Tout prend son sens sans le miroir by Peter Peter in The Song Remembers When
- Aug. 4, 2015, 12:23 p.m.
- |
- Public
I discovered this song while randomly searching for music on iTunes. This was a couple of years ago and I was just going through the French music section, and I came upon the title track from this album, Une Version Améliorée de la Tristesse (A Better Version of Sadness). Part of the reason I was looking through the music was because I was incredibly depressed that I was still in California. I know that quite a few people have this vision of California, and for many people that is true, it can be a land of dreams. For me, California has always been a cage.
I liked the title of the album because it seemed to reflect a truth I had been struggling to understand: I won’t be happy be here, all I can hope for is a better version of what I have now. So I bought the album. It turned out to be amazing. I loved the sounds. The artist, Peter Peter, sings with a kind of laziness that reminds me of John Mayer (I know, not necessarily a compliment, but when you hear how fast the rest of French singers go, it’s nice to have someone who lets you hear the words).
This album is filled with amazing songs, but I got to this song, Tout prend son sens dans le miroir (It all makes sense in the mirror), and I felt like I had been shocked with lightning. It’s this dark, depressing song about your bad choices and how you only recognize what happens when you see it reflected back at you. It’s very simple, and there’s this whole undercurrent about partying, family, children.... just choices.
I actually use this song as my alarm. I wake up every morning to this song as a kind of reminder to keep myself in check, to make sure I’m behind myself and my choices every day. I know that sounds kind of cheesy, but that’s what this song does to me. I think of the lyrics about harming yourself through deprivation and want to make sure I’m always seeing myself clearly.
KissOfLife! ⋅ August 05, 2015
I'm glad music gives you an escape. i can't understand French music though, but I do like a few of Celine's French tracks haha.
It amazes me how often you've referred to California as not somewhere you like to live. I guess from an Aussie perspective, California would naturally be the most well-known state (given LA, San Fran and Hollywood etc), and I've always assumed the weather and lifestyle is similar to our Gold Coast? Where would be your perfect place to live?
~Octopussy~ KissOfLife! ⋅ August 05, 2015
California has a lot to admire. It is more diverse than any other state in the US, I mean, environmentally. You want to live in the snowy mountains for most of the year, go up to the far north. You want to live in the desert, go to the southeast. You want a nice warm beach? Go the southwest. You want farms, go to the central valley. You want a big city, go to San Francisco. You want pretty people who are nice and down-to-earth, go to San Diego. You want to work hard and make dreams come true, go to Los Angeles. It literally has EVERYTHING here.
However, it's the most expensive state to live in in the entire country because everyone wants to come here. Everything here costs about twice as much as it would cost in a less densely populated state. California has MAJOR problems with immigration, being right next to Mexico, and south has lots of violence because of it. While this is a problem throughout the entire southern border of the US, California experience the worst of it (save for possibly Texas). We routinely elect people who raise our taxes and generally make it more expensive and difficult to live here. The people of California vary widely in temperament. SF people are incredibly passionate about politics and social justice (which makes them pretty much intolerable). LA people only care about where their next step is, what will make them more money and who can help them in that way. Sacramento is dominated by politics. San Diego is where people are really nice and laid back but are very sensitive about immigration issues, and there are quite a few drug-related issues that happen there. People in the rural parts of the state (which vastly outnumber the urban population) have the same ass-backward ideas as people who reside in Alabama.
I've been spoiled by California, but it's too complicated for me.
I suppose, my perfect place in the states would be New Orleans. It's in the south, in fact it sits at the mouth of the Mississippi River as it flows in the Gulf of Mexico, but it's so much more than that. Southerners are my favorite people in the US. They get a bad wrap because famous Southerners are spitting out their ridiculous Bible-belt hatred on television (or in Presidential debates) but they are the most genteel, kind-hearted and welcoming individuals I know. New Orleans is a city, so most people are accepting and affirming of gay people.
Outside of the US, it's of course Paris. There's always something going on, and if not, buy a cheap bottle of wine, go sit by the river and read. Eventually, someone will come up, say hello and you'll start chatting and sharing your bottles. Or go to some cafe, ask someone for a light, and you've made a new friend. Paris gets a bad wrap when it comes to friendly people, but I think that's only if you don't speak the language. I found nearly everyone I talked to to be incredibly friendly and I made some of the best friends ever there.
If you couldn't tell, I just want to go where I find people I get along with. I DON'T get a long with Cali people.
Wow, this was almost as long as my entry! hahaha
KissOfLife! ~Octopussy~ ⋅ August 05, 2015
Very insightful though! Thank-you :D