Saturday, August 09, 2008

Down the 70s road and Ossetia and Georgia



Now I'm down the 70s road and this is one of the sweetest, passionate love songs by Ramses Shaffy and Liesbeth List. Eventhough there's no video to speak off, listen to this while you remember Ossetia, and the puppeteers at work;

Roots of conflict stretch back to Stalin

*Most Ossetians are Orthodox Christians, and live on the northern and southern slopes of the Caucasus mountains. Russia controls North Ossetia; South Ossetia is legally part of Georgia, but most of it is run by a rebel government that wants to unite with the north.

*Stalin divided Ossetia between the Russian and Georgian Soviet Republics in 1922, despite protests from the Ossetians.(divide and conquer, remember Tito and Yugoslavia?)
*Calls for reunification grew louder as the Soviet Union weakened and finally collapsed, and nationalism intensified in Georgia. Tbilisi sent troops to crush the rebellion, sparking a war in 1991-92, in which at least 2,000 people are thought to have died and thousands were driven from their homes. Russia covertly supported the rebels, and ultimately helped shape a peacekeeping deal for the region.

*Georgia says the peacekeeping format is being abused by Russia, which it accuses of financing and arming the breakaway government. Tbilisi says Moscow is destabilising South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia on the Black Sea, to maintain influence in the Caucasus and undermine Georgia's bid to join Nato. Both areas, Georgia says, are rife with smuggling of arms, drugs and people.

*South Ossetian officials claim 65,000 people live in the territory; Georgia puts the figure nearer 20,000.


listen, if you would, to yet another Dutch song. Sometimes, not knowing the lyrics but having to listen to music is like being at a film; the music evokes, unwillingly, if done right, the right response.
Ramses Shaffy - Zing, Vecht, Huil, Bid, Lach, Werk en Bewonder (Sing,Fight,Cry,Pray,Work and Admire)
"For those who thought they were alone, to those, we all are in it together"

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4 Comments:

Blogger D.K. Raed said...

Not understanding what is actually being sung, I was free to notice that Shaffy's voice in the 2nd vid, when he talk-sings, sounds a bit like Leonard Cohen!

Maybe I am too cynical (ya think?), but I suspect the Ossetia thing is more about oil or an oil pipeline than any burning national desire for unification by either Georgia or Russia. The Ossetians happen to be on some valuable ground, always a dangerous place. When I watched cable news of the tanks & violence yesterday AM, I couldn't believe IT wasn't the thing being played & talked about all day. But instead, there was Edwards and Olympics for diversion.

11:38 AM  
Blogger Ingrid said...

DK inspiration you are..check out the latest post..voila..for you..should've dedicated it but there you go [s]..
as for Shaffy's voice..the first song is so 'catchy' but not in a pop music kinda way, but the music just keeps sticking in your head..
as for the second song..it's more 'European' in cabaret style that I don't think they have here in the States..maybe there was but I'm not familiar with it.. leonard cohen...well, another great composer songwriter that's for sure!

Ingrid

3:46 PM  
Blogger Ingrid said...

ps..thanks for listening.. most people can't be bothered if it's not familiar and/or not in their own language...

Ingrid

3:47 PM  
Blogger enigma4ever said...

very moving..love his voice- the 2nd one does really sound like Leonard Cohen or Warren Zevon's voice...but very very soulful...

Lyrics are nice...but sometimes you need to listen with another part of your being...

sample- look up Massive Attack "Tear Drop"...you can not really hear the lyrics- BUt there is something so sweet, sad about that song- so then I looked up the lyrics and they are all about how sometimes "your words fall like feathers, like tears"....

anyways...anything to listen and learn about other countries, cultures...WAYS to be...and other people..sign me up....

excellent..okay back to reading ;-)

4:34 PM  

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