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musicposter · 3 months

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Quotes Avril Lavigne

Life is like a roller coaster, live it, be happy, enjoy life. ― Avril Lavigne

What's the meaning of this quote?

Quote Meaning: This quote draws a vivid analogy between life and a roller coaster, conveying a perspective that encourages us to embrace the ups and downs, find happiness, and fully enjoy the journey.

The quote begins by stating, "Life is like a roller coaster," highlighting the idea that life is filled with exhilarating highs and challenging lows, similar to the thrilling experience of riding a roller coaster. This comparison captures the unpredictable nature of life, where we encounter moments of excitement, joy, and fulfillment, as well as times of difficulty, uncertainty, and adversity.

The quote then continues with the imperative, "live it, be happy, enjoy life." These words inspire us to actively engage with life, to embrace all its twists and turns, and to make the most of every moment. It encourages us to cultivate a mindset that prioritizes happiness and the enjoyment of life's experiences. It reminds us that despite the inevitable challenges we may face, we have the power to choose how we respond and find joy along the way.

By likening life to a roller coaster, this quote reminds us that just as we anticipate and savor the thrilling moments on a ride, we should approach life with a sense of anticipation and appreciation for its diverse array of experiences. It encourages us to live in the present, to fully immerse ourselves in the richness of life, and to cherish both the exhilarating highs and the lessons learned from the challenging lows.

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Ultimately, this quote serves as a reminder to embrace life's unpredictable nature, to seek happiness, and to find fulfillment by actively participating in the journey. It urges us to let go of fear and hesitation, to live authentically, and to make the most of every twist, turn, and loop that life presents.

Who said the quote? The quote "Life is like a roller coaster, live it, be happy, enjoy life." was said by Avril Lavigne (Bio / Quotes). Avril Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter known for her punk-influenced pop music and hits like "Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi."

How can the quote be applied in a real-life scenario? Imagine yourself strapped into a roller coaster, ascending to a towering peak. As you climb higher, your heart races with anticipation, your stomach churns with excitement, and you can't help but feel a mixture of fear and thrill. This quote beautifully captures the essence of life itself, emphasizing the importance of embracing the unpredictable journey.

In real life, this quote encourages us to fully immerse ourselves in the experiences life offers. Just as on a roller coaster, we encounter ups and downs, twists and turns, and moments of sheer joy followed by challenges. To apply this wisdom, one must adopt a mindset of living in the present, appreciating the highs, and finding the courage to face the lows.

Living life to the fullest means not merely existing but actively participating in the adventure. It involves pursuing our passions, building meaningful relationships, and savoring every moment, even the daunting ones. By doing so, we can extract happiness from even the most unexpected and challenging circumstances, just as we derive excitement from a roller coaster ride.

In summary, this quote encourages us to approach life with a sense of adventure, resilience, and optimism. It reminds us that, like a roller coaster, life's journey is filled with both exhilarating moments and unforeseen challenges, all of which contribute to our personal growth and happiness. So, buckle up, embrace the ride, and savor every twist and turn along the way.

Is there a historical example that illustrates the message of the quote? One of the most iconic examples of living life like a roller coaster and finding joy even in challenging circumstances can be found in the life of Helen Keller, a remarkable woman who overcame the obstacles of being both deaf and blind.

Helen Keller was born in 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama, and at the age of 19 months, she suffered a severe illness that left her unable to see or hear. In her early years, she lived in a world of darkness and silence, unable to communicate with others or fully understand her surroundings.

However, with the help of her dedicated teacher, Anne Sullivan, Helen learned to communicate through touch and Braille. With immense determination and a zest for life, she embarked on a journey that would inspire millions.

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Helen Keller refused to be defined by her disabilities and instead chose to embrace life with enthusiasm and happiness. She became an avid learner, voraciously reading books in Braille and expanding her knowledge of the world. She attended college, authored several books, and became a renowned lecturer and advocate for people with disabilities.

Keller's life was indeed a roller coaster of challenges and triumphs, but she lived it to the fullest. She found joy in learning, in connecting with others, and in advocating for the rights of people with disabilities. Her positive outlook and determination to enjoy life in spite of her limitations inspired countless individuals around the world.

Helen Keller's journey reminds us that, like a roller coaster, life is filled with ups and downs, but it's how we choose to experience and embrace those moments that truly matter. Her life exemplifies the idea that regardless of the obstacles we face, we can find happiness and purpose by living life to its fullest and appreciating the beauty and opportunities it offers.

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musicposter · 4 months

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Songfacts My Sweet Lord by George Harrison

Album: All Things Must Pass (1970)

This was Harrison's first single as a solo artist, and it was his biggest hit. The song is about the Eastern religions he was studying.

Highly unusual for a hit song, Harrison repeats part of a Hindu mantra in the lyric when he sings, "Hare Krishna… Krishna, Krishna." When set to music, this mantra is typically part of a chant that acts as a call to the Lord. Harrison interposes it with a Christian call to faith: "Hallelujah" - he was pointing out that "Hallelujah and Hare Krishna are quite the same thing."

