Sunday, October 31, 2010
For Sad Third Anniversary of Meredith’s Death, Your Suggestions For Music Videos That Resonate?
Posted by Earthling
The third anniversary of Meredith’s death in Perugia will be next weekend.
As in previous year there will be private services and kind Perugians who cared and care for her will place flowers at the gate of her house. We think the best we can do to channel how readers might feel is to open a new page (from Monday) for your musical video choices of how Meredith and her passing speaks to you.
These above and below are two videos shortlisted by our main posters as perhaps evoking how far Meredith had already come, where she was headed in the world, and what her needless death cut so brutally short in her infectiously-laughing, ever-more-successful prime of life.
I would like to offer a few words of my own to try to convey what I myself am feeling.
First and foremost, I must say that neither I nor any of us here on TJMK can even begin to imagine what Meredith’s family and her many friends in London, Leeds and elsewhere have gone through and are still going through. Nevertheless, because we as humans are empathetic creatures, we strain and struggle to understand their pain.
I don’t think many of us reach too advanced an age without experiencing some strong grief. I may even go so far as to say that our shared grief is our wisdom. I myself lost both my parents at the age of 39 ““ my father to Alzheimers, and my mother, much more suddenly, to cancer. I know for a fact that the more sudden death, my mother’s, was the more difficult to bear. So I can imagine a tinge of what a truly sudden and brutal death of a loved one, through murder or suicide, might be like ““ although I have never experienced it myself.
Those who have never allowed themselves to feel any strong grief seem the most likely to heap scorn on those who have. In particular, those who most vociferously support the murderess in this sad case seem to me to be people who have long-buried pain and grief that they cannot acknowledge. So they belittle the Kerchers’ pain and support those who caused it.
I was severely criticized recently by a pro-Knoxer as ignoring the thousands of tsunami victims in my focus on one specific victim. Yes, the tsunami was sudden, brutal and tragic. Yet it was an act of God. Aside from helping the survivors, there was no human responsible for the event, so no crime and punishment issues are involved. It is also human nature to want to ensure justice to the victim and her survivors. Those who refuse to understand this are not playing with a full deck, are not acknowledging the responsibilities of a moral society, and are in essence blaming the victim (see Emma’s recent eloquent post on this phenomenon).
But let’s focus no longer on those poor misguided souls who support murderers, for whom there is probably a special circle in Dante’s Hell, and reflect on our own difficulties in empathizing with what we do not understand and can never fully comprehend.
We are faced with the seemingly impossible task of empathizing with people we don’t know, over the loss of a girl, wonderful, brilliant, loving, and joyous, whom however we also didn’t know.
Even generations of time cannot separate one from those whose heartbeat is in empathy with ours. Is there any doubt that those who heard the first performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony felt any less stirring in their breasts than we do now, over 200 years later? Walt Whitman wrote movingly of the intergenerational affection he felt for those to come after in “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.”
Can those who live in our time, yet on a different continent, or in a different city, yet whom we don’t personally know, merit our sympathy any less, therefore? I think not. As the poet John Donne says:
No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a Clod be washed away by the Sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a Promontory were, as well as if a Manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
Few of us watching the thrilling rescue of the Chilean miners last week on TV knew them personally. Yet, we are involved in mankind; and we rejoiced with them and their families. Shame upon those who think that the grief, as well as the joy, of those whom we don’t know should not touch us. After the Chilean miners were rescued last week, they got together with their rescuers and sang the Chilean national anthem. Our breasts stirred with theirs. Music binds people together.
One of the more sickening aspects of this trial is the way Ms. Knox has appropriated certain cultural icons ““ good and beneficial in themselves ““ to herself, as if to use them as a banner. Her sick identification with Harry Potter and the Beatles, especially John Lennon, is a perversion of how a right-thinking person would use such cultural treasures. John Lennon himself was murdered by a deranged individual, and would hardly be supportive of any other murderer. Harry Potter worked for good, not evil, and used minimal violence only when absolutely necessary to defeat that evil. Harry’s own parents were murdered, and he suffered every day because of it.
Music is a great source of power. When the Civil Rights marchers of the “˜60s bravely faced water cannons, dogs, and men with clubs for their cause, they sang together, “We Shall Overcome.” I believe that we must re-appropriate the cultural icons that Ms. Knox has tried to steal from us as a mask for her murderous impulses. A murderer saying “all you need is love” is not the latest thing in “Post-modernism”; it is evil, pure and simple. Somehow, I’m confident John Lennon would have mourned the horrific loss of Meredith Kercher and spurned association with her convicted murderess.
