Broken Dreams

In my darkest moments …and who can say they have not had at least some of those? But not too many, I hope, or too dark …I have, on occasion, turned to the music, old and new, of The Moody Blues. We all have our own ways of dealing, or not dealing, with those times.

I was listening to one of the many guitar compilations of Vladan Zivancevic today as I sipped my coffee in my rocker arm chair, attempting to doze off for an afternoon nap, when a familiar tune awoke an evocative memory for me – and ended all thoughts of pleasant and much needed naps. Vladan was playing a tune that always does that for me, not that the tune crops up very often. It is an instrumental cover of ‘Broken Dream’ by Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues, from his 1996 solo album ‘The View From The Hill’. The link above should begin at the right point for the start of the tune.

I have been sitting on that figurative hill for quite some years now. The view is much clearer from there than anywhere down in the smog and mist ridden lowlands where the swamp creatures dwell and perhaps also where a majority of humans tend to confine themselves to its stale air and yesterday thinking. I hope you are not struggling down there but have found your own hilltop escape.

Viewing life ‘from the hill’ does not end your problems, let me make absolutely clear – but it enables you to see them, and everything else, in a clearer light. And it provides the clear air to be able to objectively untangle yourself. We were never meant to be swamp denizens. You can see that, I hope. There is a hill somewhere for everyone. Go find yours.

Since I am here, and talking about a song, it would be remiss of me not to share that – as some sort of encouragement. If you let the tune inside you I think you will also find, on hearing it, the sound will also evoke a similar reaction for you as it does for me. That’s what songs, or just music, is really for, isn’t it? Awakening something inside us? And if it doesn’t do that, let’s be blunt, it cannot really be music.

A few videos…

Neither the video nor the sound are of today’s standard, but that is not really an impediment in this case.

Here is an even earlier ‘live’ version in a fairly intimate (close to the audience) setting. Enjoy.

…and lastly, a very well made and played instrumental cover version by some non-trivial musicians…

Well, if you played and listened to all those versions, the tune should be well and truly imbedded into your subconscious and, unlike many other sounds that may be kept in there, this could be a good and beneficial thing. Something you can always recover and recall for your pleasure and upliftment. That, at least, is my hope.

I was going to add the song lyrics but decided they were too specific to be meaningful for most folk, except for the underlying ethos they contain and the pathos they inspire – but you can find them here, in need. It is the emotive power of the music which is of greatest importance I think. To see; to feel; to love; to let go; to understand; to break free; to dream; to fly. These are the universal needs, and realisable rights, of every single living person. And only a single living person can prevent or inhibit themselves from the internal realisation of those rights – no matter their external circumstances. That is what makes every human being so powerful – if we could only see that. And it is best viewed by climbing to the top of your own hill – and observing all that is around you.