Thoughts on Paris:
As we pick up the shell casings, wash away the blood, turn off the news from the horror of it all. We'll point fingers at others, try to make sense of tragedy, try to remember what Paris was like before. We search for answers, curse god, curse our brothers, curse the bullets, the bombs, the drones, the dead, those who drove us here, those who've driven this bus, our bus into a ditch.
We weep for Paris, city of light, city of love, crazy city of jazz, of singing, dining, art, stunning beauty brought to its knees by a handful of lost, unhappy, unloved, bereft souls. How did their world become so dark they feel the urge to darken the rest of us? Guns will be reloaded, drones will be sent, warbucks spent, more blood spilled, terror breeds terror. I weep for Paris, i weep for the past, my past, my friends, who live in this city.
But i weep also for my world, my planet, my children who will never know the Paris i knew, who now live in a world of rage. Would knowing that we dont die, that we choose our lifetimes no matter how difficult, help? I dont know.
All i can say is, Converse with the ghosts of Per Lachaise cemetery. They can tell you, Paris will rise again. That Paris is okay, and she will recover, standing atop that heap of hate, waving that magnificent banner of red, white and blue. Vive la France!
Was at an event this morning, and the people involved asked everyone to stand and sing "Imagine" in honor of the Paris bombings.
Imagine
by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
Pianist Plays 'Imagine' Outside Bataclan, Uniting Parisians In Moment Of Peace
He rolled up a grand piano and played to a crowd of journalists and onlookers.
Reporter, The Huffington Post
Posted: 11/14/2015 11:12 AM EST | Edited: 1 hour ago
The day after a series of attacks in Paris killed more than 120, a man rolled up a piano outside the city's Bataclan theater and played John Lennon's "Imagine."
CNN's Hala Gorani reported on it live from the scene Saturday during the CNN morning show "New Day." The sounds of the piano can be heard in the background of her report.
"There's a grand piano that was just rolled out in the middle of the crowd and in the middle of this group of journalists and someone playing 'Imagine' by John Lennon -- quite loudly, so perhaps you watching us all over the world, can hear it," Gorani said.
German news site Sudkurier identified the man as German pianist Davide Martello, based on a tweet in which Martello said he would be playing Paris, rather than appearing as planned on Saturday in the German city of Konstanz.
Martello, who goes by the nickname Klavier Kunst, then tweeted out a link to the Sudkurier piece with a message in English.
He posted identical messages on his Facebook page.
"Imagine," the title song of Lennon's 1971 solo album, remains one of the world's most famous peace anthems. Its lyrics ask us to imagine a world of unity and harmony. It specifically speaks about removing nationalist and religious prejudices.
"Imagine there's no countries / It isn't hard to do," Lennon sings. "Nothing to kill or die for / And no religion too / Imagine all the people / Living life in peace."
At least 89 people died in the attack on the Bataclan theater on Friday night. It is the site of the deadliest in a series of gun attacks and bombings across Paris that have killed at least 129 people.
Martello has a history of taking his piano to socially significant events. He played an extended set at the protests in Istanbul's Gezi Park in June 2013.
"My goal is to travel around the whole world with my grand piano and to inspire people in the middle of the streets," Martello wrote on his Facebook page. "I compose my own stuff usually in the street or daydreams."
As we pick up the shell casings, wash away the blood, turn off the news from the horror of it all. We'll point fingers at others, try to make sense of tragedy, try to remember what Paris was like before. We search for answers, curse god, curse our brothers, curse the bullets, the bombs, the drones, the dead, those who drove us here, those who've driven this bus, our bus into a ditch.
We weep for Paris, city of light, city of love, crazy city of jazz, of singing, dining, art, stunning beauty brought to its knees by a handful of lost, unhappy, unloved, bereft souls. How did their world become so dark they feel the urge to darken the rest of us? Guns will be reloaded, drones will be sent, warbucks spent, more blood spilled, terror breeds terror. I weep for Paris, i weep for the past, my past, my friends, who live in this city.
But i weep also for my world, my planet, my children who will never know the Paris i knew, who now live in a world of rage. Would knowing that we dont die, that we choose our lifetimes no matter how difficult, help? I dont know.
All i can say is, Converse with the ghosts of Per Lachaise cemetery. They can tell you, Paris will rise again. That Paris is okay, and she will recover, standing atop that heap of hate, waving that magnificent banner of red, white and blue. Vive la France!
Was at an event this morning, and the people involved asked everyone to stand and sing "Imagine" in honor of the Paris bombings.
Imagine
by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
Pianist Plays 'Imagine' Outside Bataclan, Uniting Parisians In Moment Of Peace
He rolled up a grand piano and played to a crowd of journalists and onlookers.
Reporter, The Huffington Post
Posted: 11/14/2015 11:12 AM EST | Edited: 1 hour ago
The day after a series of attacks in Paris killed more than 120, a man rolled up a piano outside the city's Bataclan theater and played John Lennon's "Imagine."
CNN's Hala Gorani reported on it live from the scene Saturday during the CNN morning show "New Day." The sounds of the piano can be heard in the background of her report.
"There's a grand piano that was just rolled out in the middle of the crowd and in the middle of this group of journalists and someone playing 'Imagine' by John Lennon -- quite loudly, so perhaps you watching us all over the world, can hear it," Gorani said.
German news site Sudkurier identified the man as German pianist Davide Martello, based on a tweet in which Martello said he would be playing Paris, rather than appearing as planned on Saturday in the German city of Konstanz.
Martello, who goes by the nickname Klavier Kunst, then tweeted out a link to the Sudkurier piece with a message in English.
He posted identical messages on his Facebook page.
"Imagine," the title song of Lennon's 1971 solo album, remains one of the world's most famous peace anthems. Its lyrics ask us to imagine a world of unity and harmony. It specifically speaks about removing nationalist and religious prejudices.
"Imagine there's no countries / It isn't hard to do," Lennon sings. "Nothing to kill or die for / And no religion too / Imagine all the people / Living life in peace."
At least 89 people died in the attack on the Bataclan theater on Friday night. It is the site of the deadliest in a series of gun attacks and bombings across Paris that have killed at least 129 people.
Martello has a history of taking his piano to socially significant events. He played an extended set at the protests in Istanbul's Gezi Park in June 2013.
"My goal is to travel around the whole world with my grand piano and to inspire people in the middle of the streets," Martello wrote on his Facebook page. "I compose my own stuff usually in the street or daydreams."