We would now like to open it up to YOU the wider audience of True Justice for Meredith Kercher. What videos or songs remind you of Meredith, speak to her promising future, or help you deal with your grief?
Please email or post in Comments below your YouTube suggestions with some words explaining why that video resonates for you. All this week, we are going to add those videos and words on the new Musical Tributes to Meredith page.
We know there will be sad videos, of loss and grief. But we are also looking for the upbeat side. A clear majority of the videos on TJMK that already commemorate Meredith are decidedly upbeat.
Part of recovering from grief is knowing that the loved one’s love is still with us. Where would Meredith be now? And where was she headed in the next half century or more that should have been accorded to her? What do you imagine she would be doing? Where would she be living? Who would her friends be now?
Let your imagination and empathy run wild, and let us know what you think, and what music you claim for Meredith’s memory. Thank you!
Forever rest in peace, dear Meredith
Posted by Earthling on 10/31/10 at 04:44 PM in Concerning Meredith
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“Una storia che vale†by Laura Pausini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAupo8O8JP8&feature=fvst
http://lyricstranslate.com/en/Una-storia-che-vale-Una-storia-che-vale.html
Posted by ncountryside on 10/23/10 at 03:15 PM | #
Hi Earthling,
Thank you for your eloquent words.
Imagine by Eva Cassidy in memory of Meredith Kercher.
Like Meredith, Eva’s life was stolen from us all too soon.
As an inspiring US singer with a beautiful voice, the world really came to Know Eva’s songs only after her untimely death by cancer at the young age of 33.
Eva’s records were released posthumously so that all of us would be able to cherish her songs forever.
I imagine now in heaven, Eva continues to sing to Meredith in her soulful voice, so that Meredith may enjoy her love of music forever.
“You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one”
Rest in peace Meredith Kercher.
Posted by True North on 10/23/10 at 04:02 PM | #
As I already noted, my dear old mother died the same day as Meredith, a few hours before. At her funeral, we played “All You Need Is Love”, since that summed up mum’s attitude to life, and her influence on me and my brother and sister, and everyone else who met her. Then Knox wore *that* t-shirt to court, and this struggle for justice for Meredith became something rather personal to me.
I would heartily recommend a solo work from each of the Beatles. In descending order of preference:
“Love” by John Lennon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G-qAKmACDE
“Photograph” by Ringo Starr. Truly moving song and lyrics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YZKUf5I2is
“Hope of Deliverance” by Macca:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcYT4oI1LlE
“My Sweet Lord” by George Harrison:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k5Hpa4NVKI
I hope non-English readers will forgive me, given my personal story related above, for wanting to reclaim the Beatles from Knox. They belonged to us, not her. They belonged to my mother, not her.
And one thing is very clear about Knox: she may have listened to the music. She didn’t listen to the lyrics.
Posted by Janus on 10/23/10 at 05:16 PM | #
I could post 200 more songs, or I could choose one. I shall go for the latter, and suggest Clint Hill’s version of “The Universe Song”. Humourous and amusing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT7bAuOz8ao
Posted by Janus on 10/23/10 at 05:22 PM | #
Meredith was such a young and beautiful girl.
She had her whole life in front of her.
So many things to do.
So many places to see.
From “Con te partirò”:
Con te partirò.
Paesi che non ho mai veduto e vissuto con te.
Io con te.
I will leave with you.
I will go with you to countries that I have never seen or lived before.
You and I.
Posted by Clander on 10/23/10 at 05:37 PM | #
cose della vita - eros ramazotti
Posted by mojo on 10/23/10 at 05:56 PM | #
Just about anything sang by Eva Cassidy resonates with me - her songs would be my first choice. Genuine, amazing person as Eva with her incredible voice and musical talent strikes me as fitting artist for this tribute to Meredith.
Posted by cath on 10/23/10 at 06:03 PM | #
I don’t want to start a squabble, and I apologize for any offence, but Meredith was English. She belongs to all of us who care for justice, but at the same time, in her life, she remained “a body of England, breathing English air”. Her references were English. She was born of England and now rests in English soil. I would personally prefer if she was remembered within those frames of reference. I mean no offence, and I will not post on this thread again. As I noted above, I have previously mentioned the similarities between Meredith and my mother. I do not wish to embarrass anyone, least of all myself, but she is OUR rose, and will ever be so.
I will now maintain radio silence.
Posted by Janus on 10/23/10 at 07:09 PM | #
Smile at us, pay us, pass us; but do not quite forget;
For we are the people of England, that never have spoken yet.
