52 Songs, Week 2: "This is the World Calling"

I saw a picture tonight of Mark Hamill, aka Luke Skywalker, in his early Luke days.  The photo was intended as a doppelganger of the person, and his friend had commented, "Who's that?"

:(

Hence I shall not assume my paltry cadre of readers knows who Bob Geldof is. 

Bob Geldof scored some big hits in the early 80s as part of the band, "Boomtown Rats," most particularly a tragic song called, "I don't like Mondays."  Then he fell off the charts and he spent his way into oblivion again.  Until the famine in Africa turned up as a media cause, at which point he organized musicians into "Band Aid" along with Midge Ure, wrote a little song called, "Do they know it's Christmastime?" then went on to organize Live Aid, and subsequently became Sir Bob. 

After the problem passed beyond regular media coverage and Sir Bob descended once again into semi-obscurity, his wife ran off with Michael Hutchens (of INXS), then Michael died, then his ex-wife died, and he's wound up raising their child with her half-sisters. Pretty his life ain't, but he's not run out on it yet.

So perhaps with more than small touch of autobiography he penned, "This is the World Calling."  I think of this song as a bit of a bent love letter from the universe... the universe is calling, but he's not really sure how to answer it.  The world wants you here... but sometimes it is hard to answer back to the universe and affirm that the beauty and the quiet are meant for you.

On the same album, Sir Bob has a song called, "The Great Big Song of Indifference," which is less optimistic than this one... in this one, at least, there is a struggle still going on. 

Worth a listen.

"This is the World Calling"
I hear a heartbeat

It's ringing out across the universe
It sounds so lost and lonely
Must come from somewhere deep inside of us.

And the operator says:
All is calm and all is quiet
Close your eyes and sleep tonight.
This is the world calling
This is earth
This is the world calling
This is us.

I'm on a train now
I'm moving through the yellow fields of rape*
There's so much beauty
I wished that I believed enough to pray.

Then the operator replies:
Spinning 'round
You're wrapped in blue
There's no one looks as good as you.

This is the world calling
This is earth
This is the world calling
This is us

This is the world calling
This is us
And it goes on and on.

What we're going to do because we can't go on

What we're going to do because we can't go on
Wrap me in your arms and keep me warm tonight.
What we're going to do because we can't go on

This is the world calling
this is earth
this is the world calling
this is us

This is the world calling
this is earth
This is the world calling
God help us
And it goes on and on and on.


*Eurasian plant cultivated for its seed and as a forage crop