Desiderata

[amberica]

I just had a chat with a friend who is going through some tough times. Or rather, he is just starting to emerge from them, but that doesn't make it any less tough. Things got so bad that he now has only one direction to go - UP. And that in itself is somewhat encouraging for him.

For some reason, while we were chatting, I remembered how my mom likes to say "The universe is unfolding as it should." It's a line from a poem called Desiderata, published in 1927 and then recorded with music in 1971, kind of like the Baz Luhrman recording of "Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen)". (You should click that link. It will explain where that text actually came from. I kind of get annoyed when people just think Baz wrote it. It wasn't even a speech to a graduating class. It was a newspaper column, people. It was written to graduates, but it was not a speech.) /pedantic rant

OK, so here's the text of Desiderata. I like it. Enjoy.

Comments

[mouse-gerald.livejournal.com]

I've loved the Desiderata for years. I didn't know it was ever put to music, though. Thanks for the info & history!

[amberica.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, it was Les Crane - it's kinda hippy-feel-good sounding music, but nice. You might like it! I can't remember if I have the mp3 or not... I'll have to check when I get home.

[mouse-gerald.livejournal.com]

So far Kazaa's found four versions; Three in Spanish (Jose Luis Rodriguez, Arturo Benavides, and Roberto Vicario), and one in English by Daniel O'Donnell. O'Donnell's got a nice Irish accent, but the music and his trying-too-hard-to-sound-sincere voice are so sappy it's actually kind of funny.

[amberica.livejournal.com]

Oh man, now I gotta find that one! I did a google search for Les Crane and Desiderata and I got this page, which made me laugh when I read the next-to-last paragraph:

More amusingly, National Lampoon recorded a devastating parody of "Desiderata," retitled "Deteriorata," on their 1972 album Radio Dinner. Norman Rose took the poker-faced place of Crane, advising listeners to "go placidly amid the noise and waste," and declaring on the chorus, "You are a fluke of the universe. You have no right to be here. And whether you can hear it or not, the universe is laughing behind your back." The pseudo-gospel-soul backup vocals were handled by a then-little-known Melissa Manchester. The song got a second life a few years later on Dr. Demento's syndicated radio show, on which "Deteriorata" became a firm favorite, reaching the ears of many listeners who might have never heard the song it was satirizing.

Now I gotta find THAT too! LOL

[mouse-gerald.livejournal.com]

Kazaa's searching now, I'll let you know if I find it. :)

FYI, I just e-mailed you some stuff I got in e-mail on local poi spinning classes in case you're interested...

[amberica.livejournal.com]

Aww, Thanks! (I'm on that mailing list, BTW ;) This girl likes to stay informed!

[imogen-blue.livejournal.com]

now my curiosity is peaked - i have to find it too.

wait - found it.

[amberica.livejournal.com]

haha - send it! Email it to me!

[imogen-blue.livejournal.com]

it's 5mb - that could take a while to dl.
are you on more than dialup?

[amberica.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we're on a high-speed cable connection. Although now that I think of it, email might not be the best way to send it!

Maybe next time we chat we can just do a file transfer via MSN... or else I can just go and find it for myself! ;)