There is many a fat farmer that drinks less cheerfully,
There is many a free French peasant who is richer and sadder than we.
There are no folk in the whole world so helpless or so wise.
There is hunger in our bellies, there is laughter in our eyes;
You laugh at us and love us, both mugs and eyes are wet:
Only you do not know us. For we have not spoken yet.
The fine French kings came over in a flutter of flags and dames.
We liked their smiles and battles, but we never could say their names.
The blood ran red to Bosworth and the high French lords went down;
There was naught but a naked people under a naked crown.
And the eyes of the King’s Servants turned terribly every way,
And the gold of the King’s Servants rose higher every day.
They burnt the homes of the shaven men, that had been quaint and kind,
Till there was no bed in a monk’s house, nor food that man could find.
The inns of God where no man paid, that were the wall of the weak.
The King’s Servants ate them all. And still we did not speak.
And the face of the King’s Servants grew greater than the King:
He tricked them, and they trapped him, and stood round him in a ring.
The new grave lords closed round him, that had eaten the abbey’s fruits,
And the men of the new religion, with their bibles in their boots,
We saw their shoulders moving, to menace or discuss,
And some were pure and some were vile; but none took heed of us.
We saw the King as they killed him, and his face was proud and pale;
And a few men talked of freedom, while England talked of ale.
A war that we understood not came over the world and woke
Americans, Frenchmen, Irish; but we knew not the things they spoke.
They talked about rights and nature and peace and the people’s reign:
And the squires, our masters, bade us fight; and scorned us never again.
Weak if we be for ever, could none condemn us then;
Men called us serfs and drudges; men knew that we were men.
In foam and flame at Trafalgar, on Albuera plains,
We did and died like lions, to keep ourselves in chains,
We lay in living ruins; firing and fearing not
The strange fierce face of the Frenchmen who knew for what they fought,
And the man who seemed to be more than a man we strained against and broke;
And we broke our own rights with him. And still we never spoke.
Our patch of glory ended; we never heard guns again.
But the squire seemed struck in the saddle; he was foolish, as if in pain,
He leaned on a staggering lawyer, he clutched a cringing Jew,
He was stricken; it may be, after all, he was stricken at Waterloo.
Or perhaps the shades of the shaven men, whose spoil is in his house,
Come back in shining shapes at last to spoil his last carouse:
We only know the last sad squires rode slowly towards the sea,
And a new people takes the land: and still it is not we.
They have given us into the hand of new unhappy lords,
Lords without anger or honour, who dare not carry their swords.
They fight by shuffling papers; they have bright dead alien eyes;
They look at our labour and laughter as a tired man looks at flies.
And the load of their loveless pity is worse than the ancient wrongs,
Their doors are shut in the evening; and they know no songs.
We hear men speaking for us of new laws strong and sweet,
Yet is there no man speaketh as we speak in the street.
It may be we shall rise the last as Frenchmen rose the first,
Our wrath come after Russia’s wrath and our wrath be the worst.
It may be we are meant to mark with our riot and our rest
God’s scorn for all men governing. It may be beer is best.
But we are the people of England; and we have not spoken yet.
Smile at us, pay us, pass us. But do not quite forget.
Posted by Janus on 10/23/10 at 09:09 PM | #
Now, I will maintain radio silence, I swear!
Posted by Janus on 10/23/10 at 09:22 PM | #
Only one for me…
Tears in Heaven
Posted by Love Wolf on 10/23/10 at 10:17 PM | #
Okay, I have a lot of songs, but I can’t choose just one or two! LOL…
And just to prevent WW3 (LOL), I will choose one Italian and one English video:
Tu, Ca Nun Chiagne - Jose Carreras
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh2EjP7Du9U
A Neapolitan love song with just such a gorgeous melody. Carreras is amazing.
Jerusalem - Wm Blake (unofficial British anthem)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFrVrBQh_50
Video has beautiful scenery of England, Meredith’s home country.
You Are So Beautiful - Joe Cocker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WwDt1AUOOk
... because Meredith was!!! 😊
Brave - Jennifer Lopez
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pN8OFZ94bw
I love this quotation at the beginning, I think it describes Meredith:
To be brave is to behave
Bravely when your heart is faint
So you can be really brave
Only when you really ain’t.
—Piet Hein (1905-1996)
I think this video shows an independent career woman, as Meredith would be now. I also really like the lyrics and the melody.
