Roses in the Snow

Baccara - The Collection — Baccara – The Collection

"Love Never Dies" - Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to "The Phantom of the Opera." — “Love Never Dies” – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to “The Phantom of the Opera.”

Roses In The Snow – Baccara

One moonlight winter midnight

You came to say goodbye
Your love was dying
And you told me so
And so you’ve gone forever
I somehow couldn’t cry
When in my garden
I saw roses grow

I can’t forget the roses
Roses in the snow
Outshining stars and winter moonlight
Believe me I’ll remember
That night one cold december
When I saw red roses in the snow

I can’t forget the roses
Though I’ll never know
What made them grow like summer sunshine
Believe me I’ll remember
That night one cold december
When I saw red roses in the snow

My life has been so lonely
Unchanging since you gone
There’s no more dreaming
You’ll come back to me
Sweet memories die slowly
Just fading like a song
That keeps recalling
Love that used to be

Ican’t forget the roses
Roses in the snow
Outshining stars and winter moonlight
Believe I’ll remember
That night one cold december
When I saw red roses in the snow

I can’t forget the roses
Though I’ll never know
What made them grow like summer sunshine
Believe me I’ll remember
That night one cold december
When I saw red roses in the snow

Believe me I’ll remember
That night one cold december
When I saw red roses in the snow
If I should live forever
I know that I would never
See again red roses in the snow.

Love is an emotion that is so intense that it can either bring on heightened feelings of immense joy, well-being, security and ecstasy or it can be as whimsical as a swinging see-saw or as devious as the legendary, two-faced “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.” Just as people ‘fall in love’ with each other easily, the fact is that they tend to ‘fall out of love’ just as easily as well – depending on the circumstances and nature of the relationship. People fall out of love because they mistake their infatuation &/or lust to be true love – but these fickle considerations can never form the back-bone of true and evergreen love, can they? When the inevitable axe falls and people find themselves having to face the harsh fact of them being “all out of love,” they find themselves sinking to the depths of despair, disillusionment, devastation and a sorrow that is so intense – it could very well be grief.

Have you heard of these two expressions – ” Love at first sight” and “Falling head over heels in love with someone?” They seem to me to be two of the most ridiculous expressions to have ever been coined by anyone – leave alone publicized, so blatantly. The person who conceived of such preposterously idiotic notions seems to have been most definitely blurry eyed after subjecting himself to one too many pegs of unadulterated Scotch Whiskey. I will very quickly convince you of their frivolity and I think that you’ll agree with me.

So, let’s start with the first phrase, “Love at first sight.” It speaks of an encounter that is so “electric”, so full of ‘good vibes’ that it sets the pulse racing of the person that experiences its first thrill. In such a circumstance, it would seem that such an occurrence is most likely to take place if the object of one’s intense affections is either a Nordic Adonis or a ravishingly beautiful Greek Goddess – in short, considerations of extreme attraction based on external, physical beauty play center stage. What one presumes to be love dies when beauty gives way, over the years, to aging and wrinkling skin – aging is inevitable – it is an unchanging truth as inevitable as birth or death. The most expensive and cleverest form of plastic surgery cannot mask sufficiently the aging process. This implies necessarily that gents who are unluckily the veritable personifications of the Frog Prince or women who are born as the unattractive, Ugly Ducklings, can never and will never ever experience love at first sight. Yet it may surprise you greatly to know that the love that you might share with the Frog Prince or the Ugly Duckling has all the hallmarks of sincerity, stability, strength and endurance because it is the essence of true love – love that goes beyond physical traits and characteristics. It is a love that can survive the vagaries of Time because it is based on the solid principles of strength of character and a beautiful and benevolent personality. I am not stating that is impossible that one can share true love with a Nordic Adonis or a Greek Goddess. What I am forced to state however is that the male Adonis likely to possess a ‘roving eye’ and will more often than not, turn out to be an unfaithful lover and womanizer. The Greek Goddess will be wont to being exceedingly vain and selfish – these negative traits, in themselves are enough to make her mean, nasty and hateful of all the rest of the world that does not share a beauty that is equal to her own. Try and imagine such a couple together – they may consist physically of everything that dreams are made of, but scratch beneath the surface and you’ll see that they are 2 very lonely people. Each one is so self-absorbed that they will never seem to have time for each other. The lust that they feel for each other does not allow any room for compromise – their so-called love survives only so long as the sex is good. Since their love is not based on any mutual interests or hobbies, as such, it is one that dies as suddenly, quickly and effectively as it sprung up in the first place.

