Life in Lyrics is back with Charlie Chaplin's 'Smile'. Originally sung by Nat King Cole, this 1954 song went on to become one of the most monumental classics covered by many celebrated singers like Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Judy Garland, Josh Groban, Michael Jackson and, take a guess, Westlife (trust them to not miss out on this one!).
Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrows
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through for you
Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile
In the light of the recent suicide of a 17-year-old Malaysian teenager, Sally Lee Qian Chun, jumping off her school building while her class was still going on after posting several Facebook status updates persistently beginning mid-January, I thought the simple messsage in this song rings truer now more than ever. According to the article, the whole intention came from '...a failed relationship and broken promises...'.
When I was 17, I was pretty nerdy. Love and relationship didn't cross my mind at all. All I cared about was my study and putting in effort to get good grades so I'd get the scholarship to study where I am at the moment. Lucky to be pretty brainy, I didn't struggle much and I managed to juggle my study with some extra-curricular activities and fun. The dynamic in my family improved in many ways because I finally got some space to spread my wings as I was in a boarding school. I used to be very rebellious and pretty sulky ever so often because I thought my parents were too condescending and patronising so getting the chance to be independent was a nice change (I saw going off to a boarding school as a way of running away from home without having to worry about not having enough money). I spent almost every moment with teenagers around my age doing things teenagers around my age would occasionally be doing (within reasons, of course, because I'd like to think myself as a pretty responsible person) without any parental restrictions (although we'd still get the wardens and the disciplinary boards breathing down our necks!). I had some very awesome gang of friends for almost every activities - from geeky group studying in the library to a hungry bunch of monsters eating at the school's only cafe when we thought the food served at the hall was not enough to satisfy our tastebuds to naughty conspirators of prank-playing in the dormitary to great chums for weekend outings around the tiny town of Kangar. Life was good at 17!
Smile even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrows
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through for you
Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile
In the light of the recent suicide of a 17-year-old Malaysian teenager, Sally Lee Qian Chun, jumping off her school building while her class was still going on after posting several Facebook status updates persistently beginning mid-January, I thought the simple messsage in this song rings truer now more than ever. According to the article, the whole intention came from '...a failed relationship and broken promises...'.
When I was 17, I was pretty nerdy. Love and relationship didn't cross my mind at all. All I cared about was my study and putting in effort to get good grades so I'd get the scholarship to study where I am at the moment. Lucky to be pretty brainy, I didn't struggle much and I managed to juggle my study with some extra-curricular activities and fun. The dynamic in my family improved in many ways because I finally got some space to spread my wings as I was in a boarding school. I used to be very rebellious and pretty sulky ever so often because I thought my parents were too condescending and patronising so getting the chance to be independent was a nice change (I saw going off to a boarding school as a way of running away from home without having to worry about not having enough money). I spent almost every moment with teenagers around my age doing things teenagers around my age would occasionally be doing (within reasons, of course, because I'd like to think myself as a pretty responsible person) without any parental restrictions (although we'd still get the wardens and the disciplinary boards breathing down our necks!). I had some very awesome gang of friends for almost every activities - from geeky group studying in the library to a hungry bunch of monsters eating at the school's only cafe when we thought the food served at the hall was not enough to satisfy our tastebuds to naughty conspirators of prank-playing in the dormitary to great chums for weekend outings around the tiny town of Kangar. Life was good at 17!
Whenever I reflect back on my time when I was in boarding school (16-17), I would smile to myself thinking about all the silly things and good moments my friends and I did and went through. Even when I think of some of the bad times in friendship, I could still smile because we managed to sail through most of the frictions without any blood on our hands. Yes, there were bridges burnt along the way but all of us graduated a lil' wiser and a lot more mature. The experience really has helped me (and hopefully, all of us) to continue living my life in ways that would be enriching rather than limiting and I would say that period of two years was one of the best in my life.
I'm not trying to compare my life at 17 with Sally's. I knew nothing about what she went through and to speculate based on a news report would be rude and downright insulting to her memory so I apologise if this were to appear so.
I think what saddened me most was the fact that her suppossedly 'friends', rather than taking her seriously and getting her the help she should be getting, the went on taunting and daring her to do it! I found that just plain appalling and the dark side of me somehow wishes that those 'friends' would feel really guilty for they now have the blood of their friend on their conscience and ignorance but I don't think that's inappropriate because strong guilty conscience would in itself leads to depression if not addressed at the soonest. I hope we won't be hearing of any news of teenagers committing suicide for this!
I might not have the whole love and relationship shitzo bothering me when I was 17 but my adolescent wasn't an easy one either. Having said that, the one thing that really helped me during that time, and is still helping me now, is my group of friends that would always be there. Then and now, my friends would always be the first group of people I turn to for any and every problem that I have. Even if they can't solve the problems, they would still be able to put a smile on my face and lift my spirit. If you've been reading this blog, you'd know how integral my friends are in my life that some misconstrue myself as loving them more than I love my family. Let's just say I see my closest friends as family and they're all important to me.
At some point at some level, all of us would go through some sort of low mood or mild depression. It takes guts to deal with all the problems we are going through to snap out of the depressive mood and to get back to being our relatively cheerful and normal self. However, it takes greater courage and bravery to admit that the depressive mood you are going through is detrimental and dangerous and that you'd need professional help in dealing with it. Either way, strong support from family and/or friends would always be an important protective factor in preventing one from jumping off the edge and resorting to dangerous and posibbly fatal ways of dealing with the depression.
To finish, I'll leave you guys with Glee's version of the song. I've been putting this version on repeat these past few days. Doing the Mental Health rotation can be overwhelming (mor on that in another entry) so the song helps put things into perspective for me. And yeah, do smile even if you don't feel like it (althougt not unnecessarily or people will think you have some sort of mental disorder). You'll look better, you'll feel better, you'll make others feel better and they'll smile back and they will look better! And it's free!
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