𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 - this week: Manhã Dourada - João Aranha

Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly - an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙝𝙖̃ 𝘿𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙖 - 𝙅𝙤𝙖𝙤 𝘼𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙝𝙖

Charles is just being nice…

I’m a bad man. Rotten to the core. Cruel and sadistic. Horrid horrid horrid. This is what everyone says about me. Okay. This is not what everyone says about me. At least, not to my face anyway. Then why say it here? Because sometimes we have thoughts. Irrational thoughts. Absurd and fictional thoughts, based on absolutely nothing. It was also a punchy way of starting the article. Ahem. Negative thoughts of oneself can easily creep in when surrounded by negative, bad and ugly. Take last week’s article, for example. I decided not to comply. I decided not to embrace a thing called HAL. I decided not to see the potential positive effect of it on art. While I won't be changing my stance any time soon, this negativity can lead to heavier things. If one sees only doom and gloom, one feels only doom and gloom. And it is easy to slide down the slippery slope of “I’m no good”. These days, I would have said my thoughts and views are pretty balanced. Also, these days I think I’m pretty comfortable with who I am, and what I’m like. Am I bad? Am I mean? Am I cruel? Am I dishonest? Am I a criminal? No. Am I perfect? Pahahaha! No. Very far from it. While being in a generally healthy state of mind, I could always be better. We all could. But I’d just like to give the good guys a pat on the back for being so good. While we could all be better, just think how much worse we could be? All those liars and fakers and cheaters out there. We could be like that. We could be going around, spitting on grannies and tripping up children. I saw you, laughing at the idea of the kid falling over. I chuckled too. Because it’s funny. Okay, the kid isn’t laughing, but we mustn’t lose our sense of humour. Stifle that natural laughter, then help the kid up. For most of us, good enough, is good enough. Don’t try to be a positive drone. If it ain’t natural, it ain’t natural.

Okay. So it seems I’m not a bad person. But WAS I, though? Perhaps. While I was never a devil, I certainly did things I shouldn’t have done. Things I wasn’t supposed to. Things that were bad for me. Things that were bad for others. It’s called being young. Pretty boring if you were never like this, to be honest. The inquisitiveness of growing up is all part of life. One has to experience the bad in order to realise the good. Or at least, that’s how I did it. You, the reader, might have been flawless from birth. And what a bore you must be. I was never one of those “problem children”. I was never in trouble with the police. I was never expelled from school (well, I came close twice, but that’s another story). But as I grow less young (“grow” being the wrong word, for I am little taller than a midget), I learn. But perhaps “learn” is not quite the right word. I didn’t force myself, and neither was I forced by any god. I am not religious in the slightest, so morals came partly from upbringing, and the rest from simply feel. It is pretty easy to know if one is doing the wrong thing. Because you feel bad about it. One shouldn’t want to intentionally hurt or harm anyone. For example, if you feel the urge to mock someone, in private, behind closed doors, to another chum, I personally think that’s absolutely fine. Providing you trust them. But it would be very rude and hurtful to say it to the mockee’s face. Would it be wrong to mock someone in front of a crowd of strangers, even if the mockee is not there? To me, it would. It’s all a feeling. I am not perfect. I am not all good. But I will never intentionally hurt a single soul. Aside from this being a negative for them, what would be the positive for me? In the words of McCartney, "I used to be bad, but I don't have to be bad no more".

So coming back to the way we see the world… Ain’t it ugly? Ain’t it ghastly? Ain’t people just so bloody awful? I wrote a song about it, for God’s sake! Well whether it’s all this bad, maybe try not to dwell on it too much. It will depress you, and life will simply not be very enjoyable. Don’t lie to yourself, but try not to pile the stack of crud too high. It will smell, and one day it will all come crashing down on you. Or, just sing the Blues. Singing the Blues is a great way of turning bad into good. And where would the Blues be without the ever-towering pile of crud by our side? I’ll tell you where. We’d be in the land of hope and glory. What, England? Pahahaha! Sorry, that’s almost as funny as the child falling over. No, no. That ship has sailed. England has had its glory. It’s had its glory and pissed all over it without realising. Sad times. I instead speak of Brazil. “Brazil?? But Brazil has FAR more problems than England, no…?” - well that depends on who you ask. Observing the problems in Brazil might leave you feeling rather perky about your own nation’s stagnancy. But if you get the chance to speak with Brazilians, you will find them to be the most upbeat, happiest, positive people you have met. Not all of them, of course, otherwise crime would be a thing of the past. But on the whole, Brazil (and Argentina) really is home to some of the best people. This could be a knock-on effect of the bad. A little like World War 2 in Britain. Sure, it was absolutely bloody awful, but it made people rally round and get the most out of life. We saw similar effects at the beginning of the Farce. Sorry, I meant the Covid Pandemic. You remember. When we were not allowed to go to work or even sit in the park. Strangely enough, in a time when people could barely leave their house, everyone became more social (admittedly from a distance). There was care and kindness. Neighbours were suddenly chatting over the fence like the old days. Burglaries plummeted because homes were never lonely. There was a wonderful community spirit. It genuinely felt like the 1950s. And then Zoom came along to spoil everything.

