Dreaming

“I was down and out 
struggling
wondered how I'm gonna make it thru
I got a dream (I got a dream)
Holding on (I'm gonna hold on)
I can't let go cos you gotta make it come true”

Dreaming – Scribe

In New Zealand a large number of young people dream of making it into one of our national sports teams. Those who make the teams are given a lot of credibility, whether they be our world champion All Blacks or competition winning Breakers, our less than average Blackcaps or those Warriors (because the sportsmen in these teams are still the best of the Kiwi best and they deserve their credibility).

As Scribe raps about in Dreaming the road to the top isn’t easy for many New Zealanders. There’s a lot of hard work and dedication, overcoming the struggles of growing up in the bottom of society’s pecking order and putting aside personal issues. But when a sportsman or sportswoman reaches the top and achieves their dreams, it must all seem worth it, and as a nation we celebrate alongside them.

So why then, after all this hard work and smelling the sweet smell of success, are a number of our sportspeople throwing away their chances? When the story broke late last week that Julian Savea was due in court on the Monday for domestic abuse charges I went from disbelief to feeling frustrated, and angry, as there is something sickeningly wrong in our elite sports teams. Savea joined fellow up and coming rugby talent Zac Guildford in the dog bin after Guilford’s problems with alcohol. And it’s not just rugby; there is Blackcaps’ Jesse Ryder’s problematic past and Doug Bracewell’s issues to know there is a problem with New Zealand’s young sportsmen. They work so hard to deserve their opportunity to shine, just to throw it all away in one reckless moment.

I have a theory on this matter, and I must stress this is just my opinion gathered from my own observation and research, but to me it is one thing to reach these dreams and another all together to sustain them. When these young sportspeople have met their dream and played for their country they have it all, and yet they have nothing left at the same time. They have the whole country behind them but they feel so lonely. They experience the greatest highs when they win, but when they lose they feel an inch tall. It’s a hell of a lot a young and inexperienced sportsperson to take on mentally and, coupled with the “macho male” status these players carry, it’s no wonder they are cracking and making the wrong decisions. I am not accepting nor forgiving their mistakes, but I understand where the problem may be coming from.  

There have been, and there will still be, countless other articles and opinion blogs on this issue, stating what is right and wrong and what should be done. I have thrown my two cents in because I feel this is an important issue, and I wish someone can come up with a solution to these issues. I care about this country and I care about these young sportsmen who hold our sporting future, and all those younger whose professional rugby career is still in its dreaming stage. 

This Song Saved My Life

“I was broken 
I was choking
I was lost
this song saved my life
I was bleeding stopped believing
could have died
this song saved my life
I was down
I was drowning
but it came on just in time
this song saved my life”

This Song Saved My Life – Simple Plan

At first listen Simple Plan songs seem nothing more than a bunch of Canadians having a whine about how hard life is. And generally, this is the truth for majority of their songs. But as I blogged about last week Simple Plan manage to hit the note with a few of their songs and go places where no other lyrics have quite gone yet. Previously I talked about how happy I was many years ago when I heard a band finally say I’m not perfect. This week, I’ve picked out another Simple Plan song which says what hasn’t yet been said as blatantly as above: music has the ability to save our lives.

This song was written for Simple Plan fans after the band received numerous messages that their songs had touched the listeners and not only changed, but saved their lives. Without doubt it is possible to connect so intensely with a song it pulls a listener out of their dark patch. Music may not cure complicated personal problems, but music does show there are others out there suffering the same problems and things will be okay. And music inspires us to lead better lives and seek change, thus saving what could have been a mediocre life experience into a worthwhile change. Below is the video for This Song Saved My Life which depicts the awful lives of slavery some people are forced into, but by sharing this story Simple Plan have, hopefully, influenced people to save a life.

While researching this blog I came across Music Saves Lives. They are a charity who’ve realised there is a connection between young people wanting to make a change and the inspiration which music can bring, and fused the ideas together. They educate society about the importance of blood donation and transfusion in a way which speaks to people from all walks of society. This isn’t the only way in which music has been used as a fundraising medium. From charity songs – my favourite still being Feel Inside by Flight of the Conchords – through to music festivals which raise money and awareness, music is, all around us, helping benefit people to lead a better life.

