I was told a true story yesterday that really sums up how shallow some people are, especially in the entertainment industry. I really felt for the guy telling me the story and it prompted me to write another song, which I have called "Where Is The Truth".
(In true reverse fairy tale fashion), once upon a time there was an aging singer/songwriter, whilst somewhat past his sell-by date, was still attractive to women, due to his lavish lifestyle of limousines, private jets, various houses in various parts of the world and of course, his huge pot of money. To say his looks (if he had any in the first place) were beginning to fade was an understatement.
There was also his PA, let's call her Gina, an attractive young woman in her early thirties (you see where this is going already right?). She was there to attend to his every need and make sure that his hectic lifestyle went to plan, made sure his makeup was right before he went on stage and so on. Gina also had a boyfriend, let's call him Tommy. Tommy was a lovely guy and worked hard to provide for Gina in the house where they had lived together for the last three years. Tommy would do anything for Gina because love is like that sometimes.
Gina had to travel alot with the aging star when he went on tour. USA, Europe, you name it. However, after the last tour and upon her return, Tommy noticed that Gina was different somehow. It soon transpired that Gina was not just providing professional services to the aging star, but other, more personal services, shall we say. Gina expected Tommy to understand that this was part of her job and just deal with it. Tommy was having none of it. He was gutted. The relationship began to fall apart. Tommy tried his best to save it because he loved Gina and even forgave her misdemeanours with the aging star.
The final straw came when Tommy asked Gina if the aging star actually loved her. Gina said that he didn't but he pays her a good salary and buys her expensive gifts. Gina also said that she really liked the private jets and the limos and the plush hotel rooms she got to stay in. Tommy asked if she would stay and she said no. The end.
OK, so that was a bit of a twee retelling of the story but you get my drift, right? This girl gave up on a guy who loved her with all his heart for, let's face it, an old fart who had lots of money. The aging star didn't even love her. She was just there to satisfy an urge every so often and he paid her salary and gave her expensive gifts in return. The aging star had just got divorced because of his adultery with another woman, not Gina, and Gina still decided to stay to satisfy her materialistic whims. Tommy, on the other hand, was heartbroken.
What I am trying to get across here is that love and truth are so much more important than material possesions. Tommy loved Gina with all his heart, he provided for her, loved her and had his heart broken in return and what for? A lavish lifestyle with expensive gifts, that is all. It makes me sick.
We live in a world now where what type of cellphone we have is more important than phoning a grandparent on the damn cellphone in the first place. Our soldiers are out in foreign countries fighting a war (yes, a war) that we didn't even want to start in the first place. We watch some of those proud men and women come back in boxes and our leaders don't even have the respect to be there when their coffins come out of the plane to salute them.
Our children are being brought up in an artifical world where they are wrapped up in cotton wool and don't understand real values, real fear. I used to climb trees when I was a kid. Kids now aren't allowed to do that anymore in case they fall out of the tree and sue the owner for damages. Who the hell climbed the tree in the first instance, sometimes without the owners permission? A sports day at a school, every child gets a medal for "participating" regardless of whether they won or lost. Compensation culture, mollycoddling, it all ends up with now where children and young adults think they can do anything because people are afraid that they might be sued, or even worse knifed or shot, for even looking at them.
Even I am guilty of it. My 12 year old was hugging me the other day in a store and I asked him not to. He is nearly as tall as me and my reasoning was that it could look odd to some people. How wrong is that? I should hug him. I should love him. It is the people who think that hugging him in public is wrong who are the weirdos.
We need to get back to a world where truth and love are paramount. Respect and caring for others is where we need to be. We need to love one another like there is no tomorrow because the way we are going there won't be a tomorrow. It is not how big our plasma TV is that is important, it is not how much I can get if I sue that is important.
Next time you walk along the street and you see that guy with his cardboard box asking for change, give him the benefit of the doubt and give him enough change to go in to a coffee shop and get a hot drink. Yeah, he may not be fully genuine, but check out the smile on his face when you do so. That's enough for me to let me know that I am paying it back, however small an amount it is.
We need love and we need truth. Give all the love you can and strive for the truth. Every day.
SCB
