This is why I live in Europe.
Check out this flashmob rendition of Ode to Joy – from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
It has turned into a sort of European national anthem.
The words are from the first two verses of Friedrich Schiller’s famous poem. Here is a loose translation:
Oh friends, no more of these sounds!
Let us sing more cheerful songs,
More full of joy!
Joy, bright spark of divinity,
Daughter of Elysium,
Fire-inspired we tread
Thy sanctuary!
Thy magic power reunites
All that custom has divided;
All men become brothers
Under the sway of thy gentle wings.
Whoever has created
An abiding friendship,
Or has won
A true and loving wife,
All who can call at least one soul theirs,
Join in our song of praise!
But any who cannot must creep tearfully
Away from our circle.
Note: no wars of religion. No veil. No suicide bombers. No tariffs. No Ukraine war. No rape gangs. No MAGA or MEGA. No woke, transgender, LGBTQ agenda.
Just a celebration of the human spirit. That divine spark of creativity. Of human invention.
Of the desire to make life on this planet better for everyone.
Europe is where the renaissance happened, the reformation, the enlightenment, the scientific revolution, the industrial revolution. Was it all good. Of course not. We also created many versions of hell: the inquisition, witch hunts, plagues, the crusades, two world wars, colonialism, totalitarianism and more.
But we learned from our mistakes and we have learned that we can triumph over our greatest failures.
That’s what Beethoven’s Ode to Joy is all about.
I invite the rest of the world to join us in that human spirit.
