THE BEATLES: "Drive My Car"

There’s always something to look forward to, there’s always something to look back upon. And just like when you drive a car, the front window is much bigger and more important than the rear mirror.

CHRIS DE BURGH: "Where Peaceful Waters Flow"

Call it friendship, love between two people, whatever…When one is down, the other one has the power to cheer him up. When one is happy, the other one has the chance to share the joy. It’s like water flowing from a higher point to a lower point. The water level is lowered at one side, while being raised at the other side, until eventually there is one harmonious, flat water surface.

LEONARD COHEN: "True Love Leaves No Traces"

As the mist leaves no scar
On the dark green hill
So my body leaves no scar
On you and never will
Through windows in the dark
The children come, the children go
Like arrows with no targets
Like shackles made of snow

True love leaves no traces
If you and I are one
It's lost in our embraces
Like stars against the sun

As a falling leaf may rest
A moment on the air
So your head upon my breast
So my hand upon your hair

And many nights endure
Without a moon or star
So we will endure
When one is gone and far

True love leaves no traces
If you and I are one
It's lost in our embraces
Like stars against the sun

(lyrics of "True Love Leaves No Traces", by Leonard Cohen)

MADONNA: "Don't Cry For Me Argentina"

Buenos Aires (Argentina)

GREEN DAY: "Basket Case"

… a basket ball hitting the ring, balancing on the rim for a while: some days it just goes in like nothing, some days it goes out eventually.

SUGABABES: "Open The Door"

师傅领进门,修行在自身 (shīfu lǐng jìn mén, xiūxíng zài zìshēn)

"Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself."

QUEEN: "Bicycle Race"

Every day Song Gang would bring Lin Hong to the factory, on his shiny new bicycle. She would sit behind him, holding him tight, and even if she closed her eyes, she knew that the whole village was looking at them as they passed by. Song Gang would ring the bell to greet each and every single person on their way. Lin Hong’s hairs danced in the wind and her heart was filled with freedom and pride, sitting in the shadow of Song Gang’s strong back.

Without missing a single day, Song Gang would faithfully wait for Lin Hong to come out the factory gate after work too. She was by far the prettiest girl of the whole village, and Song Gang felt proud knowing she was his. He was totally devoted to her and she loved him for that. While she waved goodbye at her twittering colleagues, he rang his bell enthusiastically and started pedaling. Lin Hong would then hug his back even closer, and every person in the village who ever saw them riding that shiny bicycle in the late afternoon sun, would smile at them and say that what Song Gang and Lin Hong had, was true love.

…recollection from the book “Brothers” (兄弟) by Yu Hua (余华) …

TRACY CHAPMAN: "The Promise"

Some downy white clouds on a blue canvas. Each and every little thing going haywire; it's just one of those days. The humour of it binds the untouchables in their acquiescence. A sense of belonging; a feeling of longing.

ENYA: "Watermark"

Manila Bay (Philippines)

PINK FLOYD: "The Wall"

Manila Intramuros (Philippines)

MICHAEL STIPE & COLDPLAY: "In The Sun"

Just like pictures are much nicer when they are taken in the sun, life is more beautiful when you escape from the shadow and seek the heat. Sure, you may get burnt sometimes, but you can catch a cold in the shadow too. And it’s so much more rewarding.

INXS: "Never Tear Us Apart"

Rome was not built in one day; neither will it be destroyed in one day.

CHRISTIAN BAUTISTA: "The Way You Look At Me"

Manila Bay (Philippines)

HOWARD JONES: "No One Is To Blame"

Don't blame a person for who he is, but for what he does.

AEROSMITH: "Get A Grip"

You get a better grip on life when you organize it around a few personal projects. A course, a hobby, a club membership, a holiday you plan, a personal goal you try to achieve. Don’t bother if they seem meaningless to others, as long as they are meaning-more to you. No need to bite more than you can chew; just pick a few. Don’t bury your treasures to hide them for others. Dig them up, and show them to the world. Don’t sit down, but walk. Don’t wave at the moving train, but hop on it. Don’t stay on shore, but sail.

NENA: “99 Lüftballons”

…as if a balloon carries you to unknown horizons…
Drift away, surrender, and let the winds steer you
There’s no roadmap in the skies
No arrows or clear marks at any junction
No choices to be made
Close your eyes
Be free

THE POLICE: “Message In A Bottle”

My head is a glass bottle in a chemistry lab; something’s brewing but its formula has yet to be deciphered. Ideas pinch me with sticky fingers in a mass of rising dough; something's being baked in the pastry shop but I can't see what it is. I smell the tempting air from a distance, as it escapes from the bakery door, not coincidentally left open. It takes an open door too, for the condensation to disappear from the mirror after taking a shower; but the image will become clear eventually.

NATASHA BEDINGFIELD: "Pocket Full Of Sunshine"

“Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.” (Helen Keller)

ENYA: "May It Be"

Peru

BELINDA CARLISLE: "Circle In The Sand"

The paradox of perfection is that it's lost while striving for it.

DIANA ROSS: "If We Hold On Together"

There are moments when total happiness comes so close that it’s almost touchable, even nearer than the comfort zone in which speaking becomes impossible, yet unnecessary as well. It blows like a breeze around the top of a hill; it whistles carelessly like the invisible bird somewhere at its foot. It’s the same sun that sets as it did every earlier day of your life; but it’s not the same you watching it.
There’s as much care in a simple question about the meaning of a word as there is tenderness in a head resting on a shoulder. The days are shorter and longer than ever; the horizon is wider than it used to be, and the skies much higher. You don’t need to seek out a star to make a wish come true. They fall by the dozens and dazzle your head until you can’t sleep no more.

THE BANGLES: "Eternal Flame"

Close your eyes, give me your hand...

MICHAEL JACKSON: "This Is It"

“The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” (Allan K. Chalmers)

This is Grand.

METALLICA: "Master Of Puppets"

Some opportunities are golden; others are merely gold-plated. It takes a knowledgeable goldsmith to find out the difference. Or just some common sense, that helps too. Deep inside, we know the answers to seemingly unsolvable questions. It’s just a matter of wanting to know them sometimes. Our hands are tight, fearful to acknowledge a feeling, as if we are puppet players who let our puppet-on-a-string wait to perform, safely behind the curtain.
So why practise a skill, if you don't intend to use it? Why fall in love, if you don't dare to tell the other person? Why be happy, if you don’t want to smile? A stage is pointless without actors climbing onto it; a pool need not be dug out if no one plans to swim. We only make sense through others. On our own, we don't need mirrors. We only need them to resemble others. Vanity is an indistinct puddle of shattered dreams; a dark pool of betrayal to oneself. Pure essence reflects in dazzling sunlight on a mountain river. A hand reaching for the rocks on the sea bed; they wear a see-through dress of ice-cold water. Seek out a flat one, pick it up and throw it away as hard as you possibly can. See how many times you can make it bounce before it sinks to its new destiny.