Turning back the clock - pt II

I discovered this French song a few months ago. Its author Tina Arina, says of it, "This is not a political song and it’s not about a political subject. It’s a metaphor - like a poem. It’s a woman saying ... I was once beautiful and now I’m in ruins, I’m destroyed."

Je m'appelle Baghdad
I have lived so happily in my palaces of black gold and precious stones.
The Tigris flowed, on crystal paved roads a thousand Caliphs jostled to dance with me.
They called me the city full of grace, God how time goes by.
They called me the capital of enlightenment, God now everything is lost.

My name is Baghdad and I have fallen under the fire of armored tanks
My name is Baghdad, disfigured princess.

Shehaeazad, has forgotten me, has forgotten me.

I live in my land like a poor beggar, under the bulldozer the spirits haunt me.
I mourn my ravaged beauty over the smoldering stones,
It's my soul they are assassinating.

They called me the capital of enlightenment, God now everything is lost.
My tales of a thousand and one nights no longer interests anyone,
they have destroyed everything.

My name is Baghdad and I have fallen under the fire of armored tanks.
My name is Baghdad, disfigured princess.
Sheherazad, has forgotten me, has forgotten me.

Tina Arina- 2006

For those of us in mid-life (like me) this song also speaks about the temptation to try and turn back the clock. About yearnng, in vain, for a past that, though glorious, no longer exists rather than learning to delight in the present, that is with us forever?'

In many ways its the same dilemma hinted at in my last blog.