A song with an important lesson

[Maokun]

There's a spanish-speaking christian artist called Marcos Vidal who has the gift of teaching through beautiful metaphors in the form of songs. Being a rabid fan of C.S. Lewis and his unafraid blend of fantasy with christianity, I've always valued greatly these kinds of non-direct approaches to bigger truths that shed a different light on them allowing us to perceive that which have been rendered dull by repetition and familiarity. The fact that Marcos Vidal usually chooses to address the topics that can really make us unconfortable (i.e. not those related to theoretic morality or spirituality but rather the ones dealing with actual behavior and action) is just the cherry on top.

That's why i decided to share with you, my english speaking brothers and sisters some of his songs starting with the one dealing with the importance of knowing your place. It is a shame that the beautiful metric, rhyme and musical arrangement (A cheerful jazz melody with circus-phamparre motifs and violin accents) have to be lost in translation, but the powerful message and witty metaphore is still there. Without further ado,

The Clown

He was able to make kids laugh nonstop
such ingenuous antics, he was a pro at it.
Face covered in colorful makeup and a
violin in his hand, which sounded rather so-so
but made people laugh. (violin accent)

However, deep inside he was very unhappy,
he though it ridiculous to paint his nose red.
A backflip looked much cooler to him and he
wanted to be an acrobat and hear from the public
ovations instead of fits of laughter.

He never was able to asume his position, failing to notice
he made so many people happy in his role of cinderella,
that he if he weren't there the circus would come
to its end, that it would never be the same
without his violin. (violin accent)

That's why he was bent in feeling unhappy,
he looked so ridiculous with his nose painted red.
He kept dreaming about the trapeze and he
pretended to be an acrobat and hear from the public
ovations instead of fits of laughter.

It was a pale winter morning, after the researhal
he couldn't stand it anymore and climbed to the high wire.
But once up there, he felt the vertigo well up to his head,
and they had taken the net off the other time...

He barely felt anything when he fell; the lion tamer
who went back, was the one who found him.
He managed to survive, but a month later they told him:
"Everything is over, the circus has closed, the kids
stopped coming back to the act."

He lives today retired in some place in the country
remaining bound day and night to his wheelchair.
It seems he has finally decided to accept his
condition; sometimes, he even plays again
his old violin (violin accent)

Some kids go to visit him which makes him happy
when he sees them coming from far, he paints his nose red.
And if ever someone sneers with scorn, he replies:
"I'd be truly wretched, I'd be worth of blame, if I
wouldn't follow the mission given to me."

"Even if I was a failure once
I'm of clown persuasion,
do not judge me so:
God made me this way."

[rocklobster]

Very good stuff. I think we all have to find a way to be "happy in our own skin" and this song illustrates this. We are all perfect just the way we are.