Liberal Arts Blog — “The Greatest Love of All” (Muhammed Ali, George Benson, Whitney Houston, Alexandra Burke, Hillel)
Liberal Arts Blog — Thursday is the Joy of Music Day
Today’s Topic: “The Greatest Love of All” (Muhammed Ali, George Benson, Whitney Houston, Alexandra Burke, Hillel)
Can there be true love of others without self-respect? The great Jewish sage Hillel famously said “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself who am I? If not now, when?” Did the sage put first things first?
Whitney Houston snagged the #1 spot with her hit “Greatest Love of All” in 1985, but, I learned this morning, the song was originally written for a 1977 film about Muhammed Ali! The singer for the film soundtrack was George Benson. The composer was Michael Masser, and the lyricist Linda Creed. But many other singers have covered the song. Benson and Luciano Pavarotti recorded a duet version in 2001.
Today, three of the most acclaimed versions of the song. The first by Benson, the second by Houston.
The third by Alexandra Burke, whom I had not heard of before researching this post. Wow! What is your favorite song about the importance of self-love? How about “My Way”? Or “Respect” (Otis Redding/Aretha Franklin)?
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
MICHAEL MASSER (composer). LINDA CREED (lyrics), George Benson was the singer for the soundtrack of “The Greatest” (a film about Muhammed Ali); Benson won ten Grammys
1. “I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way, show them all the beauty they possess inside.”
2. “Give them a sense of pride to make it easier, Let the children’s laughter remind use how we use to be.”
3. “Everybody’s searching for a hero, People need someone to look up to, I never found anyone who fulfilled my needs, a lonely place to be and so I learned to depend on me.”
NB: “I decided long agho, Never to walk in anyone’s shadows. If I fail, if I succeed At least I’ll live as I believe, no matter wahat tyhey take from me They can’t take away my dignity.
“Because the greatest love of all is happening to me, I found the greatest love of all inside of me, the greatest love of all is easy to achieve,, learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all.”
“And if, by chance, that special place that you’ve been dreaming of leads you to a lonely place find your strength in love.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw26pG7u5ak
WHITNEY HOUSTON’S VERSION (1985) — her third consecutive #1 single
1. “The song and its popular music video, which became the first music video on MTV by a black female artist to immediately debut to heavy rotation on the channel, cemented her international superstardom.”
2. “Our young people need to hear that song and realize it’s about loving yourself. If you can love yourself through ll your rights and wrongs and faults, then that’s the greatest love of all.” (Whitney Houston)
3. Linda Creed composed the song two weeks after a diagnosis of breast cancer and a mastectomy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYzlVDlE72w
ALEXANDRA BURKE’S COVER WHICH APPEARED IN STAGE PRODUCTIONS OF A 2012 MUSICAL OF THE 1992 FILM “THE BODYGUARD” WHICH ORIGINALLY FEATURED HOUSTON
1. In case you have forgotten, Muhammed Ali was the greatest self-promoter of all time.
2. His autobiography was entitled “The Greatest: My Own Story.”
3. “It is hard to be humble when you are as great as I am.” (Ali)
NB: “I am the greatest. I said that even before I knew I was.” (Ali) “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.” (Ali) “If you even dream of beating me you should wake up and apologize.” (Ali)
BACKGROUND — for more quotes by Muhammed Ali, see the fourth and fifth links below.
The Greatest Love Of All : George Benson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Love_of_All
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_(1977_film)
Muhammad Ali Quotes (Author of The Soul of a Butterfly)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Burke
Alexandra Burke — Hallelujah (Official 4K Video)
The Benson-Pavarotti Duet in English and Italian — Top this!
Luciano Pavarotti & George Benson — The greatest love of all -
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
A LINK TO THE LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED BY THEME:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
ATTACHMENT BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
NB: Palestine Orion (Decision) — let’s exchange Orions, let’s find Rumi’s field (“Beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. Meet me there” Rumi, 13 century Persian Sufi mystic)
YOUR TURN
Time to share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to music.
Or the coolest thing you learned in your life related to music. Say your favorite song or songs. Or your favorite tips for breathing, posture, or relaxation. Or some insight into the history of music….Or just something random about music… like a joke about drummers. jazz, rock….or share an episode or chapter in your musical autobiography.
This is your chance to make someone else’s day. And perhaps to cement in your memory something important you would otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than you otherwise would about something that matters to you.
