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The Same But Different
This is the closing track from my forthcoming CD "Where Are We Now?" which will be released on TLR in December.
The following story is quite long, so feel free to skip it - but if you want to know more about this song, then read on:
CAMBODIA 2007
Firstly I need to introduce you to the concept of *Same Same*. If you ever spend any time in South East Asia (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia) you will see people wearing t-shirts with "Same Same" written on the front, and "But Different" written on the back. This comes from the many stall holders, and souvenir sellers in the area who will try and sell you anything for a dollar. Bartering is always a lengthy & protracted experience in these parts, but has to be done. So when you explain to the vendor that you can get the same item he's selling for half the price down the road, the stall holder will tell you to ignore this fact because what *he* is trying to sell you is different - while at the same time being exactly the same!
When you try to explain that this just doesn't make any sense the stall holder will inevitably just nod, smile and repeat that it's all just "Same Same, But Different."
I LOVE THIS IDEA, and for me these four words sum up the Indochina experience: slightly desperate, nonsensical and endearingly funny at the same time.
When this song started to come together it made sense to relate this idea to a bigger picture: that we are all very different, but at the end of the day pretty much the same, with similar hopes and fears, and definitely the same needs, wants and desires. In Bangkok this was exemplified by seeing a monk in a temple talking on his brand new Nokia phone - the ancient and the modern coming together; just 'cos you're a monk doesn't mean you can't have the best cell on the market!
The verses of the song really started to take shape as we travelled through Cambodia, visiting places like Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the notorious Killing Fields. You soon realise that Cambodia has a wretched history of tragedy and destruction, and is still living with corruption and violence on a massive scale. So, in verse two I am sitting in the roof-top bar of the Foreign Correspondents Club in Phnom Penh (where journalists drank as they reported on the war) reflecting on how, despite all this mess, the people of Cambodia are some of the warmest, friendliest and most positive people you could ever wish to meet. Something which is at the same time incomprehensible, amazing and life-affirming.
Cambodia had a profound effect on me, and has stayed with me since I returned to the *civilised* west. The one thing that struck me above all else is how life in Cambodia, and elsewhere in Indochina, is hard. Yet the people there just 'get on with it'. This was highlighted to me as we travelled from Siem Reap to the Thai border along the 'main' highway - which is little more than a muddy track. It started to rain torrentially and suddenly this mud track became a quagmire. Lorries, cars and bikes were skidding all over the place, getting stuck or sliding off the track into fields and ditches. Then, just as we were beginning to realise that making progress was hopeless and dangerous, out of the window of our stationary bus I saw a man on a moped ride past with a pig strapped to the back of his bike (that's him in the photo above). He was obviously off to market, and a little bit of mud and rain wasn't going to stop him.
I couldn't help but feel for this man who was battling the odds because, well, he had no choice. I thought that if that was me I'd just quit and go home, put my feet up, watch some TV. But he didn't have the option to do that - he had a pig to sell. An hour or so later, after we'd turned around and were heading back to Siem Reap we passed this man again, only now he was at the side of the road repairing a puncture! Nothing like kicking a man when he's down, I thought. The thing is, this is what life is like - not occasionally - but all the time, for millions of people all over the world. It makes you think....
So the final verse is a simple reflection: when you think your life is shit, just stop for a minute and remember that somewhere in the world there'll be some poor bugger on a bike in the pissing rain trying to get a pig to market. It's not a new idea, I know, but I don't know whether it's been expressed in such a way before....
So there you have it. It's an unashamed, lighters in the air album closer with a big finale and a minor key refrain that might just tickle your spine. I hope you like it.
Thanks for reading this if you've made it to the end -
Cheers,
Phil
This is the closing track from my forthcoming CD "Where Are We Now?" which will be released on TLR in December.
The following story is quite long, so feel free to skip it - but if you want to know more about this song, then read on:
CAMBODIA 2007
Firstly I need to introduce you to the concept of *Same Same*. If you ever spend any time in South East Asia (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia) you will see people wearing t-shirts with "Same Same" written on the front, and "But Different" written on the back. This comes from the many stall holders, and souvenir sellers in the area who will try and sell you anything for a dollar. Bartering is always a lengthy & protracted experience in these parts, but has to be done. So when you explain to the vendor that you can get the same item he's selling for half the price down the road, the stall holder will tell you to ignore this fact because what *he* is trying to sell you is different - while at the same time being exactly the same!
When you try to explain that this just doesn't make any sense the stall holder will inevitably just nod, smile and repeat that it's all just "Same Same, But Different."
I LOVE THIS IDEA, and for me these four words sum up the Indochina experience: slightly desperate, nonsensical and endearingly funny at the same time.
When this song started to come together it made sense to relate this idea to a bigger picture: that we are all very different, but at the end of the day pretty much the same, with similar hopes and fears, and definitely the same needs, wants and desires. In Bangkok this was exemplified by seeing a monk in a temple talking on his brand new Nokia phone - the ancient and the modern coming together; just 'cos you're a monk doesn't mean you can't have the best cell on the market!