Seal - Don’t Cry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXsAtWbEoRU
Lyrics that help me deal with grief. And there’s a beautiful red rose in the video that reminds me of Meredith’s red rose that bloomed in front of the cottage:
Don’t cry.
You’re not alone.
Don’t cry,
Tonight, my baby.
Don’t cry.
You’ll always be loved.
Brown-Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXsAtWbEoRU
With cute pictures of the video-makers’ two brown-eyed girls - like Meredith!
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjNgn4r6SOA (with lyrics)
This reminds me of how Meredith’s dreams were coming true… Also, this was my Mom’s favorite song:
Sail on silver girl
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way
See how they shine
If you need a friend
I’m sailing right behind…
Thanks to everyone who’s contributed… keep ‘em coming!!!
Posted by Earthling on 10/24/10 at 07:44 AM | #
Finlandia/A Song of Peace http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eSZwuttE_g
because I think she would have loved it, and because I doubt the Knox clan could understand the sentiment at all.
Posted by NearlyNeville on 10/24/10 at 11:52 AM | #
Arvo Pärt - Da Pacem Domine from ‘In Principio’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxKqg0Fwsro
Da Pacem Domine (Give Peace Lord)
Posted by Helder Licht on 10/24/10 at 12:41 PM | #
Another moving post on Meredith´s behalf. Well done ,Earthling.I have to agree that the power of music plays an important role as a conveyor of strong emotion , especially in a case as sad as the commemmoration of the death of a beloved person. Interestingly, what we are trying to achieve for Meredith is also being done for the victims of the Winnenden school shooting that occurred here in Germany on March 11, 2009. Teenege gunman Tim Kretschmer murdered 16 people, elven of whom were his former classmates at the Albertville-Realschule. 16-year-old Viktorija Minasenko was one of the victims. Her mother, a pianist, has tried to come to terms with the loss of her only child by means of music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOT-8Q5yv_w
I hope this is not off-topic but I think there`s a close parallel here with Meredith`s case as it also deals with a young, talented person who died tragically .
Posted by aethelred23 on 10/25/10 at 03:25 AM | #
I always think of the lovely and graceful Meredith when I hear “The Swan” by Saint-Saens. Here is the youtube of The Swan as performed by Yo-Yo Ma.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWS1PfEQk9E
Posted by jodyodyo on 10/25/10 at 03:36 AM | #
That was beautiful, aethelred. Not off-topic at all. Victorija had the same birthday as my father! And I love The Swan - perfect choice as well, jodyodyo!
The Finlandia song was great as well, and I’d never heard Arvo Part’s work before. Thanks - and keep ‘em coming!
Posted by Earthling on 10/25/10 at 06:16 AM | #
Arvo Pärt - Alina
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmafNVimRbI&translated=1
Posted by Helder Licht on 10/25/10 at 11:55 AM | #
By Storm Roberts (Innai)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-hCJ6q0aQg&feature=related
Arcadia - “Missing”
Do you remember the photograph of a red rose in the snow with Meredith’s home in the background? Seeing that picture immediately brought one of my favourite albums to mind: “So Red the Rose”.
“Missing”: this song, and especially the video, reminds me how much our lives can be lit up by someone who can no longer be with us. Meredith had a smile that lit up so many lives - her friends and family’s especially - even now she is gone her light still shines. Many people may feel this is quite a sad, haunting song, but I feel it is very uplifting.
Posted by Nolongeramember on 10/25/10 at 05:45 PM | #
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZGwDYBWEDSc&nofeather=True
“Fields of Gold”
Many years have passed since those summer days
Among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down
Among the fields of gold
You’ll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in the fields of gold
When we walked in the fields of gold
When we walked in the fields of gold
Posted by True North on 10/25/10 at 07:04 PM | #
Going the Irish route, here’s a couple more:
Danny Boy - Harry Belafonte
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stIuOMgDUi0
Such power and longing in Belafonte’s voice! I grew up listening to this version; my Dad loved this album of Belafonte at Carnegie Hall. Beautiful landscape scenes add to the mood.
When Irish Eyes Are Smiling - Dennis Morgan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIsduCQ7ByE
In her pictures, Meredith is always smiling—she seemed like one of the happiest people on the planet! This version is from a scene in the movie Tear Gas Squad in which the wonderful tenor Dennis Morgan is trying to impress his girlfriend’s parents and brothers.
Posted by Earthling on 10/25/10 at 10:40 PM | #
Janus, I would vote for Jerusalem. i’m not english, but it’s a favorite of mine as well.
Posted by mojo on 10/26/10 at 12:03 PM | #
My dad’s birthday would of been the same day as Meredith’s death Nov 2nd.
