Meanderings of a Lost Soul

THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC …

GROUPIE
By N. Mark Castro

 

 

MUSIC is just about the only thing that makes me humble.

 

 

And perhaps among the professions that we have labeled people on earth, only musicians would be akin to angels. For that is what these artists are, angels that walk among us, angels that inspire us, angels that move us, angels that elevate us, angels that whisper to us … to become better than what we are …

 

 

People talk of a universal language, of that one thing that unify us, of that one thing that breaks down all racial issues, politics and beliefs … if there is anything that the history mankind has ever taught us, then with certainty that would be music.

 

 

 

Look around you … music encompasses every aspect of a person’s life; it crosses borders and breaks down immigration rules. It even crushes man-made moral laws for no matter how much people have tried to regulate music, it has a far stronger voice that can be heard in all the seven continents of the known world. If Musicians are the voices of angels, then music is the voice of God. For music is the closest to heaven we can ever get … even a child slumbers in stillness with a simple lull from a mother’s voice.

 

 

Music has taken many faces and used many names; in any language in any part of the world, music exists … as an expression of the times, as an expression of an individual, as an expression of the people, as an expression of the intellect, as an expression of the heart; pray tell me, which other prevalent form has been spoken and written for so long? The Christian Bible? The Koran? The Torah? Which holy book has had much influence in mankind for so long? Yet those very holy books – if you are to look at mankind’s history – have done nothing but divide us.

 

 

Blasphemous, you say? But I did not say that. I merely point out what has happened to us. Oh sure it has inspired greatness to some people … but compare the inspiration provided by those holy books against the infamy that has been fought in behalf of those holy books.

 

 

And yet, which form has had a unifying impact for all mankind?

 

 

Music.

So I would rather not read any of those holy books and live in peace and harmony with other people by listening to music … than read those holy books and kill everyone else.

 

 

 

 

If music were a religion, then a music lounge would be my Church … and the musicians as my saints: Debussy, Pachelbel, Grieg, Mozart … Caruso, Pavarotti, Callas … heck, kick in Faith Hill and doesn’t that say something holy as it is?

 

 

 

 

Faith … wrapped in a country singer’s body carved in heaven, not

Beverly Hills

.

 

 

 

 

Imagine that.

 

 

 

 

Now I wouldn’t mind genuflecting before that … instead of some cement.

 

 

 

 

And despite this tragic-infested country that I have come to call as home, there at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, at the Fountain Lounge — from Tuesdays to Sundays – six angels will take you to the closest place you’ll ever get to heaven on earth.

 

 

 

It’s a ride that I keep on taking as much as I could.

 

 

 

These so-called angels disguised as mortal singers may fool you as ordinary, but when they begin to open their lips you will be transported back in time … of the first sound ancient man ever heard: from the chirping of a nightingale, the deep lullaby of your mother, the soothing sound of the river, the drop of a rain on a green petal, to the boisterous thunder.

 

 

 

Do they not touch the most inner core of your being? And when you open your eyes you gaze upon the light that brings us hope…

 

L-R (Erwin, Radel, Janet, Rusty, Maricel, Arman) aKsento Band

 

 

In Shakespeare’s opening of Twelfth Night, someone said: “IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF THE GODS, THEN

PLAY

ON

…” I think he got that one right.

 

 

With over 400 songs in their repertoire, aKsento has proven itself to be the best band in the country today: musical note by musical note, they can outclass anyone from jazz to rhythm and blues, hip hop to classical, pop to rap, traditional to national, and they can sing in Bahasa Indonesia, Tagalog, Japanese, Chinese, Dutch, Spanish, Brazilian, and English. I bet if you give aKsento some time and they can also sing for you in Swahili.

 

 

Show me another band in the country with such versatility … then I’ll tell you that you’re getting your money’s worth. If not, then you’re getting ripped off.

