"An attempt to integrate the teaching of the English language & ICT, using MUSIC as a mere pretext."


Wednesday, September 12, 2012

DIGNITY

     A ship in Lago di Como - Italy   (Photo by Jesús Canca)
                             

 ***
"Dignity does not consist in possessing honors,
but in deserving them".
Aristotle  (384BC-322BC)
***
Do you know the story of the man who works honestly all his life, 
saving as much money as possible, with just a dream in mind?

His dream ... ?

... To buy a small ship,
call it "Dignity" 
and sail on it!
...

These difficult days, when everybody talks/listens/reads about the ECONOMIC CRISIS, on the one hand, it is worth remembering the song "DIGNITY" by Deacon Blue and, on the other hand, reading the short article "DIGNIDAD" written by the journalist David Jiménez (in Spanish); published today on his Blog .

(Please, go and read David Jimenez's post/article. You have the link on the previous line.
In my opinion, it is simply brilliant!)

Despite the crisis,
it is crystal-clear that
everybody has dreams and ambitions in life.
So...
Why not fighting hard to fulfill them?

 *** 

 Listen to the song "Dignity", by Deacon Blue (with Spanish subtitles).
And have a look at the Lyrics (in English) -if you wish...

I hope you enjoy it !




 DIGNITY
by  Deacon Blue 

There's a man I meet, walks up our street  
He's a worker for the council, has been twenty years  
And he takes no lip off nobody and litter off the gutter  
Puts it in a bag and never thinks to mutter
 
And he packs his lunch in a sunblest bag, the children call him Bogie  
He never lets on but I know 'cause he once told me  
He let me know a secret about the money in his kitty  
He's gonna buy a dinghy, gonna call her dignity
 
And I'll sail her up the west coast, through villages and towns  
I'll be on my holidays, they'll be doing their rounds  
They'll ask me how I got her, I'll say, "I saved my money"  
They'll say, "Isn't she pretty, that ship called dignity?"
 
And I'm telling this story in a faraway scene  
Sipping down raki and reading Maynard Keynes  
And I'm thinking about home and all that means
  And a place in the winter for dignity


And I'll sail her up the west coast, through villages and towns  
I'll be on my holidays, they'll be doing their rounds 
'll ask me how I got her, I'll say, "I saved my money" 
They'll say, "Isn't she pretty, that ship called dignity?"
 
I'll set it up, set it up, set it up, set it up, set it up, set it up  
Yeah, set it up again, set it up again, set it up again, set it up again  
Set it up, set it up, set it up, set it up, set it up, set it up  
Yeah, set it up again, set it up again, set it up again, set it up again
 
And I'm thinking about home and I'm thinking about faith  
And I'm thinking about work and I'm thinking, how good it would be  
To be here some day on a ship called dignity  
A ship called dignity, that ship

READING COMPREHENSION.-
Read the Lyrics of the song and then answer the following questions:
1.- What is the dream of the man in the song?
2.- What is the name of his dream?
3.- How can he get his dream?
Just to finish...
REMEMBER 
OUR PIECE OF ADVICE

Despite the crisis, and despite difficult times,
Whatever you do, 
no matter how hard it may be, 
...don't give up the ship!
***

PS. I would like say THANK YOU to David Jimenez for his wonderful article "DIGNIDAD". His words have been the inspiration for this post.
.

4 comments:

  1. UF! YOU WORK A LOT! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I feel very lucky, Ellen...
    ...because I can do what i like!

    Thanks for reading "E@E". ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. You can take it all, except my dignity.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You are right, Eva...
    Dignity is our "precious treasure"!

    Thanks for joining us. ;-)

    ReplyDelete