Stoic Music 19

Level 42 were another guilty pleasure of my younger days. I was originally drawn to them through the New Wave connection, but their jazz-funk sound led me to even better things, like Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, and Roy Ayers. This also led to my love of Acid Jazz.

I bought this album, back when CD's were hardly cheap, at Kastner and Öhler, a department store in Graz, Austria. I had to wait another six weeks before I could play it, because no one in my Austrian family had a CD player. The wait was well worth it.

The sentiment of the song has stuck with me for over twenty years, and the lyrics will pop into my head at unexpected moments. It reflects, for good or for ill, my romantic tendencies, and it prefigured my love of Stoicism.

Written in 12/2010

"People", from Level 42, Standing in the Light (1983)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZo6BJAiqp4

I'm forever struck
by the people in this town
and the way they go about their world
have they given up
all the fun they used to have in adolescent xanadu
everything is too much time and trouble
they must be seen as being respectable
they're too busy with their social climbing
waiting for a rise

Why can't people just be people

when they were young
they would wish for the summer evenings that would never end
now the day's too long
and the key to life is locked away in childhood memories
some people judge a man as reasonable
if the wine he buys is seasonable
they've time for friendship if it's advantageous
and causes no pain

why are people so deceitful
why can't people just be people

there is more to the world
than is offered by the soap and war found on the TV screen
and there is more to this life
if you would only take the time to look within and find the key
don't believe words when they're superficial
don't put your trust in values artificial
let your heart do the talking for a little
and feel yourself shine

why can't people trust in people
why can't people just be people

find the time and you'll realize
life isn't too much time and trouble.