Last night I posted about the song "Let It Be" from "Across the Universe."
This morning, I added the song since it seems that many people wanted to hear it. The clip I chose has pretty much no visual stimulation...and I picked it for that very reason. I think it's a great way to hear the song and interpret it how you want.
However, if you want to see the clip from the movie, here you go.
Background: the white girl was dating a guy that went to the war.
I love musicals - really. And my iPod is loaded with the songs from them. This makes me an extremely annoying person to take road trips with. Consider this your warning.
A couple of months ago I saw the movie/musical "Across the Universe" at the urging of a friend. I really wanted to see it anyway, so it didn't take much urging for me to run out and rent it. I love Beatles songs AND I'm a sucker for guys with accents. My review: it was awesome in the beginning, then got weird, and then was good again.
One of the songs that was featured was "Let It Be." I already have love for this song as I remember the Sesame Street version of it (being "Letter B" sung by actual Muppet beetles). :)
The version sung in this movie was so profound and moving that I found myself crying with emotion. First, the boy's voice is so overwhelmingly pure that it's just a treat to listen to. And then it turns all gospel-ish where a woman is singing...and in that part you hear her pleading to have the things that she's praying for to come to fruition. And all of the sudden her voice is breaking - singing over and over to simply let it be. You can hear the struggle in her voice - the desperate begging.
And that's where I start to lose it...focusing on the repetitive phrase of "let it be" along with the sound of passion, the strength in her voice, as well as the strain of dealing with things that she simply can't understand or deal with. I start to pull that simple phrase inward - dwelling on those words.
Because letting something be is not and has never been my strength. Having a laid back approach to things and accepting the way stuff is does not come naturally to me. Simply letting something that is happening to just BE without trying to twist, turn, or pull it in a different direction...well, that's almost unheard of in my life.
It's through listening to this song that I remember that life doesn't have to be filled with struggles - it's okay to just BE. It's okay to just take a break and breathe.
It's also a good reminder that if it seems to be too much of a struggle to change something, perhaps it doesn't NEED changing. Perhaps I need to pay attention to things that shouldn't be changed, shouldn't be messed with. Perhaps the growth is not in the struggle of taking something from what it was into something it was never meant to be - but rather in me accepting that person, situation, event, or even action.
It reminds me of the original version of the Serenity Prayer, which is my favorite version and in my humble opinion much more profound than the widely accepted version:
God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
I love that...why don't I focus on changing the things that SHOULD be changed - versus the more popular version of changing things that I CAN change. Just because I can change them, doesn't mean I should. Let me ask for grace to accept with calmness the stuff that I simply can't change.
Help me learn to let it be - if only for a little while.
Yesterday wanted to rent two specific movies. Instead what I came away with was the first season of "The Office" (I had never seen those episodes) and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."
First, "The Office." I love that show. The end. :)
Now the second rental. So this movie is weird. I'm trying to remember when I saw it - and I just don't remember. They mention 2004 in it a couple of times, but I can't remember who I saw it with. In fact, the only thing I really remembered was the basic plot of the movie...that a girl and a guy decide that they're in so much pain over their relationship that they erase each other from their memories.
It's a great movie in the sense of what it tries to do - artistically speaking. And it's such a strange concept that I really liked the movie. Kinda' like "Adaptation," also written by Charlie Kauffman. At one point in the movie, Jim Carrey's character, Joel, is remembering all the scenes of his relationship with Kate Winslet's character, Clementine. This particular memory is a sweet memory. And he's screaming out loud, "Please let me keep this memory. Just this one." Of course, it is erased.
WARNING: do not read this next paragraph if you want to watch the movie and be surprised at the end. What I do like about the movie is how it depicts at the end that basic attraction is just that - something undeniable that can happen in any situation. I like that at the end of the movie they meet again and decide that they are excited about each other all over again. I like that they make their memories again. Maybe not the same ones, but they make memories.
It *is* a weird movie. That I'll grant you. But it gives me hope that the poor choices I might have made or might be making may not change or significantly alter the course of my life. That the job that I do or do not get offered won't dramatically change who I am at the core - or, if there is such a thing, who I am meant to be with. It smudges the idea of finality. And I like that concept. :)
I'm usually a pretty logical person. But I like movies that allow me to dream and to hope.
(sigh)
Clementine: Too many guys think I'm a concept, or I complete them, or I'm gonna' make them alive. But I'm just a fucked up girl who's looking for my own peace of mind; don't assign me yours.
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