Audio Stream:
http://www.imeem.com/people/8O6x8Hy/music/aQeoAXar/james-cromwell-if-i-had-words/
I know. Life sucks. We are all "born into the grave" so to speak. Humans. The plants. The animals. Everything.
13 years ago though I made a choice though. I wanted it to suck a little less… first for myself. I stopped eating meat starting with beef. I was tired of eating it because I had one too many bad hockey-puck hamburgers (sorry Mom).
It was at that time of my beef boycott I first saw the movie "Babe". Immediately afterwards I decided I was not going to eat pork ever again. I was going to do my part in not making life suck for "Babe" and all pigs. I know it is like blowing into the wind, especially surrounded by so many meat eaters, but sometimes you have to stick to what you believe even if people think you are crazy or wrong.
I watched "Babe", yet again, last night and felt reassured and affirmed in my decision. Watching the movie now is like a religious experience for me. I am not so unlike Farmer Hoggett. I believe I am generally quiet and patient in my disposition, and open minded to otherwise abstract, unusual and even bizarre possibilities, just as he is. Although I have never known a pig personally, I do believe them (and all mammals) to be too intelligent for me to consume ethically. I heard the song, "If I Had Words", played throughout the movie and it was powerful for me. Silly? Perhaps. Do I expect anyone to understand? No. The movie changed my life though. From being annoyed by bad burgers, this movie pressed me to pursuing a new way of eating, and ultimately a new lifestyle that I still have over a decade later. This song represents a sort of theme song for my vegetarianism, and my wish to preserve life, not destroy it.
PS: I only just learned now that the words to this song, "If I Had Words", were originally written by Scott Fitzgerald and Yvonne Keeley in 1977, with a reggae beat.
PPS: I learned last night that it is actually adapted from the classical piece, the "Maestoso" of Camille Saint-Saëns' "Symphony No. 3 in C Minor", written in 1886.
PPPS: Also, for those of you who want more, here is the version with the "mice" singing, which is actually just a sped up version of a recording of "If I Had Words" sung by Scott Fitzgerald and Yvonne Keeley. Crazy, right!? Who knew?!
PPPPS: Despite James Comwell's rendition being made for film, and not for an album, and being very short, and being a cover of a cover so to speak, it still has a modest, humble and honest quality I appreciate greatly.
PPPPPS: PS (or more properly, P.S.) is Latin for "post scriptum", which means "written after", and thus PPPPPS is "post post post post post scriptum", ridiculous for sure, but if you don't like it, why don't you go blog about it or eat one of my mom's hamburgers?
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Click here for more info on James Cromwell – Babe Soundtrack – "If I Had Words".
The CD of the soundtrack to "Babe" may be purchased here… Babe Soundtrack
