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As I listened to these people, I was able to live their lives​.​.​.

from HdB - album (2020) by HöFLICH

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From the writings of Honoré de Balzac

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“As I listened to these people, I was able to live their lives; I felt their rags on my back, and walked with their worn-out shoes on my feet. Their wants, their needs, all passed into my soul, or perhaps it was my soul which passed into theirs. It was like the dream of a man who is wide awake. I shared their indignation against tyrannical foremen, or against bad customers who made them come back several times without paying them. To discard my own habits, to become someone other than myself by an exaltation of my moral faculties, and to play this game at will, such was my amusement. To what do I owe this gift? Is it a kind of second sight? Is it one of those qualities which, if abused, could lead to madness? I have never tried to explain this power; I possess it and make use of it, that is all. All you need to know is that, already, at that time, I had broken up into its elements the heterogenous mass called ‘the people’, and had analysed it in such a way that I could appraise both its good and its bad qualities. I already knew what use could be made of this district, this breeding-ground of revolutions which contains heroes, inventors, technicians, rogues, scoundrels, virtues and vices, all oppressed by poverty, stifled by want, soaked in alcohol, worn out by strong drink. You cannot imagine how many unrecorded adventures, how many forgotten dramas there are in this town of suffering, how many horrible and beautiful things. It would be impossible to imagine the truth which is concealed in it and which no one can take steps to reveal. You would have to dig too deep to discover these wonderful scenes of tragedy and comedy, these masterpieces produced by chance. I don’t know how I have been able to keep untold for so long the story I am about to tell you; it is one of those strange tales stored in the bag of memory and drawn out at random like numbers in a lottery. I know many more, as odd as this one and buried as deeply. But their turn will come, you may be sure.”

credits

from HdB - album (2020), released January 8, 2020
Narration & concept by Peter Hoflich
Soundscapes & mixes produced by Cronkite Satellite

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HöFLICH Singapore

Peter Hoflich is a musician living in Singapore. He has sung in the rock bands MegalomaniA, the Hideous Motör-Apes, Reckless Hearts, Von Doom and The Sinisters, as well as the folk unit the Es with Athena Desai and Jae Lee. He also performs his own acoustic songs from time to time, and is trying a few experimental things in the home studio. ... more

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