DANCING IN THE DARK

I get up in the evening
and I ain't got nothing to say
I come home in the morning
I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired
Man I'm just tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby, I could use just a little help

Hear the tale of the ancient mariner... See his wild staring eyes as he stops one of three... Feel how he mesmerises one of the wedding guests to stay here and listen to the nightmares of the sea....

Driven south to the land of the snow and ice to a place where nobody's been... Through the snow fog flies on an albatross... Hailed in God's name, hoping good luck it brings. And the ship sails on, back to the North through the fog and ice and the albatross follows on.

The mariner kills the bird of good omen... His shipmates cry against what he's done
But when the fog clears, they justify him and make themselves a part of the crime.

The albatros begins with its vengeance... a terrible curse... a thirst has begun
His shipmates blame the bad luck on the mariner... arround his neck, the dead bird is hung.

Day after day, week after week... we stuck there nor breath nor motion... as quiet as a painted ship upon a painted ocean...Water, water everywhere but not one drop to drink.

You can't start a fire
Worrying about your little world falling apart

Death and She, Life in Death, throw their dice for the crew... She wins the mariner and he belongs to her now. Then...crew one by one...they drop down dead, two hundred men...She...She, Life in Death. She lets him live, her chosen one.

The curse.. it lives on in their eyes... The mariner wished he'd die along with the sea creatures but they lived on, so did he.

And by the light of the moon... He prays for their beauty not doom
With heart he blesses them... God's creatures all of them too.

Then the spell starts to break... The albatross falls from his neck... Sinks down like lead into the sea... Then down in falls comes the rain.

Now the curse is finally lifted and the mariner sights his home... spirits go from the long dead bodies... form their own light... and the mariner's left alone.

And then a boat came sailing towards him... It was a joy he could not believe
The pilot's boat, his son and the hermit, penance of life will fall onto him.

You sit around getting older
there's a joke here somewhere and it's on me
I'll shake this world off my shoulders
come on baby this laugh's on me

You can't start a fire
you can't start a fire without a spark

And the wedding guest's a sad and wiser man...
And the tale goes on and on and on....

FEAR OF THE DARK

I am a man who walks alone
And when I'm walking a dark road
At night or strolling through the park
When the light begins to change
I sometimes feel a little strange
A little anxious when it's dark

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it is gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

There can be a lot of good reasons to be afraid: dying, collapsing, losing everything, not achiving one's goals, rejection, making the wrong decision, loneliness... and I think a little fear is always healthy -- as long as it doesn’t get out of control, which is something that the gringo society in particular seems to have trouble with over the last few years. Child abductions, terrorist attacks, high school rampages, snipers and other more mundane crime waves all send Americans into a frenzy of stupidly crafted laws that result in kids getting kicked out of school for bringing a butter knife to class, or people getting arrested for bringing a toothpick into an airplane.

Have you ever been alone at night
Thought you heard footsteps behind
And turned around and no one's there?
And as you quicken up your pace
You find it hard to look again
Because you're sure there's someone there

The answer, as Anakin Skywalker learned, is not to feed the fear nor to give into it. The hunger for absolute control it feeds can lead only to tyranny and misery. You need to master the fear, or it will master you.

When I'm walking a dark road
I am a man who walks alone

THE ROAD GOES FOREVER ON

The days grow shorter and the nights are getting long
Feels like we're running out of time
Every day it seems much harder tellin' right from wrong
You got to read between the lines
Don't get discouraged, don't be afraid,
We can make it through another day
Make it worth the price we pay

The Way of St. James is the pilgrims' path from St. Jean-Pied-du-Port, France, to Santiago de Compostela, the city reputed to hold the bones of the apostle James, older brother to Jesus. In the Middle Ages, when half a million pilgrims a year walked the path to Santiago in spiritual quest, extraordinary monasteries, pilgrim hospices, and villages sprouted along theroute to serve pilgrims' needs. The walking journey covers about 800 Kms on peaceful mountain paths and country lanes marked with the scallop shell, the symbol of James. The entire journey can be divided into 33 walking days averaging about 24 kms per day.

Whether this pilgrimage becomes a torture or a wonderful experience, depends on each pilgrim. You see, if you only keep your mind on the goal - reaching Compostela - and start counting how many miles you have left to go and how much you have advanced on a single day... it becomes torture, because you lose your patience... especially if for some reason on that given day you walked less than you intended. However, if you keep your mind on the road... enjoying the paths, the villages, the mountains, the views... then the journey becomes a pleasurable experience with wonderful surprises around every corner. You need not worry about when you will reach your goal... eventually you'll get there... it may take 33 days or it may take a little longer or a little less...

That is what had happened to me... I was too worried about reaching the goal I had... when are we going to do this?... when are we going to get there?... when is it going to happen?...and everyday that we didn't advace toward the goal, I would get angry and frustrated.

I guess that when I realized that, even after being on the road for a long time, the goal was still far away... my dreams and aspirations died.

We must never stop dreaming; dreams feed the soul, just as food feeds the body. Often in our life, we see our dreams come undone and our desires frustrated, but we must continue to dream, otherwise our soul dies. When we give up our dreams and find peace, we may find a short period of peace. But the dead dreams start to rot inside us, and infest every part of our lives.

We start to become cruel to those we love, and then we turn this cruelty upon ourselves. We become sick and develop psychoses. And one day, the dead, rotten dreams make the air difficult to breathe and we begin to wish for death...

This is what happened to me... I was not only being cruel to the one I love, as evidenced in the Arjona episode and the broken connection experiment (of which I'll tell you some other time), but also to myself. And I became paranoid... and I wanted to die...

