Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou, known in the expansive music world of Oscars,
Grammys, international performances and compositions as Vangelis, composed the
unique and beautiful score for the movie,
‘Chariots of Fire’ in 1981, as well as over a dozen other films.
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During my radio show days, I had hundreds of CDs, oral storytellers and music or both. I have kept many
of them, some still packed away. During the recent unsettling chaos at home and around the world, I began looking through my CDs for some relaxing music and found the 25th Anniversary release of the ‘Chariots of Fire’ soundtrack.
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I had forgotten how mystical, how beautiful, and how creative and releasing it is. I have listened to it many times since.
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(c) Intenational Foundation of Greece
In the last few months, I have thought about and talked with friends about how we change the world. Sometimes we intend to by volunteering for an organization or group we support, donating our time and/or money to a cause we believe in, by helping friends who need it, or by joining in a march for a cause. Sometimes we may be employed by a company that pays less than we could get elsewhere, yet we believe in what they are doing.
Sometimes we make the world a better place or perhaps change it by simple life tasks: mowing our neighbor’s lawn, picking up dog poop some one left behind, not saying something snarky when it was
the first thing on our tongue, or assuming that someone is doing their best when we are so not pleased with their action.
Did Vangelis think he was working to make the world a better place? I can’t know. I suspect he was doing what he was compelled to do and driven by and felt achievement in doing, as he learned and grew and worked joyously with other musicians. He was born in Agria, Greece and died in Paris not quite three years ago. Did he change the world? Oh my starz, in my opinion he sure did. He opened the door in so many ways for the musicians who came after him, for those he worked with, for the new horizons he saw and exemplified. And the people like me, who he helped open our hearts and souls with his creativity and visionary music.
You and I change the world, I suspect, in ways we don’t realize. Nor at the moment intend. Hopefully, much of it good! Yet when it is not postive, may we learn and move on. As Maya Angelou said, “When you know better, do better.”
