QueenBigFat

Wow. Wonderful point.

Maaikie, I see from reading your story that it was not merely a “fan” experience. Thanks so much for sending it. I think your observations are very profound.

Wonderful! Thank you. Fifteen. I cannot imagine what that must have been like for you! I met The Who when I was in my 20's. Not nearly what it must have been like with Mika because they were nothing like him, but for me at that time it was the Most Amazing Experience In the History of My Life!!!

Maaikie, I found your post very moving. Although I was glad to also read that M said the song represents freedom and happiness for him (I think that some people feel free to live after they face death, even if it is someone else's), he has made clear how entwined they were….she saved his life, after all, and was so involved, practically and emotionally, every step of the way. What a hole that leaves. And as I am (belatedly) learning about him, what is clear is how vulnerable he is, and how willing to be open about his feelings and pain. In the language of therapy (I was a therapist) that is not a bad thing. Yes, it means you can be hurt, but it means you are open, you let life in, you feel it all, pain and joy. Many of us protect ourselves from vulnerability, but it really makes life worth living, and people who show it are really quite endearing. It is what he talks about in the beginning of his Pride special (the Indeed one) when he describes empathy. In the beginning of his career one would see it. His little boy charm expressed it, and of course his interviews described it. I was very aware of in also in that early moment in his Parc des Princes concert (omg help me I can't get rid of this huge screaming font!!) (oh, ok, that did it) when early on, sitting at the piano, he looks around at what he has created and runs his hand through his hair with an expression of amazement and joy. His feelings so available, so freely expressed. I think that is what has made so many of his fans fall in love with him. So, you nailed it! Now, please tell me, is there anywhere on this forum where you talk about how it came to be that you watched him from backstage, and what the experience was like for you?!

Ooops!!!

What is ESC?

Wow, thanks for that. This makes it better….because there is actually no sadness in what he is expressing, but, rather, a freedom, a celebration of himself and his ownership of his life. Once a long time ago I got a vanity license plate that said ma turn ( my turn was taken)….yeah, his turn. Finally! Yay!! In the US there is a young football player named Damar Hamlin who almost died after having a heart attack on the field. He was recently on a tv show wearing a hoodie with a lot of slogans on it, one of which was “you turned me down and now I'm a superstar”! Oh how I wish I could get one of those to Mika!

No double entendres there!!

What an extraordinary tribute to someone who sounds like she was an extraordinary person. It so captures what she taught to him….and now to all of us. Edited to add: what I see is totally about his mom and the philosophical and emotional result of her loss. From his looking at the meaning of the aging process and his questioning, to her struggles and losses (Beirut) to the things she taught him and created for him and saw about his future, to the pain and emptiness his siblings share, to questioning everything because when you are grieving your own fading or the loss of a beloved what’s the point, to: but in the light of all of this, my mother said we must still live, and celebrate life, with an exclamation point! And so that is what he is doing. Thus it is a tribute to her life, their loss, and the message she left…. Her legacy. The video enhances that message, tho there is irony in the fact that the dancing crowd does not understand the lyrics or the song (yet?) and is just there for a Mika party….and he is doing the best he can, as she inspired him to do. Yet, as someone pointed out, alone in the crowd. Those who “know” him can see what is behind his eyes. I don’t think the fans who are there are able or willing to in that moment. Or he doesn’t want to let them. I love the melody. I am captivated and deeply moved by the brilliant lyrics. And the entire gestalt of the video—lyrics in contrast to melody (as usual!), upbeat dance (dance! Dance! Dance!) beat, venue, party atmosphere, and, above it all (literally and figuratively), Mika, smiling and entertaining his fans, rips my guts out. This may well be not what the song wants me to do, but my own feelings of compassion and affection for him make me cry. Which he does to me a lot, but this was different. I cried for him.

Thank you. I think.Jeese, even using the limited apple translate, these lyrics broke me heart. so I did not know about the video….translation is much better there. Thanks! such a tribute.

Thank you. The Mika Discovery Project is quite inspirational!

Are the lyrics posted anywhere?

OMG me too! I have prolly spent as many hours complaining about what Americans have done to the use of the English language as I have praising Mika lately! (She said, masticating the word “probably”!). Seriously, my Hunny actually asked me about the use of English on the forum and I told her it was perfect because most of the posters aren’t from America! now that I think about it, one of the things that makes M so interesting to me is his incredibly intelligent use of language. Rare for a “pop” singer. I was just concerned that it might have appeared as if I were putting down Ax07’s sincere question with my answer about the word “thunk”, when I was just being thrilled about my own scathingly brilliant humor. PS—-sorry, silver, I don’t know how that quote thing got attached, below, and try as I might, I could not remove it!

Yes. A previous addiction! Nice to connect…!…tho the show is ancient history now…. BTW belated thank you for posting those early Mika videos. I only just finished watching the ones that are not dead links. So much wonderfulness! It was a great journey. I have some stuff I wanna post about it but not now. Meanwhile if any other newbies have not spent time with it, it sure is an amazing overview of Mika’s evolution over the years. I missed so much.

Ax07— Meant no disrespect in my answer. Was making a joke about myself.

Oooo! Oooooo! I know that! (QBF waves her arm around frantically) It means thinked!!!

It’s never too late to read sweet words like that. I humbly thank you. PS Mike touched your chicken??!??????

Hey, CJ, my brain is on permanent vacation? I do so love the term because it’s a better way to label my permanent state of being a few apples short of a basket…..

Hi again! so please forgive me for not doing the cut-and-paste thing…not enuff mental bandwidth for it right now. First, thanks muchly for the comment about my writing. I am touched by it. Your tale about what happened when you saw him was wonderful!! And where else can one go from sobbing to being able to take care of your guy and then being incorporated into one of his songs. A memory to treasure fer sure! Ah, Mikaland. What a place to be!

These are just so great. I really can't stand how adorable he can be. And he always looks like Gulliver in Lilliput. i have also seen the videos of the birthday when MFC gave him that magnificent scrapbook and the year you bought him his own seat at —was it the Opera House in Versailles? Both fantastic, and, the latter, when he was speechless, quite moving. He is really a darling darling man. With the fans he deserves. oh, wait. I just realized how I would describe him in these interpersonal events: gracious.

I don’t know if you have read the post I made to introduce myself but it was s kind of travelogue of my journey of discovery of Mika, and indeed it was his eyes—-and his smile (smiles, two types) that made me totally fall in love with him. I mean, I loved his music, but it was the human he is—warm, intense, appreciative, connected—expressed through that smile and that locked in, I- really-see-you gaze—that reached inside of me and grabbed me and won’t let go. And that was through the TV. I cannot imagine what this would have been like for me if I had been 16, and being the person the gaze was directed to. Or at. Whatever.

I just wanna say, this is really really really a support group! Thanks to all!

Yeah, I also tried to upload a picture of my rescue dog as my official photo (he is ever so much prettier than I am!!) but the app refused it as being too big a file, and I have no idea how to shrink it.

PS can somebody tell my why the gifs I post are so huge and shouting??!

I love to read stories as well from people who are meeting him now at this more mature stage of many of our lives! Also, some of us (ahem) are old and have no other Social Media involvement…. (despite using that gif I am not sad about that fact at all. I wish we would all end the social media focus that has replaced real conversation, in many cases real relationships and go back to how we related in the last century….but that is another conversation for another place.