So this day will have double meaning to me, One for my father who I love and miss and the second for a lovely young lady who was taken from this world before she was able to mature fully and fly on her own.
The Dance by Garth Brooks this song isn’t for Meredith but for her family.
My dad had this song played at his funeral for us, after the song the preacher read a letter to us from my dad
Posted by jasmine1998 on 10/26/10 at 07:51 PM | #
no poetry?
The rainbow comes and goes,
And lovely is the rose;
The moon doth with delight
Look round her when the heavens are bare;
Waters on a starry night
Are beautiful and fair;
The sunshine is a glorious birth;
But yet I know, where’er I go,
That there hath pass’d away a glory from the earth.
Posted by mojo on 10/27/10 at 12:39 PM | #
Beautiful, mojo.
Now my poetic choice:
I meant to do my work today
But a brown bird sang in the apple tree,
And a butterfly flitted across the field,
And all the leaves were calling me.
And the wind went sighing over the land,
Tossing the grasses to and fro,
And a rainbow held out its shining hand—
So what could I do but laugh and go?
by Richard LeGallienne; because Meredith seemed such a free spirit.
Posted by Earthling on 10/28/10 at 08:23 AM | #
I Will Remember You
by Sarah McLachlan
Posted by Kazwell on 10/28/10 at 08:28 AM | #
this is for Meredith’s family. I think she would have liked this one from Coldplay.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7OQSl4FdJE
Come up to meet you, tell you I’m sorry
You don’t know how lovely you are.
I had to find you, tell you I need you,
Tell you I set you apart.
Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions,
Oh lets go back to the start.
Running in circles, Comin’ in tails
Heads on a science apart.
Nobody said it was easy,
It’s such a shame for us to part.
Nobody said it was easy,
No one ever said it would be this hard.
Oh take me back to the start.
I was just guessin’ at numbers and figures,
Pulling the puzzles apart.
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart.
And tell me you love me, come back and haunt me
Oh and I rush to the start.
Runnin’ in circles, Chasin’ tails
Comin’ back as we are
Nobody said it was easy,
Oh it’s such a shame for us to part.
Nobody said it was easy,
No one ever said it would be so hard.
I’m goin’ back to the start.
Ohhhh oooooo
Ahhhh oooooo
Ohhhh oooooo
Ohhhh oooooo
Posted by Professor Snape on 10/30/10 at 02:00 AM | #
A song about losing people, a lament.
O who will remember, O who will be sure
And still feel the silence as close as before
And was there a season without any rain,
And never, O never, O never again?
The time for dividing and no-one will speak
Of the sadness of hiding, and the softness of sleep
O will there be nothing of peace ‘till the end,
Or never, O never, O never again?
Old man how you tarry, old man how you weep
The trinkets you carry and the garlands you keep
For the salt tears of lovers and the whispers of friends
Come never, O never, O never again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hizabrb3eFM
Posted by Patch on 10/31/10 at 03:19 PM | #
**********************************************************************************************************************************************
From original poster Earthling: Hi Everyone. THANKS for posting your videos, songs, poems, etc. Keep ‘em coming!
And a request: From here on out, we will be embedding all the suggested videos on the Memorial Videos page.
REQUEST: All those who have commented here, or comment in the future—can you please now repost your comments under the video that you suggested?
Thanks! It’s so important as it helps the readers to understand why that video was chosen, what meaning it has to the poster, why it reminds him/her of Meredith, etc.
If the video you suggested is not up there yet, please have patience… We are phasing all of them in. Please suggest more.
And of course, feel more than free to comment on ANY video on the “Memorial Videos” page. Thanks again for remembering Meredith. It really means something.
I hope you rest peacefully, dear Meredith
**********************************************************************************************************************************************
Posted by Earthling on 10/31/10 at 11:47 PM | #
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJKlQbMx9Xg
This is Dave Gilmour singing Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18. The words are absolutely beautiful, and make me think of Meredith, and how her beauty and grace will never fade, but remain as a light in the world forever.
Posted by TT on 11/01/10 at 05:38 PM | #
Sorry a bit late but I have been away.
Here is a magnificent performance by Julian Lloyd Webber of The Swan by Saint Saens.
Although the listener may be struck by sadness on listening to this piece, it is actually full of hope.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Moh9KxC_iQA
R.I.P. Meredith.
Posted by Black Dog on 11/05/10 at 11:01 AM | #
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Or to previous entry More Anger Toward Hayden Panettiere For Arch-Callousness Toward Meredith’s Family