Wish - Artwork: Eva Krusche
For me, this picture puts in mind the scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where the treasure hunter believes he has the Holy Grail and drinks from it wishing eternal life...
The human condition is something that has been studied and philosophised and put into Art for, well one could say since Humans started to develop speech and make basic drawings on cave walls.
It’s a fascinating subject, especially if one happens to be Human as it is all about us. And I happen to find that of all the animals on planet Earth, for me at least, Humans are the most interesting.
Capable of the greatest kindness and the most terrible cruelty, of creating great beauty and of unimaginable destruction of great genius and unbelievable stupidity, we are creatures of the extremes and everything in between.
The song Wish touches upon part of the huge subject that is the Human condition. We all wish for things. Many of us may have wished we had found some magic lantern with a Genii that would grant us three wishes. What would we wish for? And do we really understand what these wishes may bring in their entirety?
A little like the wish, that one day one could lie in a hammock on a tropical beach with a cocktail in one hand. Well after 2 or 3 cocktails, one might not be good for much, and would one want to do that every day?
Or the wish that, because we believe we know what’s best and we have only ‘good’ intentions at heart, we might wish for the power to change things (effectively by force and against other people’s will’s - but it’s ok because we know best and we only wish for the best for all) - well, any forward thinking person may see where that may lead.
The world is an incredibly complex place, especially with Humans in it and nothing is as simple as we might think. It’s not perfect, it’s not complete Hell, and the overall averaged out normality of the whole world (Western Europe and the English / French speaking ex-colonial lands (North America, Australia, Canada etc.) are an unusual exception in Human history at this point) is that one needs to fight or strive everyday to try and keep some sense of peace, order and fairness in the world.
So with that in mind and not knowing all the intricacies of the world and how many layered and hidden elements link and balance together to make something that sort of functions. Who knows what a truly powerful wish could achieve.
It might make things better.
But it could make things much much worse.
Be careful what you wish for…
WISH
Sometimes we find a wishin’ for a better body
Or a little more or a little less hair
That our birthing was sooner or later
And the place, just a little, just a touch more cool
Be careful what you wish for
Some say they wish they had a tad more Moolah*
Some say they wish they had one more day
Some say, just wanna be normal
But where is normal anyway?
Somebody has a wishing for running faster
Somebody wishes to walk in vain
Someone just wants to put their feet up
And never ever move again
Be careful what you wish for
Too short we’ll go begging for another extension
Too long, we’ll use a knife to perfect
Today’s so yesterday I want tomorrow
Then fast forward to the best…bits
Oh swap our lives for a different story. / I must make it better
Oh to lie in greener grass /. I have to be high
Would we wade through blood and glory. /. Just one more time
So we could change our foolish past
Be careful what you wish for
*Moolah - a term for money
Ian Chapman: vocals, guitars, cornets, synths, charanga, harp
Carles Camós: piano
Dine Doneff: drums
Sandra Hollstein: accordeon
Martin Habersetzer: tuba
Producer: Dine Doneff
Music, Lyrics & Arrangement: Ian Chapman