Dot Earth Blog: When the Fat Lady Sings

As I explained last year on this date, I took this photo in Paris in 1980, at the sleepy peak of the August vacances, when most shops, including this watch store, were shuttered. The elderly gentleman, to my eye, seemed particularly uncomfortable on his walk as he passed the hand of time.

As the clock ticks toward the close of another year, it?s worth reviewing how one ?spends? the very finite reserve of hours each of us has on this pale blue dot.

I wrote a song awhile back reflecting on this ? titled ?When She Sings.? Here are the lyrics and a recording (a live performance in which I skipped the bridge):

When She Sings ? 2012 A. Revkin

All of your life you struggle and strive
To get just a little ahead.
Days of rest few and far between.
You rush from your desk to your bed.

Someday you?ll sit on a nice heap of money.
Your mate will wear silk and gold rings.
You?ll dine on food aplenty.
But where will you be when she sings?

When she sings, when the fat lady sings,
Where will you be when she sings?
You spend all your days caught up in the game.
But where will you be when she sings?

When it?s time to account for your days and your ways.
When you?re asked to tally the score,
They don?t add up the piles of pennies.
They don?t measure the size of your floors.

They?re more apt to ask how you treated your friends,
How you dealt with your enemies, too.
When the going got tough did you turn tail and run,
Or stand firm and stick to the truth.

When she sings, when the fat lady sings,
Where will you be when she sings?
You spend all your days caught up in the game.
But where will you be when she sings?

Did you give more than you got?
Forgive more than you fought?
Relish every day, or let time slip away?

When she sings, when the fat lady sings,
Where will you be when she sings?
You spend all your days caught up in the game.
But where will you be when she sings?

Best wishes for a fruitful, healthful 2013 to you and yours.

Source: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/31/when-the-fat-lady-sings/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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