 

aKsento Band has been singing in

Indonesia

since the early 90s. They opened the Grand Hyatt Hotel and have never looked back since then. They shuttle back and forth between the Grand Hyatt Hotel Indonesia and the Grand Hyatt Hotel South Korea. They have reconciled husbands and wives, turned lovers into married couples, and witnessed the joys of parenthood with their audiences over the years. If music does not inspire us to do that, what else does?

 

So right before they depart

Jakarta

at the end of this month, if I were you … I’d catch these angels …

 

And if you hear them, then perhaps you’ll know that, indeed, there is hope for mankind.

Girl We Couldn't Get Much Higher ...

To those who know ---

Light My Fire

The Doors

You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher

Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire

The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre

Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire, yeah

The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love become a funeral pyre

Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire, yeah

You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher

Come on baby, light my fire
Come on baby, light my fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire
Try to set the night on fire

Can't Get No Satisfaction

To those who know ---


You Can't Always Get What You Want Lyrics
by Rolling Stones


I saw her today at a reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she would meet her connection
At her feet was her footloose man

No, you can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
And if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

I saw her today at the reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she was gonna meet her connection
At her feet was her footloose man

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you might find
You get what you need

Oh yeah, hey hey hey, oh...

And I went down to the demonstration
To get my fair share of abuse
Singing, "We're gonna vent our frustration
If we don't we're gonna blow a 50-amp fuse"
Sing it to me now...

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you just might find
You get what you need
Oh baby, yeah, yeah!

I went down to the Chelsea drugstore
To get your prescription filled
I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
And man, did he look pretty ill
We decided that we would have a soda
My favorite flavor, cherry red
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was "dead"
I said to him

You can't always get what you want, no!
You can't always get what you want (tell ya baby)
You can't always get what you want (no)
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You get what you need
Oh yes! Woo!

You get what you need--yeah, oh baby!
Oh yeah!

I saw her today at the reception
In her glass was a bleeding man
She was practiced at the art of deception
Well I could tell by her blood-stained hands

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need

You can't always get what you want (no, no baby)
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you just might find
You just might find
You get what you need, ah yes...

Artist:	The Rolling Stones
Album:	Let It Bleed
Song:	You Can't Always Get What You Want

Where The Streets Have No Name

Much has been written about The Rolling Stones and no additional information is needed. If you've been living under a rock for the past 50 years, then there's no point explaining to you either who and what they are about.

After all the rock stars that have come and gone, and all the years that have gone by, at the end of the day (as the cliche goes), nothing beats Mick's lips and Keith's drug-induced performance.

STREETS OF LOVE
(M. Jagger/K. Richards)

You're awful bright, you're awful smart
I must admit you broke my heart
The awful truth is really sad
I must admit I was awful bad

While lovers laugh and music plays
I stumble by and I hide my pain
The lights are lit, the moon is gone
I think I've crossed the Rubicon

I walk the streets of love and they're full of tears
And I walk the streets of love and they're full of fears

While music pumps from passing cars
A couple watch me from a bar
A band just played the wedding march
And the corner store mends broken hearts
And a woman asks me for a dance
Oh it's free of charge, just one more chance

I walk the streets of love and they're full of tears
Walk the streets of love for a thousand years

Oh tell me now
I... Oh I walk the streets of love, yeah and they're drenched with tears... Oh

You had the moves, you had the cards
I must admit you were awful smart
The awful truth is awful sad
I must admit I was awful bad

And I walk the streets of love and they're drenched with tears
And I walk the streets of love for a thousand years... Oh

Walk the streets of love and they're drenched with tears
Oh every night, oh there's only one and not enough for him
Oh I, yeah and they're full of tears
Oh everybody talk about it
Everybody be walking down it
Yeah but I found out.... oh yes that I...

Oh yes I do
Oh the streets of love, yeah, they're drenched with, drenched with in tears...
I... oh yeah I don't want to..

Artist:	The Rolling Stones
Album:	A Bigger Bang
Song:	Streets Of Love