I’ve thought about writing this blog for a long time now, and I held off until I was sure I could successfully write about this song. It’s a risky area to talk about the themes in this song, particularly the parts which touch of depression and suicide, and it’s a song which means a lot to me. I thought this blog would be more sombre as I touched on these topics, but instead I feel more at peace than when I started, as though the thought of knowing there is always a way to be pulled from dark spaces and inspired is incredibly satisfying – and life saving.   

This is the video depicting slavery

And the official music video 

Perfect

“'Cuz we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and
We can't go back
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect”

Perfect – Simple Plan

Simple Plan are the target of a lot of criticism, and most of it is justifiable. They are said to be whiny, over dramatic, immature and simplistic in their music. While catchy at times, their songs haven’t really moved forward throughout the years and it’s all a bit repetitive. I agree with these points, and have mostly moved on from listening as obsessively as I did during my early teenage years. There’s the odd guilty pleasure from their first album and I can’t fault their latest on the catchiness factor. But, in my opinion, Simple Plan have bought out two songs throughout their career which are the only songs I have heard stand up and say what no other artist has yet managed to. Song one is today's blog and the second song is the topic of next week's post.  

Amongst Simple Plan fun, pop rock tracks on their first album No Pads, No Helmets, Just Balls was Perfect, and it became one of their biggest hits. When it came out when I was about 12 years old and entering that awkward teenage stage of life where everything seemed tough. I remember hearing this song in year seven and taking it to heart and for the past ten years Perfect has been my favourite song. It has average backing music, an average lead singer and is in an average genre, but the best message I’ve heard.

Finally, someone had stood up and said “I’m not perfect”. And that’s not easy to admit. Making mistakes, coming anything but first and not being the favourite is tough to stomach. I grew up doing competitive sport and I hated not winning. I hated going through school and failing assignments. And I hated disappointing others because I just wasn’t able to reach perfection. But Simple Plan got the message across – there are other people who are looking for you to be perfect, and they disapprove when you can’t make it. It’s not through a lack of trying or a lack of will power, but simply because getting to that level of perfection, no matter how hard we push ourselves, is beyond what is capable for this one person.

I don’t believe in perfection.  And I’m not sorry I don’t. I think the problem society has is we are so busy striving for this perfection we think mistakes and failure are the epitome of terribleness. I make mistakes every single day – in my working life, with my social circle, in decisions and in justifications and actions. And I have failed more times than I can count. But from these mistakes and failures I have learned and grown and tried hard not to make the same errors again. These lessons, coupled with drive and a trying nature to do the best we can, is far more beneficial to us than attempting to gain perfection and crawling away defeated when we can’t reach it.  

Play the Game

“Play the game everybody play the game of love
This is your life - don't play hard to get
It's a free free world all you have to do is fall in love
Play the game yeah play the game of love
Your life - don't play hard to get
It's a free free world all you have to do is fall in love”

Play the Game – Queen

Life is said to be like many things – a box of chocolates, a party, a coin which you can only spend once, a great big canvas or just like a game. If you play the right hand, roll the dice perfectly, make the smartest moves and align with the best against the enemy, you will win, right? But just what game are we talking about here.

Is life like a game of Scrabble, where if we choose the right words we get the highest points? Or is it more like Monopoly – the best thing to do is own property, build on and take a chance every now and again while avoiding jail. How about The Game of Life, which makes living seem like plain sailing through university, easily getting married and securing top notch job. Or is life the murder mystery that is Cluedo or the bluffing nature of Poker, the strategy and chance of Risk or even a puzzle like a jigsaw? Is it, in fact, not based on a bestselling rainy day activity, but something sporty? Is life the brutal force of rugby, the precision of golf or the patience of cricket? Is life like a game show where the point is to answer the right question and win the money?  How about life being like a drinking game – drink with your mates until you forget and you will be merry.  Or is life just a stupid game someone invented and if you think about it, you lose (you just lost the game).

And even if we did know which game to play in life, do we play the same game for each part of our varying lives? I can see scrabble going terribly wrong if you use the wrong words with the one you love. And imagine trying to take over different departments of your job like in Risk. Then there are the rules: everyone has different ideas of the best way to play. For example, when I partake in a game of Circle of Death each card represents something different each time. And finally, the biggest question of all: who do you choose to play your game with?

To me, if life is a game and you have to play it, I feel you should play your own game. Call me cliché but if all the games above can be invented by someone, then surely your own life’s game can be invented to. From all I’ve read and heard over my years, we should play by our own rules and form alliances based on our own opinions and most importantly abstain from cheating our through life.