Björk vs. The Beatles
John Lennon was wrong after all! Why The Beatles song ‘All You Need Is Love’ is an incorrect statement.
This universally popular Beatles song spoke to everyone hoping for a better future. It seemed that millions of earth’s inhabitants agreed that if we just had love, we’d be able to create world peace. And we all went along with it believing that if we would ask for it, wait for it, hope for it and put it on bumperstickers that love would one day come, fill that void and make the world a better place.
The song was released in 1967 and it’s been 50 years and the world is still not really a better place according to a recent poll — most likely heavily influenced by recent media events.
30 years later, along comes an icelandic artist name Björk. Her hit song ‘All Is Full of Love’, released in 1997- takes the charts by storm. But her message didn’t quite have the same impact as that of The Beatles’ song. Björk’s ecclectic personality, her funky dress-code and the sensual robot music video directed by Chris Cunningham seemed to have missed the mark. That mark to get a profound message out there. After all, an artist wants to make an impact with what they’re saying I would hope. Especially Björk. How come society wasn’t ready to replace ‘All You Need Is Love’ with ‘All Is Full Of Love’ as they’re new motto to change the world? Did they miss the point of Björk’s song? What happened?
I think I know what happened. And just because I think I know what happened, doesn’t mean it’s the truth. And it also doesn’t mean you should believe me. I’m just trying to make a point here to start a healthy argument. A constructive verbal battle is what I would like… proof me wrong, make a counter argument and inspire humanity to actually change the world. So, here I go. Here’s the truth about that:
HUMANITY IS WAITING FOR THE WORLD TO CHANGE. WE DON’T WANNA DO THE WORK.
WE BELIEVE THAT WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE LOVE IS SOMETHING WE ‘NEED’. SOMETHING THAT’S OUTSIDE OF OURSELVES. WE DO NOT BELIEVE THAT WE [ALREADY] ARE LOVE AND THAT THE ONLY WORK WE NEED TO DO IS TO CHIP AWAY AT WHAT’S NOT LOVE.
Of course John Lennon and his boys knew that too. ‘All You Need Is Love’ just sounded more poetic. It fit the times. It worked. Hell, it worked well…
But there is a new Sheriff in town — and I elected her as that — Björk. She got it. She had a vision, an experience, a deep insight that had her write ‘All Is Full Of Love’. And we need to wake up to it. Now!
Human beings are born into this world as pure love — watch a newborn develop into a toddler and witness the pure love for anything and anyone, moment to moment. Then slowly, the world’s conversation of scarcity, pessimism and doom starts to creep in little by little and our children grow up confused, jaded, scared, unloved, anxious and guarded. Before we know it, they’ve become ‘productive members’ of a society that values money more than love. Fear trumps love at the box office and at home. These children are taught that an ivy-league education is ‘better’ than a humble existence. They are impressed by teachers to fear that if they won’t ‘fit in’, the’ll be ridiculed for the rest of their lives. They start to give up on their dreams and settle for less into a minimum wage job that pays for their depressing, small existence. They are given medications to numb the pain, to calm them down, to make them feel less anxious. But they know deep within that this can’t be it. They feel that there is more. They sense it. But for many, it’s been tapped too far down. And suddenly there are thoughts of suicide, as a way to relieve themselves from the hopelessness that clouds humanity’s vision of world peace and love. They want a way out. Like so many of us. We’ve become numb to our own ability to create love. We think it’s something we ‘need’. We wait for it to show up in the form of a new romantic partner, a spouse, even a dog or for some in the shape of a material object such as a fancy car or a new house. But none of these truly fulfill us. None of these make us feel loved. Sure, we get our quick fixes when we purchase a new dress or a suit or when we have an exciting new romantic relationship that lasts for a year… but ultimately our insanity has us continue looking for it outside of ourselves. We think that it’s our spouse’s job to ‘make us happy’. We put the burden of love on our partners. And so many marriages fail, because we thought that once we’re married we’d be happy. Or that kids would be what would brings us happiness and love. Or a pet. Or a house. Or a car. Or a new wife and a new life… but we’re just running from it. We’re running away from ourselves. From our own love. From our own capacity to generate what need; LOVE.
It’s in all of us. ALL OF US. In every cell of our body. Every cell of the athmosphere is filled with love. But we have become blind to it. The veils have been pulled over our eyes and we pretend that everything that could make us happy and ultimately create world peace comes from outside of us. But if that were the case, how come the world still doesn’t work for everyone? How come we still have close to 40 active wars going on in the world today? How come? Because we still feel the need to make others ‘wrong’ so we get to be ‘right’. At the expense of millions of lives being lost. We don’t value life. We value things. We value power. We value ‘being right’. We’re a bunch of righteous hypocrits who feel the need to keep destroying the planet without taking any responsability for it. Why?
Because we live like all we need is love and it just hasn’t arrived yet. At least not the right amount that could restore peace in the world. So, we keep waiting and hoping for something or someone else to make it happen. Because we’re busy living our lives. But it ain’t working. It’s not fulfilling us. We’re depleted. We’re depressed. We’re tired of it all. And most of all, we’re asleep!
WAKE UP! It ain’t coming from outside of ourselves. It’s already in us! We are love. You are love. All of us! We have the power to make this happen. Now!
But we gotta keep chipping away at ourselves. We gotta keep taking off the layers of fear, cynicism, doubt and hate and we gotta start loving outwardly instead of struggling to pull love inwardly. And it ain’t gonna be comfortable. It’s gonna take all you and I got. It’s gonna be hard work. We have to stop bullshitting ourselves and society at large. We have to start exposing the pretense that the world has become. We gotta start transforming ourselves first. Take a trip, take a seminar, partake in a ceremony, join current group discussions, question the norm, dance in the rain, love strangers and do the unexpected… again and again. Until you pierce through to the love inside of you… and only then can it pour out of you and into the world. Only then will we see the world as we know it transform into what it could be.
Oh, and one more thing… make sure to listen to ‘All Is Full Of Love’ — Howie B’s Version as loud as you can with some kick-ass headphones — no ear buds please! If that song doesn’t get you present to the universal power of LOVE, you have lots of work to do on yourself. And I don’t mean that as a judgement. I am doing the work myself as we speak. I got ways to go, but I’m going there relentlessly. And so should you. Or I’m gonna have to call you a ‘reckless’ human being. We all have to start chipping away that which is not love! That which holds us back from realising that all we have to do during our lifetime is to return to love. Period. That’s it.
Oops, I’ve just given away the big secret here; humanity’s purpose is simply to RETURN TO LOVE.
Not to wait for it.
Not to need it.
But to BE it. Now. And in every moment. With everyone and everything.
LOVE.