"E poi ci troveremo come le star a bere del whisky al Roxy bar o forse non c'incontreremo mai ognuno a rincorrere i suoi guai / ognuno col suo viaggio ognuno diverso e ognuno in fondo perso dentro i fatti suoi" [Vasco Rossi, Italian pop singer, 1983]
And here's my very poor translation: "Maybe we'll meet, like the stars, and have a drink at the Roxy bar. Or maybe we shall never meet. Each of us chasing our troubles / each with our journey, each different. Each lost in our own stuff."
This song means a lot to me and to the many people who lived those shared moments growing up. I suspect you have a song like that in your CD collection. You put it on at home after a long week, close your eyes, and are transported to another place and time. This song is from Vasco's album: Vita Spericolata, which means roughly living a life outside the norm (the root word is danger). In my post about Made in Italy: Music to my Ears, I wrote:
But Vasco greatest claim to fame and what still sells out at his concerts was the fact that his lyrics communicated the private inner feelings of every day life. His language is controversial, thought-provoking and ironic.
In a way, he was the rock blogger way before blogs were even imagined -- authentic, truthful and instantly emotional. People went and still go to his concerts (sold out every single time) to recognize they belong together; they celebrate life, dreams, love, and join a real friend.
I've been humming that song for a couple of days now for several reasons.
Our good friend David Armano published a very compelling post on The End of Thought Leadership (as we Know it) a few days ago to announce the publication of an article in BusinessWeek. The topic: It's the Conversation Economy, Stupid -- the premise: as consumer markets fragment, marketers and designers must understand how platforms evolve and influence human behavior. In his post, David writes:
It's always been about us. About people. Eliminate the word "blog" from your vocabulary and you are still left with the power of personal publishing and content distribution. These ideals will never go away—they are here to stay. This is not a fad.
David walks the talk, acknowledging all the people and platforms that made this article possible in the Anatomy of an Idea.
I'm talking about memories as in remembrance. Our community builder, marketer CK, just experienced one of the toughest weeks of her life. She and sister Melissa honored the memory of their mother, Sandra J. Kerley, by celebrating with family and friends. CK makes a wonderful distinction between hard and bad. Just because things are difficult, it doesn't mean we cannot get through them. In fact, the only way across is often through.
Cam Beck set up a site to honor mother and daughter in the best way possible: by helping build for the community.
"Maybe we'll meet, like the stars, and have a drink at the Roxy bar. Or maybe we shall never meet. Each of us chasing our troubles / each with our journey, each different. Each lost in our own stuff." Passion and remembrance both spell love. This is the stuff we're made of.