Song for Day 55 - "O, Caritas" by Cat Stevens

Songwriter Cat Stevens, aka Yusuf Islam.

Day 55 - "O, Caritas" by Cat Stevens

    Even a cursory glance at his sheet music should convince anyone that Cat Stevens (currently Yusuf Islam, born Steven Demetre Georgiou in 1948) belongs in the upper echelons of pop composers.  Lyrically, he won't be confused with Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez or Ferron, but he had his moments when speaking cataclysmically, as we see with "Ruins" and now with "O Caritas" from his 1972 "Catch Bull at Four" album.  Written with help from Jeremy Taylor and Andreus Toumazis, "O Caritas" describes the destruction wrought when humans are reduced to remotely controlled gladiators.  That it adopts a manic, flamenco style, complete with clapping, is just plain weird.

   "We who are about to die salute death." 

    The Latin narrative ends with the stunning line:  "Sola resurgit vita." 

    Only life remains.  What distinguishes liberals from conservatives is the interventionist urge to work proactively to make that a better life for humankind, even if those beneficiaries do not remember or honor our efforts.  If we must sacrifice our bodies, like those of ants, to build a bridge to a better world, so be it.  The irony is that many sci-fi fans point to the utopian Federation of Planets on Star Trek as a model, oblivious to the fact that the isolationist Prime Directive is a fundamental conservative tenet.  Doers versus viewers.
 
     Life is just plain weird.

Lyrics:   Translation by Michael R Valenzuela

"O, Caritas"
 - (spiritual love or compassion, similar to the Greek "agape")
    
hunc ornatum mundi nolo perdere
 - (this ornament of the world I do not want to lose)
    
video flagrare omnia res
- (I see all things burning)
    
audio clamare homines
 - (I hear people shouting)
    
nunc exstinguitur mundi et astrorum lumen
 - (now the light of the world and the stars is put out)
    
nunc concipitur mali hominis crimen
 - (now is exposed the accusation of man's evil)
    
tristitate et lacrimis gravis est dolor
 - (with sadness and tears heavy is the grief)
    
de terraeque maribus magnus est clamor
 - (from the lands and the seas great is the noise)
    
O caritas, o caritas nobis semper sit amor
 - (O caritas, o caritas, may we always have love)
    
nos perituri mortem salutamus
 - (we who are about to die salute death)
    
sola resurgit vita.
 - (only life reappears.)    

    Ah, this world is burning fast
    Oh, the world will never last
    I don't want to lost it here in my time
    Give me time forever here in my time.