I took the following from a blog I have as a daily read.... 'Proceed at your own risk' whom I consider a particularly smart and insightful guy. Wow I didn't know this!!!

UN MOMENT SENTIMENTAL
In the mid-1970s I attended a concert at Carnegie Hall by the French singing legend, Charles Aznavour. Among the songs he performed was "Comme ils disent," words and music by Charles Aznavour, written in 1973. The English translation is "What Makes A Man A Man?"

Aznavour is one of the greatest song writers and singers of the 20th Century, discovered and mentored by Edith Piaf and at one time as famous and as beloved in New York and Hollywood as he was in Paris.

This morning I read a review of the 82-year-old artist's recent concert in Boston. This brilliant artist has written musicals, more than a thousand songs, recorded and released over 100 records and appeared in 60 films. Aznavour sings in six languages: French, English, Italian, Spanish, German and Russian.

"Comme ils disent" is a stirring tribute to drag queens, and more than a courageous choice for the stage of Carnegie Hall and mainstream concert venues around the world during the early to mid-70s. Aznavour was part of the revolution.

If you've never heard of or listened to Aznavour, I highly recommend him. And if you've never heard of or listened to Edith Piaf, your life is an empty shell.

WHAT MAKES A MAN
Charles Aznavour (France) 1973

My mum and I we live alone
A great apartment is our home
In Fairhome Towers
I have to keep me company
Two dogs, a cat, a parakeet
Some plants and flowers
I help my mother with the chores
I wash, she dries, I do the floors
We work together
I shop and cook and sew a bit
Though mum does too I must admit
I do it better
At night I work in a strange bar
Impersonating every star
I'm quite deceiving
The customers come in with doubt
And wonder what I'm all about
But leave believing
I do a very special show
Where I am nude from head to toe
After stripteasing
Each night the men look so surprised
I change my sex before their eyes
Tell me if you can
What makes a man a man

At 3 o'clock or so I meet
With friends to have a bite to eat
And conversation
We love to empty out our hearts
With every subject from the arts
To liberation
We love to pull apart someone
And spread some gossip just for fun
Or start a rumor
We let our hair down, so to speak
And mock ourselves with tongue-in-cheek
And inside humor
So many times we have to pay
For having fun and being gay
It's not amusing
There's always those that spoil our games
By finding fault and calling names
Always accusing
They draw attention to themselves
At the expense of someone else
It's so confusing
Yet they make fun of how I talk
And imitate the way I walk
Tell me if you can
What makes a man a man

My masquerade comes to an end
And I go home to bed again
Alone and friendless
I close my eyes, I think of him
I fantasize what might have been
My dreams are endless
We love each other but it seems
The love is only in my dreams
It's so one sided
But in this life I must confess
The search for love and happiness
Is unrequited
I ask myself what I have got
Of what I am and what I'm not
What have I given
The answers come from those who make
The rules that some of us must break
Just to keep living
I know my life is not a crime
I'm just a victim of my time
I stand defenseless
Nobody has the right to be
The judge of what is right for me
Tell me if you can
What make a man a man

Tell me if you can
Tell me if you can
Tell me if you can
What makes a man a man

..."And I go home to bed again
Alone and friendless
I close my eyes, I think of him
I fantasize what might have been
My dreams are endless
We love each other but it seems
The love is only in my dreams
It's so one sided"

How true.



Jim