If I was weak, forgive me
But I was terrified
You brushed my eyes with angels’ wings, full of love
The kind that makes devils cry
So, these days
My life has changed
And I’ll be fine …
– Songwriters: David Austin / George Michael
– Singer: George Michael
LOSING a loved one to death, separation or a failed love affair is almost always painful. Nobody wants to go through that experience.
For most people trying to cope with the pain of losing someone, they blame others as a defense mechanism. In most cases, particularly death, the most convenient scapegoat is God.
In cases of separation or a failed love affair it’s usually a third party who gets the pointing finger when in most instances one partner or both are just weak.
Artists, writers or creative individuals try to cope with pain and tragedy quite differently from mere mortals. They channel it through their creativity by writing a book, an essay/column, a song or sometimes create a work of art.
Others just turn to drugs or alcohol, sometimes both, and become addicts and alcoholics wasting their lives away.
And that’s what this column is all about – how one singer/songwriter channelled his pain through his creative juices and the subtle parallels it has to Moi’s personal tragedies.
From that free online encyclopedia a.k.a. the internet:
“You Have Been Loved” is a song by English singer George Michael, recorded for his 1996 album, Older. It was written by Michael and David Austin, and produced by Michael. Michael wrote “You Have Been Loved” about his lover, Anselmo Feleppa, who died of an AIDS-related illness in 1993.
It is a poignant song and the lyrics and melody really express the struggle and pain George Michael went through. Listening to it always brings a certain sadness to Moi as it evokes memories of my mother’s passing and my father who also died a month after, and losing a loved one in a failed relationship.
From www.songfacts.com:
While an intense song about grief and death, it also involves a spiritual struggle – while Anselmo and his mother both say that God is not dead, George counters their comments, challenging God, “What’s the use in pressing palms, if you [God] won’t keep such love from harm? It’s a cruel world. You’ve so much to prove.”
From www.songmeanings.com :
As usual this is another
beautiful song by the Genius, George Michael.
In general terms, the song is mainly questioning
the existence of God, when there is so much pain and suffering in the world.
This song revolves around three people: The singer (George Michael) his lover (Anselmo Feleppa – who is dying) and Anselmo’s mother (the “she” in the song.)
“What is the use in praying when you don’t even protect the love between a mother and a child?” The world is cruel and, because of that, God has so much to prove when it comes to being able and willing to protect those who believe in him and the second-coming. The last line in this passage is nothing short of ironic genius. It’s a wonderful play on words: “Heaven help the ones who wait for you.”
I’m not really a fan of George Michael although I’m quite familiar and do appreciate his music. I can say that I’ve only seriously listened to three of his songs in his entire career till his death in 2016.
In his early days as the other half of that pop/disco duo Wham, just one song stands out, at least for me – the jazz- and soul-flavored ballad Careless Whispers and it was probably the saxophone solos in that song that got me obviously.
The other song is that haunting is blue-eyed soul ballad Jesus to a Child. George Michael wrote this song in memory of Anselmo who he met during a performance at the Rock in Rio II Festival in Rio de Janeiro in 1991; Feleppa died only two years after.
Michael said that he had never felt real love until he met Anselmo. That’s why he dedicated this song and the whole album Older to his lost boyfriend.
Our feature song, You Have Been Loved, is perhaps George Michael’s most poignant song expressing the pain of losing a loved one. Let me leave you with some lines from that song:
It’s a cruel world, we’ve so much to lose
And what we have to learn, we rarely choose
Take care my love, she said
Don’t think that God is dead
Take care my love, she said
You have been loved…/PN