In the documentary The Material World, Harrison explains: "First, it's simple. The thing about a mantra, you see… mantras are, well, they call it a mystical sound vibration encased in a syllable. It has this power within it. It's just hypnotic."

In 1971, Bright Tunes Music sued Harrison because this sounded too much like the 1963 Chiffons hit "He's So Fine." Bright Tunes was controlled by The Tokens, who set it up when they formed the production company that recorded "He's So Fine" - they owned the publishing rights to the song.

During the convoluted court case, Harrison explained how he composed the song: He said that in December 1969, he was playing a show in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the group Delaney and Bonnie, whose piano player was Billy Preston (who contributed to some Beatles recordings). Harrison said that he started writing the song after a press conference when he slipped away and started playing some guitar chords around the words "Hallelujah" and "Hare Krishna."

He then brought the song to the band, who helped him work it out as he came up with lyrics. When he returned to London, Harrison worked on Billy Preston's album Encouraging Words. They recorded the song for the album, which was released on Apple Records later in 1970, and Harrison filed a copyright application for the melody, words and harmony of the song. Preston's version remained an album cut, and it was Harrison's single that was the huge hit and provoked the lawsuit, which was filed on February 10, 1971, while the song was still on the chart.

Songfacts Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles

In further testimony, Harrison claimed he got the idea for "My Sweet Lord" from The Edwin Hawkins Singers' "Oh Happy Day," not "He's So Fine."

When the case was filed, Harrison's manager was Allen Klein, who negotiated with Bright Tunes on his behalf. The case was delayed when Bright Tunes went into receivership, and was not heard until 1976. In the meantime, Harrison and Klein parted ways in bitter fashion, and Klein began consulting Bright Tunes. Harrison offered to settle the case for $148,000 in January 1976, but the offer was rejected and the case brought to court.

The trial took place February 23-25, with various expert witnesses testifying. The key to the case was the musical pattern of the two songs, which were both based on two musical motifs: "G-E-D" and "G-A-C-A-C." "He's So Fine" repeated both motifs four times, "My Sweet Lord" repeated the first motif four times and the second motif three times. Harrison couldn't identify any other songs that used this exact pattern, and the court ruled that "the two songs are virtually identical." And while the judge felt that Harrison did not intentionally copy "My Sweet Lord," that was not a defense - thus Harrison was on the hook writing a similar song without knowing it. Harrison was found guilty of "subconscious plagiarism" in a verdict handed down on August 31, 1976.

Assessing damages in the case, the judge determined that "My Sweet Lord" represented 70% of the airplay of the All Things Must Pass album, and came up with a total award of about $1.6 million. However, in 1978 Allen Klein's company ABKCO purchased Bright Tunes for $587,000, which prompted Harrison to sue. In 1981, a judge decided that Klein should not profit from the judgment, and was entitled to only the $587,000 he paid for the company - all further proceeds from the case had to be remitted back to Harrison. The case dragged on until at least 1993, when various administrative matters were finally settled.

The case was a burden for Harrison, who says he tried to settle but kept getting dragged back to court by Bright Tunes. After losing the lawsuit, he became more disenfranchised with the music industry, and took some time off from recording - after his 1976 album Thirty Three & 1/3, he didn't release another until his self-titled album in 1979. He told Rolling Stone, "It's difficult to just start writing again after you've been through that. Even now when I put the radio on, every tune I hear sounds like something else."

This was recorded at Abbey Road studios using the same equipment The Beatles used. There were some familiar faces at the sessions who had contributed to Beatles albums, including John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Billy Preston and Eric Clapton. Bobby Whitlock was friends with Harrison and Clapton, and played keyboards on the album. When Songfacts spoke with Whitlock, he shared his thoughts:

"That whole session was great. George Harrison, what a wonderful man. All the time that I ever knew him, which was from 1969 to his passing, he was a wonderful man. He included everyone on everything he did because there was enough for all."

Whitlock adds, "All during the sessions, the door would pop open and in would spring three or four or five Hare Krishnas in their white robes and shaved heads with a pony tail coming out the top. They were all painted up, throwing rose petals and distributing peanut butter cookies."

This was the first #1 hit for any Beatle after the band broke up. Harrison became the first Beatle to release a solo album when he issued Wonderwall Music, the soundtrack to the movie Wonderwall, in 1968.

When this song was released, the phrase "Hare Krishna" was associated with a religious group called the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, whose members would often approach passengers in airports, seeking donations and trying to solicit members. Individuals in this group became popularly known as "Hare Krishnas," with a generally negative connotation.

‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’: The Story Behind The Beatles’ Song

Artists who record chant music often face a negative reaction from listeners who don't understand the mantras. When Songfacts spoke with Krishna Das, the leading American chant musician, he explained: "'My Sweet Lord' is very clear and very beautiful, but the problem is that English has been appropriated by Western religion and it's very hard to talk about spiritual things in a song that doesn't get too 'organized religion-y,' you know? And then you get a lot of people who have a negative reaction to that as well. You can get a lot of negativity from the organized religion people. Like, 'This isn't our Jesus. This isn't the way it is.'"