The Good Book says it's better to give than to receive
I do my best to do my part
Nothin' in my pockets I got nothin' up my sleeve
I keep my magic in my heart
Keep up your spirit, keep up your faith, baby
I am counting on you
You know what you've got to do


But now, everything's different...

I'm still on the road... walking... the road goes forever on... I do not worry about the goal anymore... I know in my heart that I'll get there some day... maybe tomorrow, maybe in 10 years... but I'll get there... but in the meantime...

I am enjoying the journey... taking my time to breathe, to appreciate the mountains and the flowers... I'm learning to find pleasure in being on the road... I'm believing again in miracles and in what people can do when they put their mind to it... I will fight the goog fight... and I'll keep on dreaming... and my soul will grow strong and happy... because I know I'm loved, and so, I can love back.

All your life you've been waiting for your chance
Where you'll fit into the plan
But you're the master of your own destiny
So give and take the best that you can
Fight the good fight every moment
Every minute every day
Fight the good fight every moment
It's your only way

HOMEWARD BOUND

Been on the road too long.. I went off to fight some battle
that I had invented inside my head... Away so long for years and years
You probably thought or even wished that I was dead...

I've been on the road too long... Been tired and broke too long... I've been to the south where the winds were warm...Travelling the road of no return too long... And I've seen what was war - The ruins and scars... The mansions of mud, the wounds and the blood... Seen the dying of all that was good...

I haven't had a good night's rest in ages... I'm tired of eating bad cafeteria food... I'm behind on my bills because I just spent a hundred dollars on a stripper to have the illusion that I'm special... The road goes forever on and the party never stops... seen a million places... but after a while and a thousand miles... it all becomes the same.

Home, don't it seems so far away?... Tonight I'll sing my songs again,
I'll play the game and pretend... But all my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity... I'll need someone to comfort me....

This prison has now become my home... A price I seem to be prepared to pay... After all home is just an illusion of permanence and security and identity... Nothing more than where you park your house revealing yourself naked and truthful... Home is where your fart is... and it's good to be back home again.

THE GREATEST GIFT

Jamás podré dejarla
Mi vida es una canción
Soy escultor del alma
Soy músico y amo en clave de sol
Hasta que aguante mi voz

I love getting gifts. The only problem is I almost never get any. Nobody ever sends me a card, or anything else. And the very few I do get are usually thoughtless... something someone bought at the supermarket just to fulfill a social obligation, such as birthdays or Christmas.

Si puedes definir el odio o el amor
amigo que desilusión
No todo es blanco o negro: es gris
todo depende del matiz
busca y aprende a distinguir.

However, that's OK since many people have given me the greatest gifts without even knowing about it. To me, there's nothing greater than great music and if you introduce me to a band or performer that really touches my soul... that is, my friends, the greatest gift of all.

Y sí te sientes perdido
Con tus ojos no has de ver.
Hazlo con los de tu alma
Y encontrarás la calma
Tu rosa de los vientos seré.

I'd like to thank my high school chum Javier, who's off somewhere disecting roadkill by the Sienne, from introducing me to Rush, Dio, Iron Maiden, Charly Garcia & Sui Generis, Silvio Rodriguez, and for sharing the greatness of Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf. I'd like to thank my life-long friend Andre for insisting time and time again on Fleetwood Mac, Emerson Lake & Palmer, The Doors, Soda Stereo and Miguel Bose.

Hay que fracasar y a veces fondo tocar
Para ver la luz y esta vida apreciar
La felicidad no consiste en todo tener
Si no en saber sacar, lo bueno que te da

I'd like to thank Oscar, who I haven't seen in ages, for Scorpions. I'd like to thank Chuchullo for Triumph and Pink Floyd. I'd like to thank Jorge, who's off by the Thames making the world see a little bit better, for Saga, Journey, Foreigner, Survivor and Rainbow. I'd like to thank Teto for Monty Phyton. I'd like to thank Irene for Cirque Du Soleil and Les Luthiers. I'd like to thank Lissette, the closest thing I have ever had to a sister, for Sabina and Mecano. I'd like to thank my dearest Patty for Arjona and Alux Nahual. I'd like to thank Jerry for Garth Brooks and Ray Stevens. I'd like to thank my buddy Mark for all the blues and country. Thank you all of you from the bottom of my heart, I am forever in your debt.

Cuando veas una estrella fugaz
Guárdala en tu corazón
Es el alma de alguien que consiguió dar a los suyos su amor
Cuando oigas a un niño preguntar
Por qué el sol viene y se va
Dile: porque en esta vida no hay luz sin oscuridad

And most recently, my friend Liana, almost by accident, lead me to Mago de Oz.
Mago de Oz is basically a Heavy Metal band that mixes medieval, celtic and gypsy instrumentalization into their music... in other words, the offspring of Iron Maiden and Jethro Tull.

Si no hay pan para los tuyos
Y ves muy gordo al abad
Si su virgen viste de oro - Desnúdala
Cómo van a silenciar al jilguero o al canario
Si no hay cárcel ni tumba
Para el canto libertario

Like both Maiden and Tull, most of their albums are conceptual. Jesus de Chamberi is a Rock Opera based on the life of a Modern-day Jesus, Finisterra is a pilgrimage along the Old Way of St. James, Leyenda de la Mancha is, of course, based on Don Quijote and, their latest, Gaia tackles environmental issues. Drummer Txus, who is the heart and soul of the band, is one of the best songwriters I have ever heard... the quality of his lyrics is only comparable to the likes of Jim Steinman, Steve Harris, Ian Anderson, Joaquin Sabina and Jose Maria Cano.

Si tienes un ideal, un principio
Defiéndelo y aférrate a él,
Alguien escribió que la vida es sueño,
Y los sueños, sueños son.
Sé rebelde cómo el mar
Y sé noble porque al final
De ésta vida llevarás
Tu libertad.