Songs of the season... Columbus Day is not without controversy. For Europe, Africa, and Asia, this day 521 years ago was the beginning, the discovery of Terra Nova, the New World (though, of course, the Western Hemisphere had been discovered several times already, though with far less fanfare and far less lasting impact). My ancestors would never have reached the Americas, would never have come together to create the genetic combination that I carry around Singapore on a daily basis, had Columbus not, in 1492...sailed the ocean blue. However, for those in the Americas--the indigenous inhabitants, the orang asli--that day began 522 years of cultural and population collapse, of genocide, of discrimination, of annihilation and forced assimilation. Horrors upon horrors. Its no wonder that there has been resistance to the holiday--and not just in the US, but throughout the hemisphere Columbus discovered. A beautiful song from one of my all-time favourite singer-songwriters, Suzanne Vega. Beautiful imagery. ______ If your love were taken from me Every color would be black and white It would be as flat as the world before Columbus Thats the day that I lose half my sight If your life were taken from me All the trees would freeze in this cold ground It would be as cruel as the world before Columbus Sail to the edge and Id be there looking down Those men who lust for land And for riches strange and new Who love those trinkets of desire Oh they never will have you And theyll never know the gold Or the copper in your hair How could they weigh the worth Of you so rare If your love were taken from me Every light thats bright would soon go dim It would be as dark as the world before Columbus Down the waterfall and Id swim over the brim Those men who lust for land And for riches strange and new Who love those trinkets of desire Oh they will never have you And theyll never know the gold Or the copper in your hair How could they weigh the worth Of you so rare youtube/watch?v=PZ-fuzmL9RQ
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 12:35:34 +0000
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