Phil Spector produced this and sang backup. With the blessing of Harrison and John Lennon (and over the objections of Paul McCartney), Spector produced the last Beatles album, Let It Be. In an interview with Howard Stern, Peter Frampton verified that he played lead guitar on "My Sweet Lord." According to Frampton, Harrison was a fan of his and invited him to the studio, where he handed Frampton his legendary Les Paul. Frampton assumed he was going to play rhythm, but Harrison said he wanted him to play lead, so Frampton did. Frampton wasn't officially credited for this (just as Eric Clapton wasn't credited on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"), but rumors circulated for years.

George Harrison's mother was Catholic and sometimes took him to church. By the time he was 12, George decided the Catholic church was "bulls--t," and shied away from religion in general. Learning about Indian music and spirituality sparked him to explore further, and he found they suited him. In 1968, he went to India with the other Beatles, where he studied Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. They became disenchanted with the Maharishi and left early, but Harrison dove deeper into his studies.

The Catholic vision of faith - believing in God without seeing Him - didn't sit well with Harrison. He found a more compelling case in Eastern philosophy; his gateway was Ravi Shankar, a top Indian musician who taught Harrison how to play sitar. Shankar taught him about swamis and yogis, and gave him a book by Swami Vivekananda, the first Indian swami to come to America.

Speaking with Timothy White in 1992, Harrison explained: "In his book he said, 'If there's a God we must see him. If there's a soul we must perceive it. Otherwise, it's better not to believe. It's better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite.'

And when I read that after all that stuff I'd been through with the Church, with 'You just believe what we tell you. And don't ask questions.' Whereas the Swami's saying, 'If there's a God we must see him.' I thought, 'Right on, that's the one for me!' If there's a God, I want to see him."

Producer Phil Spector thought "My Sweet Lord" was the commercial hit of the album, and everyone else resisted him on that. According to Phil, George and others worried about how the public might react to the religious overtones and the Hare Krishna influence.

After Harrison died, this was re-released in the UK, where it once again went to #1. Proceeds from the single went to the Material World Charitable Foundation, which Harrison started in 1973 to support charities that work with children and the poor.

Songfacts Something by The Beatles

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George Harrison parodied "My Sweet Lord" during Eric Idle's Rutland Weekend Television Christmas special on December 26, 1975, turning it into "The Pirate Song."

Artists to cover this song include Aretha Franklin, Johnny Mathis, Richie Havens, Nina Simone, Peggy Lee and Julio Iglesias. The Chiffons also covered the song in 1975 amidst the plagiarism lawsuit over their song "He's So Fine."

The guitar riff on America's 1975 #1 hit "Sister Golden Hair" was inspired by this track. That song was produced by George Martin, who worked on most of The Beatles albums.

Gerry Beckley, who wrote "Sister Golden Hair" and sang lead, said in his Songfacts interview: "I very openly tip my hat there to 'My Sweet Lord' and George Harrison. I was such a fan of all The Beatles but we knew George quite well and I just thought that was such a wonderful intro." U2 performed this as a tribute at their show in Atlanta on November 30, 2001, the night after Harrison died. This was one of several '70s hits used in the 2017 movie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Harrison released a new version, "My Sweet Lord 2000," when he reissued All Things Must Pass.

During a flight from Los Angeles to New York in 1971, Harrison's plane was hit by lightning, causing severe turbulence. He recalled chanting the "hare krishna" mantra, which he credited with saving his life. Speaking with the Indian magazine Back to Godhead in 1982, he said: "I know for me, the difference between making it and not making it was actually chanting the mantra."

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"My Sweet Lord" got a music video for the first time in 2021 as part of the 50th anniversary of All Things Must Pass. The video, directed by Lance Bangs with input from George's son, Dhani Harrison, stars Fred Armisen and Vanessa Bayer, who explore a library as part of a mysterious mission. It's loaded with famous faces, starting with Mark Hamill, who sends them on their mission. Others to appear include Patton Oswalt, Rosanna Arquette, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison, Joe Walsh, Jeff Lynne, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Jon Hamm, and Reggie Watts.

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musicposter · 4 months

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Billie Eilish Biography

American singer and songwriter Billie Eilish became a pop superstar by way of her distinctive musical and fashion sensibilities and songs like "Ocean Eyes," "Bad Guy" and "Therefore I Am."

Who Is Billie Eilish?

Billie Eilish, Born and raised in Los Angeles, and gained immense popularity at a young age with her viral hit "Ocean Eyes." Collaborating with her brother, Finneas, she crafted the captivating songs for the EP Don't Smile at Me and the highly successful album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, propelling her to international stardom and earning her multiple Grammy awards, all before reaching the age of 20.

Early Life and Family

Eilish was born on December 18, 2001, in Los Angeles, California. Her parents, Maggie Baird and Patrick O’Connell, were longtime actors before joining their teenage daughter's professional team. Eilish's full name is Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell. Her first name is in honor of her maternal grandfather, William; the second was inspired by a conjoined twin her parents saw in a documentary; and the third came from the insistence of her older brother, Finneas.

