been together all along, like that feeling when someone you love hugs you and it just feels good.
