These are the days of the open hand
They will not be the last
Look around now
These are the days of the beggars and the choosersThis is the year of the hungry man
Whose place is in the past
Hand in hand with ignorance
And legitimate excusesThe rich declare themselves poor
And most of us are not sure
If we have too much
But we'll take our chances
Because god's stopped keeping score
I guess somewhere along the way
He must have let us alt out to play
Turned his back and all god's children
Crept out the back doorAnd it's hard to love, there's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope
When there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it's much too late
Well maybe we should all be praying for time
As a little girl, I loved Wham! And "Last Christmas" is an all-time, any-time-of-year favorite song of mine. My first concert was seeing George Michael in 1988 on his Faith tour. His duet with Aretha Franklin is a go-to encouragement anthem. I know he's released a few dance pop albums in the most recent decade that I've largely ignored, but his voice remains forever one of the most beautiful. I shared Michael's incredulity that LWP wasn't as popular an album as his previous - to me it is his crowning achievement of 100% listenability and full range of moods and emotions. It was always a disappointment to note there was not, and now will never be, a Volume 2. So, in memoriam to this gorgeous, emotive, voice, lost to the world yesterday, I decided not to decide and have posted the link to the entire Volume 1. If you stop listening after "Praying for Time" I understand - it is almost the perfect tribute in itself, except then you'd miss the rest of the ride.
(For the playlist, I'll let Keith pick... maybe "Waiting for That Day" or "Freedom (90)" or even "Knew You Were Waiting" - rather than one of the make-me-cry tracks.)