Dec. 28, 2025

We Didn't Know We Were Free

We Didn't Know We Were Free
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We Didn't Know We Were Free

Back to the 80s Radio: When Radio Was a Friend, Not an Algorithm. What if the thing we miss most about the 1980s isn’t just the music — but the way we lived? In this episode of Back to the 80s Radio, Toscano takes you back to a time when radio wasn’t background noise; it was a companion. When songs arrived, instead of being demanded. When moments had space to unfold, when freedom and experience mattered more than convenience and control, this isn’t a countdown show.
It’s not nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. It’s a conversation about:

  • What the 80s gave us — freedom, patience, discovery
  • What we traded away for convenience
  • Why radio once felt personal, steady, and human
  • And how we might reclaim a little of that space again
Along the way, you’ll hear iconic 80s music, thoughtful reflections, and a reminder that some of the best moments in life don’t need to be rushed, shared, or optimized — they just need to be lived. If you grew up in the 80s, this will feel familiar.
If you didn’t, this will help you understand why it still matters. Slow down.
Listen closely.
The signal’s back on.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/back-to-the-80s-radio--5883226/support.
WEBVTT

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This is the one and only back to the Eighties Radio.

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I'm Mario Joscana in today. Before we rush into anything,

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before we talk about songs and radio and memories, I

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want to slow this down on purpose, because today we're

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going to be talking about the freedom the experience of radio.

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It's about what it felt like to live inside the eighties,

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not just through it. And if you grew up back

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then you already know radio wasn't a just background noise.

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It was it was a presence, a palpable presence. And

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if you didn't grow up back then, well just stick

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with me, because by the end of this program you're

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going to understand why people still talk about radio the

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way they do, because it's not a countdown. It's not

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nostalgia dressed up to sell you anything. Today is a

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conversation between you and me. So wherever you are right now,

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whether it's the car, the kitchen, the gym, the bedroom,

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the backyard, in a chair, wherever you are with your

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headphones on or off, you're in the right place. If

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you ever drove the windows down or sat somewhere longer

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than you meant to because the song was still played.

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This one is going to take you right back. This

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is I Melt with You from modern English. IM back

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to the eighties radio.

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Movie Choosing all my breath. Making love to you was

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never secon fast. I saw the world rushing all around

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your fid, never really knowing.

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It was always mission lads.

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I'll stop the world and melt with you. You've seen

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the difference, and it's getting better all the time. There's

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nothing new.

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When I want to, I'll stop the world.

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I'll melt with you.

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A dream of better lives than kind which never hate me.

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She's us in the states.

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Of imaginary race.

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I made a pilgram.

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It's to save this human race.

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She's a comprehending the race side.

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I'm go by side.

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I'll stop the world and melts with you.

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That's you've seen the difference, sids getting that's a all

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the time.

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But there's nothing new.

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And I want to that's started.

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I'll stop the world that knowing you the futures stop.

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I'll stop the world that now.

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I've stopping.

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I've seen some changes, but it's getting that's all the time.

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There's nothing new.

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When I want to.

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Stop, I'll stop Melius.

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Why h.

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M hmm. I'll stop the world.

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And I will give you.

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Stop.

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You've seen the difference, Sundics gets seen. That's up all

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the stop the fun, that's nothing new, and I walked to.

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Stop.

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I'll stop.

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That was modern English. Who I met with you? Back

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to the eighties radio and it still feels this, doesn't it. Ah,

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Some of those moments were never meant to be rushed

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before we really settle in. I want to mention something

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to you because it perfectly fits in with today and

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where we're going. A friend of the show, author Eric Shores,

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has just released a new book, and it's called Life

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Goes On The Lessons We Learned from Eighties Music. And

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what I love about this book is that it doesn't

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just talk about music. It talks about life, the seasons

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we were in when those songs found us. Later today,

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I'm going to be asking you a trivia question tied

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directly to the eighties and to radio, and the first

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person to answer it correctly writing into the program at

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FM Eighties Radio at gmail dot com once again, FM

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Eighties Radio at gmail dot com is going to receive

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a free copy of that book. So keep listening because

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that moment's coming up. Now, let's start where radio actually

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lived as this next time isn't about freedom on the surface,

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it's about realizing later on when freedom slipped away and

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when you finally noticed it. When you think about radio

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from back then, you probably think about either a song

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that made you feel a certain way or came in

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at the right time, or you think about an experience

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you had because of the person behind the mic, or

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maybe you think about where you heard something for the

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very first time. And that's because radio wasn't about just tracks.