When people speak so eloquently on “love at first sight” does it also imply that all those that are unfortunately afflicted with vision problems such as cataracts, glaucoma, retinal detachment and blindness are not to be included in the equation because they are unable to see? I am sure that you agree with me when I say that this is totally ridiculous and far-fetched! Aren’t these people just as entitled as you and me to love too?

Let us now consider the other phrase – Falling head over heels in love.” I really wouldn’t know about you but this phrase really makes me laugh heartily. Here’s why. The vision that it instantly brings to my vivid imagination is one of a person who trips violently and is propelled headlong, in high-speed, across the room, horizontally through the air, till gravity plonks him down clumsily and unceremoniously on the hard ground – in a position that is far, far from graceful – by any means at all. As you can well imagine, it is situation that brings on an acute case of blushing and embarrassment. In the context of so-called love, it implies that one stands in front of the object of one’s affections with a gaping jaw, like a starry-eyed surprise. When people claim that their “love” creates a sensation that is so powerful that it makes them feel faint and weak in the knees, I really don’t know if it would be kinder to tell them that what they are evincing is far, far from love – it is more likely to be due to a sharp drop in blood sugar or blood pressure. People speak of experiencing a shiver that runs up their spine…..I really do think that people should be more sensible and clad themselves better in the cold weather – it would prevent the shivers. So, what one is hearing is nothing short of idiotic – it has all the hallmarks of fleeting infatuation – but lacks all the consistencies of true love.

Love dies because the ‘spark’ of lust or infatuation that sets the relationship going is too intense in the very first instance – it necessarily starts like a blazing fire but dies out like the unstable flame of a flickering candle. It is like fizzing soda water – it is just too effervescent and bubbling in its inception. Leave the soda water standing for a few minutes and watch the fizz escape with a sad hiss. It is akin to a marathon runner who starts such a long and tedious race foolishly at a brisk run, instead of conserving his energy for later – he soon finds himself tiring and faltering even before the end of the marathon is anywhere near. On the contrary, true love has all the favorable highlights of strength, endurance, balance and stability. The ‘spark’ that sets true love on its course is one that begins with the flickering flame of a candle but grows in intensity, over time, into a strong, blazing fire – one that is so enduring that it is able to survive many obstacles and the various vagaries of life. It is never born in a day but once true love is kindled, it is there to stay for a lifetime of bliss. It is never true love that dies – it is infatuation and lust that die. True love is eternal, selfless, beautiful and evergreen but infatuation/lust is invariably based on selfish and transient superficiality – such a fickle relationship is bound to be doomed from its very inception and I’m sure you realize that such a conclusion is not based on ‘rocket science!”

This beautifully eloquent song by Baccara has all the hallmarks of the immense sadness evinced by a woman spurned by her unfaithful lover – their love started out as a thing of immense beauty like a blossoming red rose. However, without any nurturing or nourishment to keep the relationship going strong, their love died as suddenly as it had sprung up. One has the distinct impression that her lover approaches her with a bouquet of fresh roses, hoping it will serve as an olive branch of forgiveness and restore some semblance of normality in their love life. She flings the roses on the snow, in her humiliation, anger and despair – the blood-red roses on the pure, white snow become a symbol in her mind of what had been and what could never be. The sad fact of the matter is that when love dies, the lovers can never go back to the state of euphoria that brought them together in the first place. The woman keeps repeating how even though their love is dead and gone – the image of the red roses on the white snow will remain like a bloodstain imprinted on her soul forever.

Hence, in conclusion, what can one really say? It is so important to attempt to make one’s true love a story of the “Days of Wine and Roses” or equally of “Seasons in the Sun.” The answer depends on how you treat Love, which determines how Love will treat you in return. Treat her with respect and genuine affection and you can be sure that she will shower all the wonders that make her love ‘a many-splendored thing’ in your mind’s eye. Just try mistreating and abusing her and see how she vents her wrath on you – it is at that moment that she sill make amply sure that the sad story of the ROSES IN THE SNOW becomes YOUR story.

What I can and will say is simply this – I sincerely hope that you will enjoy the eternal joys of ‘Seasons in the Sun’ in your life-time. May you never have to live to see the nightmare of dead and withered roses in the snow – this is my ardent wish for all of you. It would be wonderful if you too could work towards that joyful end…..After all, “No pain, no gain,” isn’t it?