A Musical Snapshot of Kindness In Three Songs

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

Live a simple life, in a place that's kind

Welcome To S4L Snapshots

I stopped doing the main Soundtrack4Life Blog back in 2019 (which is still available online) mainly because I was finding it too taxing on my mind, spending a good few hours on most of the Posts and I just couldn't focus for those lengths of time due to my Epilepsy, which was causing me a lot of problems at the time.

I was missing doing the whole Blog thing so I decided to come up with S4L Snapshots which is going to be very different as I will post when I can, not putting myself under any pressure and will just be posting maybe a song, news of an album that's on my radar at the moment without delving deep into explaining myself as to why I have posted it. It will generally be music etc that I personally like as I rarely on the other blog posted things I didn't like.

If you want to join me on this new step then I appreciate that and for those who read the main Soundtrack4Life Blog and are jumping on board for this one, I thank you also.