George Michael was one of the two members of “Wham!”, a pop group that was pre-eminent in the 1980s. He went solo and continued as a very successful song writer, producer, and singer. He came out as “gay” as his popularity increased. He was troubled by many aspects of the modern world and he died at the age of 53 in 2016, on Christmas day. His death was attributed to natural causes.
According to a 2023 documentary, while recording "Praying For Time," Michael sang the lyrics as they came into his head. The lyrics below are selected from the full song, which can be found by searching for “george michael praying for time lyrics”.
"It's my way of trying to figure out why it's so hard for people to be good to each other ... the media has affected everybody's consciousness much more than most people will admit ... we're taught that you have to grab what you can before it's gone. It's almost as if there isn't time for compassion."
These are the days of the open hand
They will not be the last
Look around now, these are the days
Of the beggars and the choosers
This is the year of the hungry man
Whose place is in the past
Hand in hand with ignorance
And legitimate excuses
I guess somewhere along the way
He must have let us all out to play
Turned his back and all God's children
Crept out the back door
It's hard to love
There's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope
When there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above
Say it's much too late
So maybe we should all be praying for time
George Michael explained: "I've always liked the term 'God's children', somehow we were that innocent but we ran out on God – 'crept out the back door' - and because of that we're left to make our own decisions - there's no one here to pull back the reins so we have to make our own decisions."
May God help us to make the best use of time, sustain our hope as time passes, and make the right decisions.
Shared by Andy Bytheway
22 November 2024