Raised in a two-bedroom house in Highland Park, where she and her brother were homeschooled, Eilish was encouraged to pursue her interests in dance, gymnastics, horseback riding and especially music. She learned to play the Beatles' "I Will" on the ukulele at age 6; joined Los Angeles Children's Chorus at age 8; and began writing songs in earnest by age 11, her talents nurtured through her mother's songwriting class. Eilish has said her first "real" song, "Fingers Crossed," was penned around that time after watching an episode of The Walking Dead.

Brother Finneas

Finneas, who is four-and-a-half years older than his sister, assumed the role of her essential collaborator, co-writer, and producer. Despite Eilish's rise to global fame, the duo persisted in composing and recording together from the comfort of their bedroom in Highland Park.

Read more: Corey Taylor Biography

On the Digipack of their self-titled release, there is a remix of the song mixed by Terry Date. This is the version usually played by radio stations.

Slipknot drummer Chris Fehn (#3) told us about this track: "It was just a basic song. We didn't know it was going to be that popular. The funny thing is the record label, especially new guys at the record label, were coming around when we started getting big, and they're like, 'Oh, the next record you can write like three Wait And Bleeds.' And we're just like, You are an idiot. Therefore, we don't do that. But obviously the band, believe it or not, we have so much control over what we do that we don't write anything for money, we don't write anything for popularity, we have to like it first. And it's just a song that we liked, and it just so happened that it got on the radio and got the attention that we didn't expect." (Check out our interview with Chris Fehn.)

In the lyrics when Corey says, "I am a victim, a Manchurian Candidate!," he is referring to a movie from 1962 about communist mind control. The picture on the album cover was taken in Shawn Crahan's parents' garage.

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Thomas Mignone directed the video. His other credits include "Death Blooms" and "Dig" for Mudvayne and "Dress Like a Target" for Superjoint Ritual.

Asked by Revolver in 2023 what he considers to be Slipknot's most overrated song, Corey Taylor chose this one. "I'm very much on the record saying that 'Wait and Bleed' is a pain in my f---ing ass," he said. "I've been singing it for 26 years and it hasn't gotten easier, folks!" he admitted. "But I still sing it with Slipknot and with my solo project, which tells you how much of a psycho I am, because I know people love that song. So, you gotta do it - and listen, it's a good problem to have."

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musicposter · 5 months

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Songfacts Roadhouse Blues by The Doors

"Roadhouse Blues" is a song by the American rock band the Doors from their 1970 album Morrison Hotel. It was released as the B-side of "You Make Me Real", which peaked at No. 50 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 41 in Canada. "Roadhouse Blues" charted in its own right on the Cash Box Top 100, peaking at No. 76. The song became a concert staple for the group and it has been covered by numerous artists.

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Recorded: November 4–5, 1969 Released: March 1970 Album: Morrison Hotel (1970)

When Jim Morrison got drunk, he liked to sing blues numbers at The Doors jam sessions. This in one of the songs he came up with at one of those inebriated sessions.

If there was an actual roadhouse that inspired this song, it was probably the Topanga Corral, a windowless nightclub in the counterculture enclave of the Topanga Canyon, where Jim Morrison lived. To get to the venue you had to take Topanga Canyon Boulevard, which is full of twists and turns - you really did need to "keep your eyes on the road, your hand upon the wheel."

The Corral, where Little Feat and Canned Heat played and Linda Ronstadt was often spotted in the audience, burned down in 1986.

There was a cabin behind the Topanga Corral that many sources say Morrison bought for his girlfriend, Pamela Courson. This could be what provided the line, "In back of the Roadhouse they got some bungalows."

John Sebastian from the Lovin' Spoonful played harmonica. He is identified on the album as "G. Puglese" because he was afraid to be identified with The Doors in light of Morrison's arrest at a concert in Miami when he was accused of exposing himself to the crowd. Morrison was convicted of indecent exposure and sentenced to six months in jail, but he died while the case was being appealed. In 2010, Florida governor Charlie Crist granted Morrison a pardon, clearing him of the charges.

Read more: Biography Jim Morrison (1943–1971)

Guitar great Lonnie Mack played bass. The Doors usually did not use a bass player.

Doors guitarist Robby Krieger joined Creed on stage at Woodstock '99, where they performed this. It is on the Woodstock '99 CD.

This is the first song on Morrison Hotel. The album was a return The Doors' earlier style. On their previous album, The Soft Parade, they used a lot of strings and horns. Morrison didn't do much on that album because he was drunk for most of it and had nothing to do while all the instrumentation was being worked out. Before The Doors had a record deal, they played many Blues songs in their long club shows.

Outtakes from one of Morrison's recording sessions were used to dub his voice into a version of this on the 2000 tribute album Stoned Immaculate, where he duets with John Lee Hooker.

In 2000, the surviving members of the Doors taped a VH1 Storytellers episode with guest vocalists filling in for Morrison. Scott Stapp from Creed sang on this.

This was released as the B-side of "You Make Me Real." The Doors occasionally recorded old blues songs, but even though this sounds like it could have been one of them, the wrote it themselves. This has been called "the ultimate bar song," and it continues to be played by bar bands everywhere.

