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Emily Coates

~ Multi-disciplinary Artist – Musician, Writer, Performer.

Emily Coates

Tag Archives: Perception

Silence

09 Thursday May 2013

Posted by emilycoatesmusic in Inspiration, Lyrics, Music, Posts 2013, Spirit

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Tags

Emotions, Heart, Inspiration, Israel, music, Music Video, Perception, Silence, Song, Spirit

Hello all. It’s been a month since I graced this stage – a fact I’m not particularly proud of! Today I’m sharing a new video with you which I recorded a couple of weeks back. The song I perform is called “Silence” and I wrote it about fifteen years ago, when I still lived in the Emerald Isle.

I received a surprising message recently from a young woman who heard me play this song in 2001, when I was a Kibbutz volunteer in Israel. She had been looking for me for many years, with the hope of hearing the song again. This inspired me to record it, and I’m very glad I did. I have so many old songs I never perform, and knowing this song made such an impression, I’m now going to dust those oldies off, and bring them back to life.

I always enjoy hearing people’s interpretations of my songs. This means I don’t usually go into a detailed explanation of what they are about, for fear of ruining what a song means to an individual. But here I will say at least this: for me, this song speaks about perception, and those emotions we experience in the silence of our own hearts.

I hope you enjoy.

Lyrics:

 
Silence may wound the fearful
Words say more than they should
Your thoughts may not be evil
And yet in deed they would make it
 
Too late for you to go
Too late for you to show
Your life’s in shreds
Too late for you to cry
Too late to say goodbye
Your mind is dead
 
Heartbreak may wound the lonely
Love can destroy the strong
Reasons may not be evil
You’ll still be told you’re wrong
And it will be
 
Too late for you to go
Too late for you to show
Your life’s in shreds
Too late for you to cry
Too late to say goodbye
Your mind is dead
 
And why should it be that you suffer
At the hands of your lover
Or your Father, or your Mother
Or closest friend
And why should you cry every evening
Not know why you are grieving
For a life you’ve never had
Has come to an end
And it will be
 
Too late for you to go
Too late for you to show
Your life’s in shreds
Too late for you to cry
Too late to say goodbye
Your mind is dead
 
© Emily Coates 2013
 
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Story

27 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by emilycoatesmusic in Inspiration, Poetry, Posts 2013, Spirit

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Belief, Catharsis, Character, Creation, Creative, Director, Good, Healing, Heart, Liberation, Loss, Pain, Perception, Plot, Renewed, Sadness, Scenes, Screen, Smile, Story

I have been very happy recently to share some poetry, from a large collection I wrote a number of years ago. I have held these works behind closed doors for a long time – not looking them over, or thinking that I would ever share them, but for reasons unknown to me, I am inspired to post them here. As the saying goes, the time is NOW. Here, I nurture the feelings of liberation and catharsis.

This particular poem is called “Story”. When I read these words as the person I am today, I was stirred within, and I found myself enveloped in a world bigger than I could digest with my thinking mind. It is said that the heart is the most powerful organ in the human body. Of course this is open to debate, but today I am inclined to agree.

Story

 
This is what I want to write:
You think I create a story
And you fail to see the plot
No that is wrong
You fail to agree with the plot
You see it with different eyes
That I believe is fair to say
 
But of course your eyes
Have not adjusted to the screen
Upon which I present my scenes
There is so much you do not see
Or know, or live, or understand
The biggest of these is
There is so much you do not believe
And even more that you do
I never reached you there
Though I wish I had
I know there is much you can teach me
And I do not belittle you in all of this
For you are wonderful to me
 
There is a story you have written for yourself
And this story fits you well
It surely suits you and makes you happy
But it is not whole
Some of the facts elude you
Or you willingly elude them
So the story is only half-right, half-complete
Developed over years of collating words and actions
Take one or two
Of these and transform them into
A changed perspective
A character development
Progression if you will
And find belief in something
You told me you did not believe in
And then maybe with time you will find another story
With time
(This is truly my wish for you)
 
Or maybe you will
Stick to your plot
(It is after all a good story)
And I will stick to mine
And we can wave at each other
From each director’s chair
You will look at me as you wave
And think only good
And I will smile for you
 
