Beauty In An Often Ugly World

Football. The beautiful game.

And at its pinnacle, the World Cup.

32 countries. 4 weeks. Every 4 years.

Outside of the Olympics, it is arguably one of the few major sporting events on the planet that bridges almost every barrier, cutting through language, race and religion, just like Eskom through our impossibly shaky power supply :-)

The world turns its attention to the host city and whilst there is often debate about the integrity of FIFA as an organisation, there is never any doubt that the World Cup captures the imagination on a global scale.

Mind you, as a kid growing up in South Australia, the round ball game was not for Yesteryear. Where we cut our teeth, football or 'footy', meant Aussie Rules and nothing else, just as it did for our neighbours in Victoria, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania.

On the east coast of Oz (think Sydney & Brisbane) the term football could just as easily have meant rugby (League or Union - take your pick), or perhaps even soccer.

But worlds away in South Africa, with an 11 year old boy who is mad about the game, we have come to grow very fond of football, as the English like to call it.

Who knew that 'nutmeg' was not just a spice that went well in a lasagne cheese sauce. That a 'rainbow flick' was not some natural phenomenon caused by refracting light. And that an 'inside touch, scissor'  isn't some neat move that high-street tailors perform to hem in a suit :-)

Soooo, what's all of this got to do with music, we hear you ask?

Well, just as the world game brings people together, so does music, in all of its wonderful forms.

You can put on a samba record from Brazil, drop the needle on some French techno or turn the clock back on some classic Engish rock, and invariably, something magical will happen.

No matter where you live, what language you speak or what you believe in, that same record will mean something to each and every one of you. Best of all, it will probably mean something different.

Keep them spinning folks.

Cheers from Yesteryear :-)

TO GO INTO THE DRAW TO WIN A R500 VOUCHER FROM YESTERYEAR TELL US:

1) Who will win the 2022 World Cup?

2) What ONE record 'brings the magic' for you, every time you play it?

ALL ENTRIES RECEIVED GO INTO THE DRAW :-)

COMP CLOSES AT END OF GROUP MATCHES ON WED NOV 30

'SPIN THE WHEEL' DRAW ON MON DEC 19 - AFTER WORLD CUP FINAL ON SUN DEC 18 :-)