Doors guitarist Robby Krieger recalled to the NME July 17, 2010 how the album title came about: "Ray (Manzarek, keyboards) had been driving around downtown LA, and he saw this place called Morrison Hotel. So we decided to go down and shoot some photos there, but the guy who owned the hotel wouldn't let us inside it. I guess they thought we were hippies. There were a lot of drunks and bums hanging around that area. Anyway, we snuck in there real quick when he wasn't looking and got the shot that became the cover of Morrison Hotel."

Read More: The Doors Close On Jim Morrison

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The Doors put together a video for this song using footage shot for a tour documentary called Feast Of Friends that was never completed. Status Quo covered this song on their 1972 album Piledriver, and the song quickly became a live favorite for the band. The group was wildly successful in England, and like many UK acts, was influenced by American rockers, often doing successful covers (their version of John Fogerty's "Rockin' All Over The World" went to #3 in the UK). They were never able to conquer America, however, in part because they didn't tour there until 1973.

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#music poster #biography #jim morrison #songfacts #roadhouse blues #the doors #Youtube

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musicposter · 6 months

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25 May 1948 - Witold Pilecki executed

Event-based song: Inmate 4859 Album: Heroes

Inmate 4859 The story of Witold Pilecki is as tragic as it is heroic. He was born in the Russian Empire near the Finnish border in 1901, spent his youth as part of the nationalistic Polish pathfinders and fought in independent Poland’s new army against the Soviets in the Polish-Soviet War. He lived a peaceful life for much of the interwar years, but eventually returned to the army reserves, and in 1939, was mobilised against the German invasion.

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Pilecki’s Ulan regiment was shattered by the advancing Wehrmacht, but he joined other Polish stragglers and kept fighting until the fall of Warsaw. In late October, he disappeared into the underground, where he joined the resistance movement of the Tajna Armia Polska, an arm of the Armia Krajowa, the Polish ‘home-army’. One of their tasks was to get inside knowledge about German prisoner of war camps, and one camp in particular, in the small town of Oswiecim, Auschwitz in German, where many Poles simply disappeared. It was suspected that they were sent to Germany as forced labour, but no one knew for sure.

A dangerous plan Pilecki came up with a dangerous plan. He would personally infiltrate Auschwitz, uncover the truth, and organise resistance in the camp. On September 19, 1940, using the alias Tomasz Serafinski, he intentionally walked into a German security sweep on the streets of Warsaw. SS-men seized him and the next day he was herded alongside other Poles into trucks at the Warsaw train station. All day they drove east, the men pressed together without food or water. The rest of this story is told directly from the source material, from Pilecki’s personal report about his experiences in the camp.

Arriving at the camp, Pilecki and the crowd of men were driven forward by brutal beatings from the guards. Some men were pulled out of the group at random, unprovoked, and shot in the head to break any thoughts of resistance. Accompanied by the laughter of the guards, they were then pushed on past the barbed wire and towards the parade ground, where a group of men in striped clothes was waiting for them. These men jumped the newcomers with fists and clubs – some were beaten to death. The men in the striped clothes asked them questions about their background and jobs, and those who said academics or doctors were knocked to the ground. With boots kicking against their heads, their murderers proclaimed that this is the “Concentration Camp Auschwitz, my good man!”

Living hell His head shaved, Pilecki hurried out of the bathhouse, though a guardsman knocked out two of his front teeth because he did not hold the sign with his prison number between them. From now on, Pilecki was neither himself, nor Tomasz, but a number – prisoner 4859. In his paper thin blue and white striped uniform and a pair of ill-fitting wooden shoes, he found himself on the parade ground once again. There, he encountered the murderous men again. They were called “Kapos”, prisoner functionaries. Often German or Polish criminals, they were tasked with keeping things in line inside the camp, since the regular SS-men lived in barracks outside. Most of the Kapos were violent sadists who enjoyed brutally beating and torturing the helpless prisoners. Wearing yellow armbands with the Kapo label, they also oversaw the labour companies, to one of which Pilecki was assigned.

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In that labour company it became clear that Auschwitz aimed to first exterminate the Polish intelligentsia. Prisoners with academic backgrounds who were not used to demanding physical work, or who lacked the experience and the dexterity to work in the quarries, were mercilessly beaten to death by the Kapos. Being too exhausted to lift another brick or push a wheelbarrow was also a death sentence. Every evening fewer people returned to the main camp.

Every walk to the latrines and every trip to the bathhouse was accompanied by beatings and harassment. Those who came late to morning parade or tried to hide away were hunted down, dragged to the parade ground, and either hanged or shot in front of the others.

Many tried to kill themselves, usually early in the morning before the day of torture began. If anyone tried to escape, the whole block was punished for it, standing out in the open for hours, or doing punishment sports, where men too exhausted to lift their arms fell and died under the boots of the Kapos. Often, the only time to catch your breath was when they were busy murdering another prisoner. Pilecki’s good physical condition saved him from this fate, but for how long?

