Hopefully there's a word match in here somewhere. I had to put this here because not all of us are in that PM thread.
A NEW YEARS EVE CONCERT FOR OUR PAIN
I got this idea for Kad, who is suffering most acutely at this moment, but certainly this concert for our pain extends to the rest of us:
To Jimi who has had to witness the decline of his love Jean by her illness, with apparently more harm than help from her medical team, and while adding most of his wife's household responsibilities to his own, with love and without resentment.
This is also for Snap who cannot get over the loss of her dearly beloved husband, experiencing wave after wave of remembrance and bereavement, as it has to be. A loss like that isn't like having a car wreck or a house fire you can rebuild your life from. It is the loss of a love and a life partner with whom Snap shared so much.
This is for Wolfie, who seems to me like some sort of contemporary Goddess Diana of the woods, giving loving care and power to the animals, and still having pangs of loss over her beautiful Duke.
This is somewhat in mourning for our republic, continuously under attack by a global parasite class trying to take down the one and only country that stands in the way of destroying all the rest, because of what we stand for, because of our level of defiance, in spite of the compromised minions in our halls of government. I don't need to go into that any further, and I haven't given up.
I believe music helps, even if it just makes you cry until you are cried out, satiated with tears, exhausted.
This first one is not that famous movie song "Que sera sera", so don't confuse it. This is a masterpiece from Chico Buarque which I think best represents the iconic Brazilian philosophy of sadness as the default human condition, as happiness may visit when we fall in love or make some money, or experience success in our endeavors, or a full garden, but sadness is always waiting there afterwards, in the self we face when the happy external forces vanish, and they do eventually vanish, or change so as to become unrecognizable. An undefined sense of sadness is something I wake up with every day, and I know I'm not unique in that. Waking with mild depression is why coffee is so popular, and after that tea, and nicotine, for the elevation of mood they instantly provide.
O Que Sera
I'm using the cover of the song by Maria de Medeiros, whose version I like best.
What can it be
that they long for in the alcoves
that they whisper in verses and ballads
that they sell in the dark alleys
that is in their heads, coming from their mouths
that they light candles for in the darkness
that they speak of aloud in the bars
that they scream in the markets,
that for sure is in nature, can it be
what they do not hold and never will have
what has no repair and will never have
what has no measure
What may it be
that lives in the minds of those lovers
that the most inspired poets sing
that the drunk prophets swear
that is in the pilgrimages of the wounded
that is in the dreams of the sad ones
that is in the prostitute's daily ablutions
in the outlaws, in the helpless, in all the ways
What can it be
that has no honesty, and will never have
that receives no judgment and never will
that makes no sense
what may it be
that all the warnings will not avert
because laughter will defy it
because the bells will ring
because the anthems will resound
the little boys will ignore
and all the faiths will meet
and the same Eternal Father, that has never been there
looking at that hell, will bless
what has no rule and will never have
what has no shame and will never have
what has no sanity
what it is that happens to me
that destroys me inside
that comes from under my skin
ascends to my face and makes me blush
and flashes in my eyes betraying me
and presses my heart to make me confess
what there is no way to hide anymore
what is not right for someone to refuse
what makes me a beggar, makes me grovel
what has no measure, and will never have
what has no cure, and never will have
what has no prescription and never will have
What can it be
that happens inside of us and shouldn't
that disobeys us, that is the default
that is like a firewater that does not slake thirst
that is like a sickness that cannot be healed
that all the gods' laws and all the saints will allow
that no potion, no spell nor all the alchemy will relieve
What has no rest and will never have
what does not tire and never will
what has no limit
what it is happens to me
that burns me inside, let that happen to me
that disturbs my sleep, let it happen to me
that brings shivers and tremors
that stirs burning fevers and sweats that drench me
that cause me to cling to nervous prayer
that claims all of my organs
and a terrible fear makes me implore
what has no shame and will never have
what has no rules and will never have
what has no sanity.
Next
This Astor Piazzolla song is "
Oblivion", a beautiful composition that sounds like deep human suffering, but I hear hope in it too. My favorite version is in duet by Stefano Bollani (piano) and Hamilton de Hollanda (mandolin) but the only versions of that on YouTube are live, with distractions and audience noise, so I'm posting this from Piazzolla himself:
Piazzolla (1921-1992) was an Argentine composer and bandoneon player. His family moved to NYC in 1925, where he grew up. After winning a contest with one of his compositions, he got an opportunity to study music in Paris, where his mentor Nadia Boulanger encouraged him to stay with his inborn talent and keep doing what he did best. His greatest desire was to make the bandoneon a world class concert instrument, a wish that came true in his lifetime.
Next
This one is "
Lost Loves", one of Serge Gainsbourg's finest, in a favorite cover of it by Elysian Fields:
Lost loves
Never meet again
And the abandoned lovers
May search
Lost loves are not so far away
For abandoned lovers cannot forget
The oaths of the heart
The promises of love
Hold me in your arms my love
We will always love each other
Always always
Always always
Lost loves
My lost loves
Still haunt my nights
And in unknown arms
I seek oblivion
You may love me
I won't believe you
Everything will come back like the days
Of my first loves
All the oaths of the heart
All the promises of love
Hold me, hold me in your arms
My love
Next
Finally, because like many people I tend to swing back and forth between faith and agnosticism, this song, which is beautiful anyway, is for all of us as we navigate victories and losses, joy and pain, hope and despair, into another year.
All my trials (soon be over)
with the 
so I like the Vietnamese zodiac better.
and he was ready to grub 
