Well, it seems we're going to cross paths here once a month for a while! I'll be stuck here like the marquee you see every day on your usual route, you'll be passing by and every four weeks you'll see something new here that might catch your attention. I hope so, and that little by little more and more of us will be reading La Marquesina while, for example, waiting for the bus.
The truth is that, no matter what some say, something beautiful, charming, about Barcelona is that it is a big city in a small body, cosmopolitan yet manageable for the citizen who walks its streets always prepared for the not inconsiderable possibility of looking up from the panot and crashing into the eyes of an ex. This happens in Barcelona and it's something charming. Everything would be less exciting with that light and confident walk of cities where you know for sure that you won't run into anyone you know. That unbearable lightness that rips away the possibility of seeing your ex grow old (badly), scrutinizing their new partner or, who knows, rekindling the spark or the fantasy of getting back together until, well, reality ends up imposing itself.
In Barcelona you always run into someone even if you almost never go beyond How are you, all good? If at some point the relationship had been close, one of the two will launch a Let's try to meet up to make their interlocutor understand that they have a good memory of them, even as a demonstration of how happy the encounter made them, even though afterwards neither of them will ever call the other's phone again.
It would be strange, in the strict sense of what it is to be a good Barcelonian, close but without asking too much, if the ex (boyfriend, friend or colleague) found responded that things were going terribly for them and started with a terrible repertoire. Or if the other, after the obligatory All good, said to them, Are you sure? You don't look it, what a face you have, and those dark circles? Apart from the Barcelonian's exquisite taste for discretion, sadness has always traded low.
Apart from the Barcelonian's exquisite taste for discretion, sadness has always traded lowAlthough perhaps something is changing. The first viral of the year shows that perhaps something is changing. To get oriented, look for in Youtube"Alors on dance". Many will take a trip back in time and visualize themselves in their favorite nightclub, flickering lights and some faces they might one day recognize on the streets of Barcelona. For others, the melody will be more distant and more alien. In any case, it was the first hit by Stromae, a brilliant Belgian musician who in the first decade of the 21st century shook half the world by balancing dark lyrics with luminous rhythms. Dancing as the only remedy, that is Stromae.
A few years ago, he decided that his remedy was to withdraw from the scene, let the spotlights fall on others, and disappear. Until last January 9, he reappeared on the TF1 evening news in France, in an unorthodox interview for the usual rigidity of the news format. The interview was already ending when the presenter asked him if music had helped him with the unhappiness and loneliness he talks about in his songs. At that moment, the television format broke because instead of answering normally, he responded by singing a new song, L'enfer (hell), and staring into the camera lens, he told those on the couch "I am not the only one who feels alone, if we counted all of us, we would be many. Sometimes I have had suicidal thoughts, I am not proud of it, all those thoughts making me go through hell".
The result was moving as well as brilliant. A bold way to put mental health at the center of the debate without causing a viewer exodus. I leave you the link to the Youtube. The pandemic has shaken the foundations of capitalist societies, and other issues such as unhappiness, loneliness, dissatisfaction, and fear have emerged. Mental health is now a priority issue in Western countries. We are not used to sincerely answering a How are you?, although we would like to, as Stromae's viral success demonstrates.
One more thing, while we get used to truly answering a How are you? In Barcelona, you always run into someone, yes, especially on that day when, for whatever reason, you are more disheveled, tired, and restless than usual, because in a city the size of Barcelona, Murphy always puts on his boots, right? Well, that's something to always keep in mind so as not to draw hasty conclusions.
See you!
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