When I first saw this video of Susan Boyle, I thought it was a joke. Had to be. A voice like that couldn't possibly have been hidden from the world all these years. This must be a lip sync piece. But, no. It is no joke. And the world has been in the dark for nearly 48 years. Don't believe me? Just watch the Yahoo video.
After watching the video for about the 15th time, I caught the irony of the frumpy lady who by all appearances couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, & the song she was giving to the world. The first glimpse into her heart & soul was extraordinary when compared to the ever present scowl of a world which can be so very, very cruel.
She looks nothing like a singer: no one in the audience thought she was either. Until she belted out the first line of a song about life: wow. Good God Almighty.
The song certainly gets the heart tugs, but considering what Boyle has had dealt to her in life, the song was both appropriate, ironic, hopeful & --- yes, finally --- something that shows there is some good in this world.
Here's how the Telegraph describes her past:
Boyle is 47, unemployed, perpetually single and lives alone with her cat, Pebbles, in Bathgate, West Lothian – a town apparently dubbed "a dump" by Britain's Got Talent judge Piers Morgan. Boyle's sunny (if gauche) demeanour masks a sad life: the youngest of nine, she was deprived of oxygen at birth, which led to learning difficulties and, as a result, a childhood marred by bullying. Forty years later, it was her mother – whom she lived with and cared for – who wanted her to audition for the ITV talent show. But she died in 2007, leaving Boyle suffering from depression and anxiety.
Remarkable. For all the things that have happened to her & she still has that upbeat, quirky, almost too-good-to-be-true disposition. Humble is how I saw her; gifted is how I heard her; blessed is how I felt to have witnessed her sing & know her story.
The good news is that she will most certainly have a record deal in the very near future, according to the Telegraph article. But she first has to hit the US circuit & that means Oprah & Larry King (Guardian article).
It is telling to see the number of hits YouTube has for the various videos of Boyle. I suspect those numbers have to do not only with her voice, but the utter amazement we have when we see a story like this --- it is like telling life to stick it, something we all wish we could do at one time or another.
Susan Boyle got her chance late --- almost 48 years of late. But when she got the chance, she made a grand entrance onto Life's Stage. And there, before all the world, she gave us something to enjoy.
1 comment:
It's a typical sign of the times. One has to be pretty or handsome to have talent. One must, mustn't one? After all, today's hit actors, actresses and singers are all pretty and "hunks." They rest of us ugly souls couldn't have talent. We just don't look good enough. I couldn't help noticing the audience reaction when they first saw this lady. They immediately started rolling their eyes and snickering. Hypocrites! She had the last laugh.
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