The boycott of all things Barry, has ended for me, but there's a lot for me to say. After all, I've re-joined his fan page on Facebook after they posted two items to read in a row that were not trying to sell something. I'm hopeful it will be the start of mending some fences.
Barry gave an interview for a Las Vegas publication and I thought I'd make a few comments. Here is the link:
Up Close And Personal With Barry Manilow
I'm glad to hear Barry is talking with principals and teachers around the country about keeping their music programs, hopefully it gets followed up with a few donations from the Manilow Music Project. Talking doesn't pay the bills, unfortunately, and with the budgets getting cut in our schools, people can pretty much guess which curriculum is also seeing those cuts. Barry is, however, at least trying to make an effort. Perhaps enlisting the assistance of local musical talent in the area of these schools would help Barry in this endeavor and provide greater impact without Barry having to do it all himself.
I'm thrilled to hear that Barry is still in touch with his stepfather, Willie, and with Linda. Hopefully between these two Barry can keep those feet of his on the ground. As far as Clive Davis is concerned, it's time for him to allow Barry to release his original music. These cover albums are going to ruin Barry's career if he keeps making them. It's time for Clive to take a step back and allow Barry to shine with his own music.
If Barry's reading this, I'm not surprised about you recording your own music in your studio, you have video footage of it on special editions of a few of your cover CDs. I hope you don't mind, but I do show those snippets to the students at my school, so they have some idea of how a CD gets created. Putting out a video for teachers to use in this area would be fantastic, but as I've been requesting it for the last few years and nothing has come of it, I'm not holding my breath.
Now, about the five people Barry would invite for dinner. personally, I think Hitler is a little busy burning in Hell right now to come to dinner with Barry. I understand Barry's question, although I'm not sure if people like that realize or care about the damage they do to others when they promote racism to the point of ethnic cleansing.
As for Jesus coming to dinner with Barry? And the later discussion about getting to know God? This is something that is going to take a little more time to talk about.
Barry mentioned one of the words to describe him is gratitude, but he still questions the existence of God.
Well, the fact that Barry was conceived was a blessing from God.
He was born healthy, and grew to be a healthy man, another blessing from God. Could you imagine someone with musical passion being born without the physical means to release it?
He has continued to enjoy somewhat good health in order to further his music career.
He was blessed with the gift of being able to compose and write music, as well as the blessing of living in New York, where a school of music exists that he could hone his skills at.
This reminds me of a song from an LDS musical called The Forgotten Carols. It's about George Frideric Handel. This YouTube isn't the video from the show (the video of the musical is available on DVD), but the music is from the soundtrack:
God has had a hand in Barry's life in a very big way, IMHO.
The other thing I wish to caution Barry on is this: be careful what you wish for. In all of the era written by or about God and Jesus (whom I consider to be Jehovah of the Old Testament), when you go to commune with them at their Tabernacle or Temple, the first thing you see is an alter for sacrifice. Where is Barry's sacrifice? Is Barry willing to make a sacrifice of everything carnal he has treasured from his life in order to be deemed worthy by God and Jesus to enter into their presence?
I have a personal relationship with both God our Heavenly Father and Jesus the Christ, but that relationship has come with a price. I quoted a passage from a book I read a little while ago and I'll repeat the passage concerning the symbolism of Noah's Ark from December 30, 2009:
"I've been reading a book written by James Farrell called "The Hidden Christ". Among the lessons pointing to Christ are a few that have hit home to me.
"The first was in the introduction when James talks about how the story of Noah and the Ark have a very deep and personal impact on each of us today.
Again, be careful of what you wish for.
As you can see, yes, I do still love the guy. He's been a part of my life for over 30 years, it's hard to imagine him not in my life. I'm still not to the point of listening to his music, so it's still on an external hard drive for now, and not on my computer.
I will also close with this: God and Jesus both love Barry. Barry was created by God, and God doesn't make junk.
No comments:
Post a Comment