Below that is "If", by Rudyard Kipling, which is one of her new songs, adapted from that poem.
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
7 comments:
Oh Annie. Bless your heart! I've been so busy that I haven't even tried to keep up with the music scene - and now to learn about this new work! I am ecstatic You are my muse, woman!
And...
Thank you for posting the youtube clip. I would never have found it (nor looked!). My heart is light tonight.
I once had a copy of IF pinned above my desk at work, has to be one of the greatest pieces of literature ever created.
I was lucky enough to hear it read by a well known actor (Brian Blessed) and it made the hairs on my neck stand on end, so very moving.
from a case of you to the magadelene lauderettes, i heart joni so much. her music has helped me live the life i live today.
I have an advance copy and it is "well worth having" when it comes out! ; )
Sorry, I didn't notice until I was going to slip away, isn't the KV "man without a country" a good read? !
If by Pink Floyd is a pretty groovy song too
My kids love Rudyard Kipling's writing, and I enjoy reading it out loud to them. But we always look at his name and imagine Mrs. Kipling senior holding a sweet little newborn in her arms and saying, "oh, isn't he beautiful! I know! Let's call him Rudyard!"
Huh?
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