Lee Hom's " Forever 1st Day " Album Diary

89/09/09~89/09/15 @ Part 14

Dear Friends,

I am writing to you from my hotel room in Kuala Lampur. I just finished a wonderful show at the Sunway Lagoon for an audience of approximately 5,000. Wow, what fun! I haven't been in Malaysia for over a year, and it was really great to see so many enthusiastic fans. In the last four days I have travelled between East Malaysia's Kuching, and West Malaysia's Penang, Ipoh, and Kuala Lampur in an action packed promotion tour for my new album, "Forever's First Day". Thanks especially to the Malaysian fans and also to all my fans across Asia, thanks for your continuing support!

Last night, I turned on the television and "Dead Poet's Society" starring Robin Williams was showing. Although I was tired after a long a day of travel, I stayed up and watched the whole thing from beginning to end. What an amazing movie! I have seen it before, but never with as much clarity as I did last night. What exceptional performances the actors gave, such natural and spirited cinematography, and above else, the script was itself a poem. "Suck the marrow from life" and "Carpe Diem" (latin for "Seize the Day") are lines that will stay with me forever. As will the scene which I am about to describe...

Professor Keating stands up on his desk in front of the classroom and hollers, "Why do I stand on my desk?" One of the students guesses, "to feel taller?" "No!" the Professor yawps to the class, "to remind myself to constantly look at things from a different perspective". One by one he asked his students to come up to the front of the classroom and stand on top of his desk. Indeed, one by one, the boys saw the classroom from a fresh perspective, their eyes radiant with the sense of adventure. His point was that poetry is not something having one and only one interpretation. Never be satisfied to accept another person's explanation of poem ... even if it is the poet himself. Always ask yourself, "how does this make ME feel, and why?" Think for yourself; don't be a conformist.

Keating told his class of teenagers, "You may see yourselves in a few years becoming doctors, lawyers, or mathematicians, and therefore may think that this poetry class is something you don't need to do well in. So you blow it off. Don't misunderstand me, medicine, law, science, are all noble pursuits, dedicated to saving or improving the quality of our lives. But poetry: romance, love, music, these are the things that make life worth living." Of course, I don't remember exactly what Keating's words were, but that is how I understood them.

So dear friends, this week, I implore you to be romantic and to suck the marrow out of life. I often talk about music with you. I talk about my album and about the musical events and ideas that went into its creation. Yet most of you, I dare say 99%, are not musicians and may think, "what does this have to do with my life?" Well, what Keating said to his poetry class rings true for me with music. It is one of the things that makes this life worth living. And that is why my CD player is turned way up right now, as I stand atop my hotel room desk. Not only does Led Zeppelin sound better up here, but I'm also seeing my room from a new perspective. Give it a try...what are you waiting for?

Yours truly,
Homeboy