I have been thinking a lot about Kindness, Being Kind etc for a good few days and it's easy to get caught up in thinking that it doesn't exist too much if we dwell too much on a lot of the dark things that are going on around the world and on Social Media. We watch the news and the final five minutes are given to a story that reminds us, in the words of Frank Turner, "In a world that has decided that it's going to lose its mind", there's always a better way, "Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind". So I found three songs that promote this theme in different ways but essentially they are all saying the same thing. I'll start with Frank Turner's excellent song, 'Be More Kind':
History's been leaning on me lately;
I can feel the future breathing down my neck
And all the things I thought were true
When I was young, and you were too
Turned out to be broken
And I don't know what comes next
In a world that has decided
That it's going to lose its mind
Be more kind, my friends
Try to be more kind
They've started raising walls around the world now
Like hackles raised upon a cornered cat
On the borders, in our heads
Between things that can and can't be said
We've stopped talking to each other
And there's something wrong with that
So before you go out searching
Don't decide what you will find
Be more kind, my friends
Try to be more kind
You should know you're not alone
And trouble comes, and trouble goes
How this ends, no one knows
So hold on tight when the wind blows
The wind blew both of us to sand and sea
And where the dry land stands is hard to say
As the current drags us by the shore
We can no longer say for sure
Who's drowning, or if they can be saved
And when you're out there floundering
Like a lighthouse I will shine
Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind
Like a beacon reaching out
To you and yours from me and mine
Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind
- Music and Lyrics by Frank Turner
The Gentle Kind - Aztec Camera (Written by Roddy Frame)
I look around me and what do I see?
Sadness surrounds me, alone as can be
With too much time and too much distance
These chains that bind me, they won't set me free
I look behind me and coming for me, yeah
My best friend, she's my resistance
So if you find yourself alone and so unkind
And if you've asked yourself, over and over
And even if your heartbeats hurt like goodbyes
Try, try, try, open your mind
Spend some time with the gentle kind
I was torn between the darkness and the light
Lost to all belief that it could turn out right
But my quiet friend turned me 'round
Made me see again
She took my hand, said nothing much
No lesson learned, just a gentle touch
And I was coming 'round
I am, I am coming 'round again
So if you find yourself alone and so unkind
And if you've asked yourself, over and over
And even if your heartbeats hurt like goodbyes
Try, try, try, open your mind
Spend some time with the gentle kind
'cause in a hard world, with fastness and an eye on the money
I heard a soft voice, saying "Never worry, hold on honey"
When my world was gone, a whisper kind of eased my mind
And I am holdin' on to the gentle kind
She took my hand, said nothing much
No lesson learned, just a soft touch
So if you find yourself alone and so unkind
And if you've asked yourself, over and over
And even if your heartbeats hurt like goodbyes
Try, try, try, open your mind
Spend some time with the gentle kind
Open your mind
Spend some time with the gentle kind
Open your mind
Spend some time with the gentle kind
The third song is by The Bouncing Souls. I have posted the original version from the 'Anchors Aweigh' album released in 2003 and the newer version, which I am coming to like more than the original, from the 2020 album 'Volume 2'.
Simple Man - The Bouncing Souls
Written by Bryan T Kienlen / Gregory A Attonito / Michael H Mcdermott / Peter William Steinkopf
I see lives crash like waves on the shore again and again
In an endless cycle of join and pain
Inside one day your whole life can change innocence torn away
Trust gives way to a thicker pain
A shield from pain? Or a trap that keeps it all in.
They tried to break me down, I had to break away
I woke up from that night mare to start another day
I want to be a simple man with a little peace of mind
Live a simple life, in a place that's kind
I see lives crash like waves on the shore again and again.
No poetry, no symmetry, nothing left inside of me
What happened to that feeling of invincibility?
Broken up caught under the load
Broken down by the side of the road
They tried to break me down I had to break away
I woke up from that nightmare to start another day
I woke up from that night mare to start another day
I want to be a simple man with a little peace of mind
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