Our lives can be enriched by the ability to digitally capture and share the events of our lives. This is wonderful. At the same time, I sometimes shake my head when I watch people race through art museums in Europe, galloping from piece to piece, only to take a photo and quickly move on. Sometimes, they put themselves in the photo to prove they were there.
But were they really there?
On a beautiful Sunday morning recently, I met a friend while walking. He is an avid football fan. He said that he was recording the games that morning because he didn’t want to miss this day. He didn’t have to watch the games in real time, he said. Right, I said, we shouldn’t squander real time.
I hadn’t taken ten steps away from him when the chorus to this song started to sound out in my head.
Lyrics
Real Time
I can capture time on my phone
I can catch it in a video
And watch it when I’m home
I can capture time on my phone
I can watch it over again
I can even send it to all my friends
As though that slice of time never ends
I can take that time and slow it down
I can analyse each second
And play it round and round
I can take that time and slow it down
I can take that time and make it fly
And if I’m in a hurry
I can let it just zip by
I can take that time and make it fly
CHORUS
And then there’s real time
Like the time I spend with you
I call it real time
For all the things we do
It passes in a moment
That will not come again
And if I want to hold it
I need to keep it in my brain
To savour it forever
Or pick it all apart
Or maybe I should hold it in my heart
Some of it is magic
Some a bit mundane
Some is very sensible
Some is just insane
CHORUS
There’s these little children
So zany in their grace
We’ve got them in these photographs
Above our fireplace
Those shots are great to look at
But they cannot replace
The moments when we’re talking face to face
It would be a crime
To squander that real time
In favour of some electronic trace
I should never take for granted
The gifts that I’ve been granted
Like the sudden flash of wonder
On your face
Cuz that's in real time
CHORUS
So here we are in real time
Being here tonight
It won’t last forever
So I hope to get it right
Some of this might linger
Some might fade away
I guess that’s how it happens
With this music that I play
In real time
CHORUS
© Gary Poole 2018