Building the resistance Pilecki set out to build his first resistance cell – a group of five men. Later he would create other groups, but none of them knew of the existence of the others, so in case they were captured and tortured they could not betray the whole network. Those groups would either organise food or clothing, or would help other members to get a job, since it was clear from day one that staying in the worker groups, even well-conditioned men like Pilecki would soon die. So many of those worker prisoners did, in fact, die. that the prisoners had to build the first camp crematorium. Pilecki noted that the “camp became one big mill, which ground living people to ash.”

In 1941, as more and more prisoners were brought in, the camp grew. Larger fences were needed, as well as more barbed wire and more guard towers. And as Auschwitz grew, it needed to feed itself and this opened up jobs for the older prisoners. With careful planning, Pilecki got his groups into the carpenters, the postal service and the barbers. He eventually got himself a job as a repairman for an oven inside an SS-man’s house outside the camp. Upon leaving the living hell of Auschwitz, he returned to a world of lavish gardens, laughing children at play, and villagers having normal everyday conversations with one other.

Pilecki felt the questions burning inside him. What was the real world? What was the real nature of man? What was the culture of the 20th century? Since mankind had advanced so far from the barbarism of old, how was this still possible? Or was it the true face of humanity? Would the whole world look like this if the boundaries of civilization disappeared?

Each morning he and the other prisoners found themselves surprised to still be alive, their bodies thin to the bone, black and blue from the daily beatings, riddled with lice and fleas, living on a starvation diet. Only his daily mantra: “You’re not giving up”, helped Pilecki keep on, and he tried to inspire others to do the same. Survival was only possible through friendship and mutual help. Loners didn’t last long.

Now, up until May 1941 it was possible for ordinary Poles to be released from Auschwitz, mostly by their families paying enormous sums to the Germans. Those released prisoners smuggled Pilecki’s notes to the Armia Krajowa, but when the war between Germany and the Soviet Union began, this stopped. Instead, new groups began arriving to the camp. Many were now Jews, and by the end of August the first Soviet prisoners were transported to Auschwitz.

The start of the gas chambers Pilecki reports that one day 700 officers were tightly packed into a room all day, until finally, a group of German soldiers with gas masks on threw gas containers inside. This was the first act of gassing people with Hydrogen Cyanide at Auschwitz, according to Pilecki. Soon after, on his way to work, he passed groups of naked Soviet prisoners waiting to be led into to the crematorium, where they were gassed and burned.

The Kapos were often brutal savages, but the bestiality of some of the SS guards was even worse. Pilecki tells of guard dogs trained to go for the throats of prisoners, the torture of smashing testicles with a hammer and many stories far too nightmarish to tell. Now with his cells set up in important positions all over the camp, Pilecki was ready to start a revolt, but needed help from the outside to be successful. The prisoners were thirsty for revenge and ready for anything, since they did not fear death after everything they had endured. But even if they managed to overwhelm the guards and take the camp, they would not be able to hold it for long. Pilecki believed that the Armia Krajowa had received at least one of his messages. He had urged them to stage an attack, send in paratroopers from the free Polish army over in Britain, or drop a crate of arms onto them – something. But so far, nothing.

Without help from the outside, Pilecki’s third Christmas in Auschwitz came and went, and Auschwitz was now changing. There was no longer collective punishment, no outright murder or even everyday brutality, or at least it was toned down. Auschwitz became a factory, which would now systematically murder its prisoners instead of individualistic, random killing. Not with the batons of the Kapos but with Phenol and Gas. There were three crematoriums working simultaneously, able to burn corpses within minutes.

Breaking out By April 1943, more and more of the surviving Poles were sent out of Auschwitz to make room for Jewish prisoners from all over Europe and the Soviet Union. This meant the end of Pilecki’s network, as its members were sent to other camps. After two years and seven months of surviving in Auschwitz, Pilecki decided it was time to break out, since an uprising was no longer possible.

He got a night shift job at a bakery outside the camp. Shortly after Easter, as one guard was asleep, he and two other men pushed the door open and ran. Shots cracked behind them but they ran all night and all day until they reached a small town. With help of patriotic Poles, Pilecki smuggled himself back to Warsaw where, on August 23, 1943, after nearly 1,000 days in Auschwitz, he met with commanders of the Armia Krajowa, telling them of his experiences, all the death and torture, but people hesitated to believe him. It all seemed too unbelievable, even for the hated Germans to do all this killing. They knew it was bad, but not this bad.

Pilecki would stay in the underground army and fight in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, he was later interned in prisoner of war camps, and after liberation in 1945 was assigned to the II Corps of the Polish Army in Italy, where he turned in his report about Auschwitz to the British.

For Pilecki, Auschwitz was the symbol of the Polish struggle for existence. He himself could never go back to a normal civilian life after his experience. He maintained contact with the underground resistance – now against the Soviet Union – after the war, and indeed returned to Poland in late 1945 to report on the Soviet occupation.

He lived and worked undercover, but on May 8, 1947 the Ministry of Public Security captured him. He was tortured and dragged before a kangaroo court and accused of many things, including espionage and planning an armed uprising. The sentence was death. On May 25, 1948, in the Mokotow Prison in Warsaw, Witold Pilecki was executed. His final resting place is unknown. In 1990, Pilecki – and others from that show trial – were rehabilitated and today, he is celebrated, and for good reason, as a Polish patriot and hero.