So yes, while Brazil has its problems, the majority of its people are good people. I am however fortunate enough to know who I believe to be the kindest man in Brazil. A saint among men. Please welcome Joao Aranha! I say the kindest in Brazil… He is the kindest man I have ever known. I could go on about specifics of his kindness and his goodness, but the chap is so modest that he would probably prefer me not to mention these things in public. “Oh here we go, typical CC. Now he’s going to list all those things anyway. He always does this.” - well I’m not. Because I respect him deeply. Joao is an extremely modest man who does good for the right reasons. He doesn’t want the praise. He doesn’t have the easiest life, but he gets on with it, because he has to. He is aware that we only have one life, and that it is usually just as easy to be good as it is to be bad. He is one of life’s helpers. He surfs every morning at 6am because he loves to, not because he feels he should. While he’s there he might save the odd life or two (I’m not joking), then get back just in time for breakfast. It’s just another day in the life of Superman. Truly, I do think of Joao (Jo-ay-oh is how I pronounce it, despite not being correct) as Superman. But more saintly than Superman. Superman is like a magic alien. Joao is simply human. Almost like a role model for how we all should be. I can’t fault the guy! “But isn’t he therefore a bit dull…?” - not in the slightest! You see, he didn’t always used to be good. Like most of us, “we were up to no good. Started makin’ trouble in the neighbourhood” (thank you, Will Smith). Then as time went on, he saw the error of his ways, and his “life got flipped turned upside down” (thank you again, Will Smith). This irreligious bean got given a halo, and he uses it well.

There is one problem with being so known for his goodities: he becomes known as The Saint, and nothing more. People forget that he isn’t just here to save the day and sort the world’s uselessnesses. He is a bloody musician!!! While he might have hung up his greasy leather Hell’s Angels biker jacket, and replaced it with a shirt embroidered entirely from hemp, with the words Heaven’s Angel on the back, he has always been quietly making music. His modesty doesn’t help promote these songs though. You see, EYE have a new song just out, called “Hands Up, Hands Down (PART TWO)”, and it isn’t very modest to say so. But it does mean however that you now know about it. Joao released a beautiful song a couple of weeks ago, called “Manhã Dourada”, and you might have had no idea! Hence here I am, talking about it, so he doesn’t have to. The Portuguese translates as Golden Morning. Its lyrics are the most positive thread of, well, positivity. Seeing brightness and light in every new day. Seeing and feeling opportunity in all. It is a push to keep going and to accomplish whatever it is that you wish. To push through challenges and not give up. To be hopeful and to strive. We speak so much about that age-old idiot- sorry, idiom: whether one’s cup is half full or half empty. Joao looks at it in a different way. He simply tops up the glass so there is no quandary. It is full. É isso. C’est ça. That’s that. Job done.

Because of the simplicity of its arrangement, I have little to say about Joao’s latest release, other than it being beautiful in every way. What more would you need here in order to make you want to listen? His friend plays the guitar, while Joao sings atop the plucks. The guitarist refused a credit - yet more modesty! The music and melodies are very unusual and akin to Latin folk and (somewhat) Bach, making it far more than just “nice”. Sheer honest beauty, hope and goodliness. The next time you curse the sky for raining, think about the plants and smile. That’s what Joao would do. While he might not be Superman, his name does bear a resemblance to a certain other superhero… Translating his name into English makes me see him in a completely different light; John Spider! Bring back that greasy leather jacket, I say.

I have kept this quite short, because there is only so much positivity I can take without needing a drink. Sunshine and lollipops have their place, but sometimes I crave a lightning-seared steak. Poor cow. Told you I wasn’t perfect.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some children to trip up.

Kind regards,

Your favourite Mockee

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