... tell me brother have you heard 'bout Johannesburg?"
Gil Scott Heron
As far as jazz funk music and urban poets go, he is the man. Thankfully, his talents have lain unknown to the mainstream music generation but the guy is pure genius.
"See that black boy over there, running scared: his old man's on the bottle..."
This particular lyric and the tune behind it was like soundtrack to my late teens and early twenties when I discovered jazz funk and all kinds of rare groove delights. In fact had Gil not been such a car crash in other areas of his life (like being a heroin addict..) he may well have become something of a hero and someone to look up to in areas other than his accepted musical or poetical genius. He was an inspiration. He still is. Try listening to 'angel dust', and I challenge you to name another tune so poignant about the lure and revishes of drugs.
What has this to do with SAHD? well it's about examples, it's about examples you set for your kids. What is it you want for your kids? what do you want them to take forward as their core principles for life? I know what I want Little Prince to learn and to experience.
Safety, security, respect, dignity, kindness... all those things, but most of all happiness. I am lucky to have been fortunate enough to have been given a good start in life. Gil obviously did not. He sings about the things in life that ultimately and still continue to ravish his life. Am I the only one to listen to those sad lyrics and feel sadness for what must have happenned to Gil as a child?
I don't want little prince having the experience to sing such sad songs.
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