I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: ‘It wouldn’t be a week in my blog-space without a Christina Perri song‘. The last song by Perri – You Mean the Whole Wide World to Me was presented here 16 days ago, so effectively my blog-space has been in hiatus for 9 days.
When I first heard this song ‘A Thousand Years‘, I wasn’t smitten with it. I found it a bit too commercial and sappy for my musical tastes. Then my daughter Katherine surprisingly put ‘A Thousand Years‘ on, and it woke me up. I understood; ‘If my daughter likes this song, then I’m missing something in it‘. My seven-year-old angel put me onto Andres Calamaro so it’s not as though I’m not going to revisit ‘A Thousand Years‘ through her lens. And by golly was I missing something!
[Verse 1]
Heart beats fast
Colors and promises
How to be brave?
How can I love when I’m
Afraid to fall?
But watching you stand alone
All of my doubt
Suddenly goes away somehow
[Pre-Chorus]
One step closer
[Chorus]
I have died every day waiting for you
Darling, don’t be afraid, I have loved you
For a thousand years
I’ll love you for a thousand more
The version of Perri singing this below in The Live Room is in my humble estimation one of the best live music performances I have ever seen. As I described above, this event appears to me as though Perri is confronting her musical maker. Muhammad Ali in his fight against Foreman in Zaire had a similar glare to Perri discussed here. A surreal occasion of sanctuary, sobriety, perfectionism and creativity. You can almost taste it. ‘It’s now or never‘.
Ali went back to the corner. The nightmare he’d been awaiting in the ring had finally come to visit him. He was in the ring with a man he could not dominate. He was stronger than him. Who was not afraid of him. Who was going to try to knock him out and punched harder than Ali could punch. This man was determined and unstoppable. And Ali had a look on his face that I’ll never forget. It’s the only time I saw fear in Ali’s eyes. Ali looked as if he looked into himself…’Alright this is the moment.This is what you’ve been waiting for. This is that hour. Do you have the guts?’ He kind of nodded to himself. Like, got to get it together boy. Really got to get it together and you are going to get it together. He nodded some more as if he was looking into the eyes of his maker. And then he turned to the crowd and yelled ‘Ali boma ye‘ and a hundred thousand yelled back ‘ Ali boma ye‘.
I find watching Perri perform this song in the video below so comforting, but awe-inspiring. Pure beauty at it most rudimentary. The astute musicians accompanying her – ‘have got her back‘ and they are rallying to help her do the best she can and make this ‘her sanctuary‘. I recalled in other articles how the guitarist and back-up singer Johnny Hanson reminded me of my best friend John Lilburne, not only because of how he looks, but in measure of temperament. He’s steadfast and so supportive.
A Thousand Years was written by Perri and David Hodges, for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1. The song is about the love affair between Edward and Bella in the novel and subsequent film series Twilight. This song’s official video has over 2 billion views, making it one of the top 100 most-viewed YouTube videos. By July 2013, the song has sold over three million digital downloads in the US.
Reference:
1. A Thousand Years (Christina Perri song) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
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