I must go and work now
On character development
As good as my creative purpose is served here
I cannot wait until the time comes
When I do not have anymore to write for you
When I am empty of pain
And sadness
And no longer feel hurt
Or feel the loss I can only reach
Through these words
When I read them over
I will not give a role to martyrdom
And I will keep redefining my plot
Until the well runs dry
Until I am renewed
Until my wounds have healed
And our story ends
 

Courage

17 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by emilycoatesmusic in Inspiration, Poetry, Posts 2013, Spirit

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Artistic Expression, Courage, Denial, Emotions, Hypocrisy, Ignorance, Perception, Poem, spirituality, Transparency

Below is a poem I wrote many years ago, as part of a collection. Recently I decided to share it here.

One thing I love about art is its ability to capture the emotion of a moment, whatever that may be. I feel that it’s important as an artist for me to be completely honest and open with my emotions in whatever form they take, and when I wrote this poem the words flowed from my mind both rapidly and freely, allowing a great cathartic release.

I also feel it important not to temper one’s artistic expression, even if the subject matter is difficult, or the emotions expressed tumultuous. I believe that every possible emotional expression exists within the individual. I also believe that it is not only healthy, but of great benefit to embrace the risk of transparency, by fully freeing these expressions when they require a voice. This can help to break the taboo surrounding those emotions we would rather not have, or admit to.

Lastly, my work demonstrates to me those ways in which my perceptions have now changed; it is a reference point for all that I have been, all that I am, and of course, all that I can ever be.

Courage

Do you think you could ever love a woman
As much as you love your God
Forgive my audacity
I have never been one for conformity
And the question it just presents itself to me
And I must entertain it
It cannot go ignored
I cannot pretend it isn’t there
Tell me something my dear friend
Do you think my intrusion unfair?
And if this be the case
Do you think that I enjoy
Just lying in my bed
And my brain constantly pulling apart
Everything we said
The curse of an analytical mind
Warped I think you once said
Are you too of this kind?
No, I believe you have the ability
To shut out all you do not wish to see
After all isn’t this the mode of conduct
You employed when discarding me
Let us reflect the saying
Knowing only through experience
Or turning a blind eye
Taking a safety curtain, surrounding yourself
With this invisible cloak
Shunning the question why
If you do not see what is happening to another
And it is not happening to you
You can say you had no idea
And this fact it will be true
Does that not make you the same then
As all the great men you deplore
Or you think yourself some kind of saint
And pray for something more
You need things to be calmer
Where’s your courage to face your core
To take things out, examine what you have done
Or I have pushed you to your limits
Oh little one
You abhor hate
And yet you propel it
How can a man be so ignorant
Amidst his obvious intellect?
You have no idea in this world
How it is to drive another insane
But let me tell you something darling friend
It starts when you dish out pain
Pain stored for eons inside your very soul
Pain that has been inflicted upon you
And you think you can control
But control it you do not
It waits behind your walls of steel
And it explodes in misdirection
When your heart begins to feel
Every emotion that once pained you
And you locked away so tight
The ones that come to haunt you
When you toss and turn at night
And you are thankful for the daylight
When you can resume the very form
You have spent many years perfecting
Until it has become the norm
But buried deep emotion
You forgot it lost from sight
And when it swells and overwhelms you
You cannot tell wrong from right
You find yourself in action
That betrays your moral code
You just cannot help the feelings
That your true self still unfolds
So quickly employ your friend suppression
On everything it is you feel
You tell yourself moments of weakness
Contributed to false ideals
You turn to reliable logic
Another good friend in the past
You bring all things back together
Under your heavy laden cast
And with normality restored
And tranquility regained
You bury once again these feelings
That have stemmed from deeper pain
It is all that you can handle
The truth about oneself is hard to face
And you go back to your routine
Another funeral of disgrace
And everything that we have been through
Not really knowing each other at all
Has given me another scar
And broke my heart and built more walls
It is this my darling friend
That opens hatred’s door
The very hatred you condemn
The hatred you ignore
And so I take you back to the question posed
At the start of this sad rhyme
And now I ask you yet another
Do you not think courage should have its time?
 
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