Witold Pilecki’s heart-wrenching story inspired from song, ‘Inmate 4859’.

If you prefer a visual representation of this story, watch our Sabaton History episode, Inmate 4859 – Witold Pilecki:

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musicposter · 7 months

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John Lennon Biography (1940-1980)

Famed singer-songwriter John Lennon founded the Beatles, a band that impacted the popular music scene like no other.

Who Was John Lennon? Musician John Lennon met Paul McCartney in 1957 and invited McCartney to join his music group. They eventually formed the most successful songwriting partnership in musical history. Lennon left the Beatles in 1969, and later released albums with his wife, Yoko Ono, among others. On December 8, 1980, he was killed by a crazed fan named Mark David Chapman.

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Early Life John Winston Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, during a German air raid in World War II.

When he was four years old, Lennon's parents separated and he ended up living with his Aunt Mimi. Lennon's father was a merchant seaman. He was not present at his son's birth and did not see a lot of his son when he was young.

Lennon's mother, Julia, remarried but visited him and Mimi regularly. She taught Lennon how to play the banjo and the piano and purchased his first guitar. Lennon was devastated when Julia was fatally struck by a car driven by an off-duty police officer in July 1958. Her death was one of the most traumatic events in his life.

As a child, Lennon was a prankster and he enjoyed getting into trouble. As a boy and young adult, he enjoyed drawing grotesque figures and cripples. Lennon's school master thought that he could go to an art school for college since he did not get good grades in school but had artistic talent.

Forming the Beatles Elvis Presley's explosion onto the rock music scene inspired a 16-year-old Lennon to create the skiffle band called the Quarry Men, named after his school. Lennon met Paul McCartney at a church fete on July 6, 1957. He soon invited McCartney to join the group, and the two eventually formed one of the most successful songwriting partnerships in musical history.

McCartney introduced George Harrison to Lennon the following year, and Harrison and art college buddy Stuart Sutcliffe also joined Lennon's band. Always in need of a drummer, the group finally settled on Pete Best in 1960.

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The first recording they made was Buddy Holly's "That'll Be the Day" in 1958. In fact, it was Holly's group, the Crickets, that inspired the band to change its name. Lennon would later joke that he had a vision when he was 12 years old — a man appeared on a flaming pie and said unto them, "From this day on, you are Beatles with an 'A.'"

The Beatles were discovered by Brian Epstein in 1961 at Liverpool's Cavern Club, where they were performing on a regular basis. As their new manager, Epstein secured a record contract with EMI. With a new drummer, Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey), and George Martin as a producer, the group released their first single, "Love Me Do," in October 1962. It peaked on the British charts at No. 17.

Lennon wrote the group's follow-up single, "Please Please Me," inspired primarily by Roy Orbison, but also fed by Lennon's infatuation with the pun in Bing Crosby's famous lyrics, "Oh, please, lend your little ears to my pleas," from the song "Please." The Beatles' "Please Please Me" topped the charts in Britain. The Beatles went on to become the most popular band in Britain with the release of such mega-hits as "She Loves You" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand."

Lennon married Cynthia Powell in August 1962. The couple had one son together, Julian, who was named after Lennon's mother. Cynthia was forced to keep a very low profile during Beatlemania. She and Lennon divorced in 1968. He remarried the following year, on March 20, 1969, to Japanese avant-garde artist Yoko Ono, whom he had met at the Indica Gallery in November 1966.

Beatlemania In 1964, the Beatles became the first British band to break out big in the United States, beginning with their appearance on television's The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. Beatlemania launched a "British Invasion" of rock bands in the United States that also included the Rolling Stones and the Kinks. Following their appearance on Sullivan, the Beatles returned to Britain to film their first film, A Hard Day's Night (1964), and prepare for their first world tour.

The Beatles' second film, Help!, was released in 1965. That June, Queen Elizabeth II announced that the Beatles would be named a Member of the Order of the British Empire. In August 1965, the foursome performed to 55,600 fans at New York's Shea Stadium, setting a new record for largest concert audience in musical history. When the Beatles returned to England, they recorded the breakthrough album Rubber Soul (1965), noted for extending beyond the love songs and pop formulas for which the band was previously well-known.

The magic of Beatlemania had begun to lose its appeal by 1966. The band members' lives were put in danger when they were accused of snubbing the presidential family in the Philippines. Then, Lennon's remark that the band was "more popular than Jesus now" incited denunciations and Beatles record bonfires in the U.S. Bible belt. The Beatles gave up touring after an August 29, 1966, concert at San Francisco's Candlestick Park.

After an extended break, the band returned to the studio to expand their experimental sound with drug-influenced exotic instrumentation/lyrics and tape abstractions. The first sample was the single "Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever," followed by the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), considered by many to be the greatest rock project in musical history.