The verses of the song really started to take shape as we travelled through Cambodia, visiting places like Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the notorious Killing Fields. You soon realise that Cambodia has a wretched history of tragedy and destruction, and is still living with corruption and violence on a massive scale. So, in verse two I am sitting in the roof-top bar of the Foreign Correspondents Club in Phnom Penh (where journalists drank as they reported on the war) reflecting on how, despite all this mess, the people of Cambodia are some of the warmest, friendliest and most positive people you could ever wish to meet. Something which is at the same time incomprehensible, amazing and life-affirming.
Cambodia had a profound effect on me, and has stayed with me since I returned to the *civilised* west. The one thing that struck me above all else is how life in Cambodia, and elsewhere in Indochina, is hard. Yet the people there just 'get on with it'. This was highlighted to me as we travelled from Siem Reap to the Thai border along the 'main' highway - which is little more than a muddy track. It started to rain torrentially and suddenly this mud track became a quagmire. Lorries, cars and bikes were skidding all over the place, getting stuck or sliding off the track into fields and ditches. Then, just as we were beginning to realise that making progress was hopeless and dangerous, out of the window of our stationary bus I saw a man on a moped ride past with a pig strapped to the back of his bike (that's him in the photo above). He was obviously off to market, and a little bit of mud and rain wasn't going to stop him.
I couldn't help but feel for this man who was battling the odds because, well, he had no choice. I thought that if that was me I'd just quit and go home, put my feet up, watch some TV. But he didn't have the option to do that - he had a pig to sell. An hour or so later, after we'd turned around and were heading back to Siem Reap we passed this man again, only now he was at the side of the road repairing a puncture! Nothing like kicking a man when he's down, I thought. The thing is, this is what life is like - not occasionally - but all the time, for millions of people all over the world. It makes you think....
So the final verse is a simple reflection: when you think your life is shit, just stop for a minute and remember that somewhere in the world there'll be some poor bugger on a bike in the pissing rain trying to get a pig to market. It's not a new idea, I know, but I don't know whether it's been expressed in such a way before....
So there you have it. It's an unashamed, lighters in the air album closer with a big finale and a minor key refrain that might just tickle your spine. I hope you like it.
Thanks for reading this if you've made it to the end -
Cheers,
Phil
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Lyrics
The Same But Different
(by Phil Dolby ©2007)
When you get lost on the open highway
And you think of the cost you’re not willing to pay
At a Buddha in Bangkok a Nokia tone
A monk on a mobile; a 3G cell phone
Â
(chorus)
It’s all the same
It’s all the same, but different
It’s all the same
It’s all the same, but different
Â
When you look down on a city landscape
At the far points of light going different ways
You’re a rooftop reporter with a digital feed
And a pixel distorter to control what is seen
Â
(chorus)
It’s all the same
It’s all the same, but different
It’s all the same
It’s all the same, but different
Â
It’s one of those things, an incalculable thing
But it’s driving me to distraction
We let it go on, even though it’s so wrong
Without ever a call to reaction
How can we sit while the people who work the land with their hands
Are broken and shattered
How can we sit while the people who work the land with their hands
Don’t seem to matter...
Â
When you come home at the end of the day
And your energy’s gone and you’re fading away
There’s a man on a moped on a muddy highway
Going nowhere and slowly with a puncture delay
Â
(chorus)
It’s all the same
It’s all the same, but different
It’s all the same
It’s all the same, but different
It’s all the same
It’s all the same, but different
It’s all the same
It’s all the same, but different
(by Phil Dolby ©2007)
When you get lost on the open highway
And you think of the cost you’re not willing to pay
At a Buddha in Bangkok a Nokia tone
A monk on a mobile; a 3G cell phone
Â
(chorus)
It’s all the same
It’s all the same, but different
It’s all the same
It’s all the same, but different
Â
When you look down on a city landscape
At the far points of light going different ways
You’re a rooftop reporter with a digital feed
And a pixel distorter to control what is seen
Â
(chorus)
It’s all the same
It’s all the same, but different
It’s all the same
It’s all the same, but different
Â
It’s one of those things, an incalculable thing
But it’s driving me to distraction
We let it go on, even though it’s so wrong
Without ever a call to reaction
How can we sit while the people who work the land with their hands
Are broken and shattered
How can we sit while the people who work the land with their hands
Don’t seem to matter...
Â
When you come home at the end of the day
And your energy’s gone and you’re fading away
There’s a man on a moped on a muddy highway
Going nowhere and slowly with a puncture delay
Â
(chorus)
It’s all the same
It’s all the same, but different
It’s all the same
It’s all the same, but different
It’s all the same
It’s all the same, but different
It’s all the same
It’s all the same, but different
Phil this is just great song, the guitar sounds great and really clear to my ears, the vocal at the best level.
Good Luck with your CD friend ! this is great piece
Kudos !
Take Care
- Yeman A. Al-Rawi