The French - Armenian Trubadur

The  recent Armenia- Azerbaijan war over the long disputed Ngorno - Karabak region, has reminded me of the legendary french singer, composer, and actor of armenian descent, Charles Aznavour (Aznavourian).

Aznavour, who passed away in 2018, at the age of 94, was considered a national hero in Armenia, the country of his ancestors. He received there all the possible honors and rewards for his activities in favor of the Armenian people. The PM of Armenia participated at his funeral along with Macron, the PM of France.

                                statue of Aznavour in Yerevan, Armenia (Wikipedia)

I'm always moved when I  read about his commitment to Armenia as I know of some people who have become rich and famous and never ever look back at their country of origin.

I cannot mention Aznavour, without revealing that I'm heavily addicted to a You Tube video with the brilliant performance of his famous song 'Hier Encore', translated in English as 'Yesterday when I was young' (see my post entitled '20 years old' from May 3, 2009).

In this video, the 84 year old Aznavour, accompanied by two beautiful, young female singers (probably symbolizing the age of 20), mourns his lost youth. "Only yesterday/I was twenty years old/I wasted the time/Thinking I could make it stop" - moans the elderly man.

Many of us could relate to this song in which the lyricist reaches the sad conclusion that he has wasted his life on follies, on dreams, soaring hopes, and  futile loves.. 

I like the frankness in this song; in real life, too many people claim they have no regrets about their past doings. Hard to believe them.

I do have regrets.

 

  Hier  Encore

Happy New Year 2021

I had to take a break from blogging and other activities in mid-December as my home was in need of some repairs.

Moreover, my  PC has to be replaced ( haven't done that yet) as its old operation system XP gets no technical support any more. I definitely have to have Windows 10.

Now, we've entered third Lockdown for a period of at  least two weeks . 

Hopefully, new mutations won't make covid -19  vaccine a joke, as in the case of the flu- vaccine. The later has to be administered to people every year according to the virus mutation of that year. There are still many deaths in the world following flu complications with or without the vaccine, and yet pharma companies get richer and richer with their product.

Anyway, right now the covid-19 vaccines seem to be the only ray of light at the end of the dark tunnel, at least on the medical front. (So far, two  mutations of the virus have been spotted: in Britain, and in India).

No idea what's going to happen on the other major fronts: economic, social, educational. Not good things, I'm afraid.  Coronavirus has revealed to us the true face of so-called democracy: utter lack of discipline on one hand  (citizens) versus total incompetence on the other hand (governments).

Not a matter of human rights here, but of human greed and stupidity.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Duta