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The Beatles Break Up The Beatles then suffered a huge blow when Epstein died of an accidental overdose of sleeping pills on August 27, 1967. Shaken by Epstein's death, the Beatles retrenched under McCartney's leadership in the fall and filmed Magical Mystery Tour. While the film was panned by critics, the soundtrack album contained Lennon's "I Am The Walrus," the group's most cryptic work yet.

Magical Mystery Tour failed to achieve much commercial success, and the Beatles retreated into Transcendental Meditation and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, which took them to India for two months in early 1968. Their next effort, Apple Corps Ltd., was plagued by mismanagement. That July, the group faced its last notably hysterical crowd at the premiere of their film Yellow Submarine. In November 1968, the Beatles' double-album The Beatles (also known as The White Album) displayed their divergent directions.

By this time, Lennon's artist partnership with second wife Ono had begun to cause serious tensions within the group. Lennon and Ono invented a form of peace protest by staying in bed while being filmed and interviewed, and their single "Give Peace a Chance" (1969), recorded under the name "the Plastic Ono Band," became a national anthem of sorts for pacifists.

Read more: The inspirational story of the song “Let It Be”

Lennon left the Beatles in September 1969, just after the group completed recording Abbey Road. The news of the break-up was kept secret until McCartney announced his departure in April 1970, a month before the band released Let It Be, recorded just before Abbey Road.

Solo Career: 'Imagine' Album Not long after the Beatles broke up, in 1970, Lennon released his debut solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, featuring a raw, minimalist sound that followed "primal-scream" therapy. He followed that project with 1971's Imagine, the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed of all Lennon's post-Beatles efforts. The title track was later named No. 3 on Rolling Stone magazine's "All-Time Best Songs" list.

Songfacts Imagine by John Lennon

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Peace and love, however, was not always on Lennon's agenda. Imagine also included the track "How Do You Sleep?," a vehement response to veiled messages at Lennon in some of McCartney's solo recordings. The friends and former songwriting duo later buried the hatchet, but never formally worked together again.

Lennon and Ono moved to the United States in September 1971, but were constantly threatened with deportation by the Nixon Administration. Lennon was told that he was being kicked out of the country due to his 1968 marijuana conviction in Britain, but the singer believed that he was being removed because of his activism against the unpopular Vietnam War. Documents later proved him correct. (Two years after Nixon resigned, in 1976, Lennon was granted permanent U.S. residency.)

In 1972, while battling to stay in America, Lennon performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City to benefit mentally handicapped children and continued to promote peace. His immigration battle took a toll on Lennon's marriage, and in the fall of 1973, he and Ono separated. Lennon went to Los Angeles, California, where he partied and took a mistress, May Pang. He still managed to release hit albums, including Mind Games (1973), Walls and Bridges (1974) and Rock 'n' Roll (1975). During this time, Lennon famously collaborated with David Bowie and Elton John.

Lennon and Ono reconciled in 1974, and she gave birth to their only child, a son named Sean, on Lennon's 35th birthday (October 9, 1975). Shortly thereafter, Lennon decided to leave the music business to focus on being a father and husband.

Tragic Death In 1980, Lennon returned to the music world with the album Double Fantasy, featuring the hit single "(Just Like) Starting Over." Tragically, just a few weeks after the album's release, Mark David Chapman, a deranged fan, shot Lennon several times in front of his apartment complex in New York City. Lennon died at New York City's Roosevelt Hospital on December 8, 1980, at the age of 40.

Lennon's assassination had, and continues to have, a profound impact on pop culture. Following the tragic event, millions of fans worldwide mourned as record sales soared. And Lennon's untimely death still evokes deep sadness around the globe today, as he continues to be admired by new generations of fans. Lennon was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

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Songfacts Another One Bites The Dust by Queen

"Another One Bites the Dust" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written by bassist John Deacon, the song was featured on the group's eighth studio album The Game (1980). It was a worldwide hit, charting at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, from 4 October to 18 October (being their second and final number-one single in the country). The song spent 15 weeks in the Billboard top 10 (the longest running top ten song of 1980), including 13 weeks in the top five, and 31 weeks total on the chart (more than any other song in 1980). It reached number two on the Hot Soul Singles chart and the Disco Top 100 chart, and number seven on the UK Singles Chart. The song is credited as Queen's best-selling single, with sales of over 7 million copies. This version was ranked at number 34 on Billboard's All-Time Top Songs.

The song won an American Music Award for Favorite Rock Single and also garnered a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. "Another One Bites the Dust" has been covered, remixed and sampled by many artists since its release, and has also appeared in TV shows, commercials, films and other media. The song has also featured at sports events.

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This is one of the hardest Queen songs to understand. The opening line reads, "Steve walks warily down the street, his brim pulled way down low. Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet, machine gun ready to go…" Also, the last phrase spoken in the song is not "Shoot Her" or "Shooter," but "Shoot Out."

Though probably not intentional unless someone did an excellent splicing job, the "another one bites the dust" line quite clearly says "decide to smoke marijuana" when played backwards. This is especially clear toward the end of the track when Mercury repeats the line with only the drums playing.

Queen bass player John Deacon wrote this song. All four members of Queen wrote songs, and each wrote at least one hit. Deacon also wrote "You're My Best Friend."