Marco

In a moment of weakness I yesterday surfed to the lemma of Marco Borsato on Youtube. Borsato is the most popular Dutch singer of the moment, but more importantly to him at the moment, is that he also is an Ambassador for War Child Nederland, an organisation that strives for a healthy mental development of children who have lived through war. I have seen that that is easier said than done, making sure that a kid with PTSS has a healthy metal development, and have therefore quite some admiration for this organisation. And for Borsato, who I used to associate with songs with lyrics like: "I am lying on my back, and stare at the moon, and ask her why we exist". I am not a poet, and maybe it is deep, but those lyrics don't do the trick for me. However, one of his song gives me the chills, and maybe because the first shot of the videoclip that comes with it is filmed close to my house, at the corner between the Ali Pasjino Mosque and Discotheque the Club. It is the clip for the song Speeltuin, 'Playground', in which hearthtrob Borsato sings that a child can be taken out of a war, but that it is harder to take a war out of a child. The video is made of eight-o'clock news clippings, and are all about BiH, but it could be about Darfur, Congo, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and so on, and so forth, too.

In all his cliches in his song Playground, Borsato is right, very right in his song. Trauma's die hard.

No matter that this guy makes songs with lyrics like "most dreams are fake, but when I wake up next to you, it feels like I am still dreaming" (!), if you use your fame to be such an sincere advocate for battered child victims of war, I am a fan. However, this won't stop me from turning down the voulme when I see his videoclips. 'cause i am a bigger fan of his cause, than of his voice.

By the way: second place. My brother. He will be big one day, mind my words.