Destructive Distillation

Two sides of a coin for me this week have been Metallica's Fade to Black and Frank Capra's Its a Wonderful Life. Be it James Hetfield's passionate vocals or James Stewart's enchanting acting! Kirk Hammett's lead and rhythm or Frank Capra's master story telling, I just cant get over both of them. Both excellent pieces of art and soulful to the very core! They deal with two opposite takes on life and yet somehow, so close and interwoven.

Life it seems will fade away
Drifting further everyday
Getting lost within myself
Nothing matters.. no one else..
So starts Fade to Black after the stirring and pensive guitar. Touching a deep chord within me is the angst of a guy who sings about the hell he is in; with no visible solution to his problems. He is fading into the darkness of death. The ensuing guitar play gives you a rush as he is about to say goodbye and you can do nothing about it.

In Its a Wonderful Life, George Bailey played by the great James Stewart (Rear Window, Vertigo) is a high spirited youth who takes all the cruel blows of life on his dreams. He doesnt understand the significance of his life and is ready to give up. The guardian angel shows him (and us of course) how wonderful this life can be. He realizes his folly and gets back to his kith and kin and what happens next is .... i say is a scene to be written down in gold in the annals of movie history. You just cant stop loving life if you have seen it the way i did. It pulls my heartstrings now and again.

I am sure if George Bailey had heard fade to black when he was down and had given up, he would have know it was written for him. May be it is just past such situations when we really understand the beauty of life. All we have to do is keep our heads or have someone to help us hold on till the dark cloud passes. Nothing is more joyful than living, regardless of however painful life is!