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It was about stations. You didn't say, oh, well, i'm

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listening to the radio. You'd say, hey, I'm listening to

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Kiss FM, or hey, leave it on KOQ, or if

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you're on the other side of the United States, you'd say, hey,

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Z one hundred is about to do something big, guys.

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Stations were places you went, for example, Kiss FM in

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the afternoon it just felt bright like summer, even when

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it wasn't. KRQ felt happy without being dangerous station you

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had wherever you grew up, everybody would talk about radio.

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And here's the important part, because those stations didn't just

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play music. They were creating moods. They were creating life

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long friendships, which brings me, of course, to the next

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thing we trusted because once you picked the station, you

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stayed for the voice. Maybe you didn't hear the name,

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but you knew when Rick DEA's was on there was

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a smile in his voice, and you could hear it.

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When Casey Casem spoke, everything slowed down. You didn't multitask,

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you leaned in because radio had authority back then, not power,

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but authority. It didn't beg you to stay. It just

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assumed that you would, and that mattered, especially when life

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got complicated, and that's where radio really did its work,

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not in studios but at home. You see, radio lived

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in kitchen while dinner was being made. It was in

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our bedrooms when we had our posters on the wall

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or on the ceiling and doors were halfway closed. Radio

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lived in living rooms where adults were speaking quietly, and

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you didn't really understand why. There were the good seasons

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when you listened to radio, where music was floating through

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open windows, summer nights feeling endless, and then there were

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the harder seasons when you listened to radio when times, well,

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we're hard, Things felt heavier, when money was tight, when

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the radio was the calmest voice in the house. You

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knew It didn't fix anything, but it was on and

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staying matters. When radio gave you something you didn't want

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to lose, you captured it. What do I mean, Well,

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the times that you know too well creating and making

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a mixtape, either for yourself or a friend, or for

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somebody you had a crush on. Remember the times you

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waited for songs, waiting for the DJs to just stop talking,

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hovering over the record button like it mattered, because it did.

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You thought about the order you were going to put

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certain songs in, how much space, how much gap to

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leave between them, if you were going to leave any

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at all. You thought about who this was for. And

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friendships worked the same way. With friendships. You showed up,

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you cruised the streets with nowhere to be, You disappeared

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for hours and no one panicked and it was just freedom.

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There was space. And it's why this era still gets

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talked about even today. All right, let's slow it down

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for a second, because if you've been listening today, not

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just hearing, but listening, really listening, this one's for you.

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Here's tonight's trivia question, which American radio host took over

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the Top forty countdown in the late nineteen eighties brought

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a cooler, more cinematic delivery to the show, replaced the

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familiar warmth of the past with something sharper and more modern,

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and helped define what radio sounded like as the decade

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was coming to a close. As a matter of fact,

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you'll know that more people listen to the Top forty

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Countdown in the late eighties with him than they did

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to the Pope. Now, this wasn't the voice you grew

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up with in the early eighties. Maybe he was the

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voice that helped many stations, one in particular, like KROQ,

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get back on the map in the early eighties. This

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was the voice that signaled change. Now, if you know

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the answer, send it in. The first one to write

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in FM Eighties Radio at gmail dot com will win

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a free copy of Life Goes On The Lessons We

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Learned from Eighties Music by Eric Chores. All right, let

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that' sit for a moment.

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If you twist and serve away, if you.

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Set yourself into argon, if I could, if I would, if.

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I could, I would leady.

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Go sreer.

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This lock.

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If I could throw this lifeless life line through the.

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Wind, leave this out of clay.

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Walk Clay.

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Into the.

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El ray.

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Into the half.

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Flight infrolutely, if I could, through myself send your.

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Spirit free idly.

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See bray Bray into.

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The line house.

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And super day.

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It's nas.

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Says, says.

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If you should ask their lady there, tell you what

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I would say.

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Two colors from Elderly.

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And black lo Silken Sky very good in flag.

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Scotch to.

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Shut down, no.

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Long a.

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Good story, Shop, sad shoop.

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Shop, shop ples shot side the ship side shop.

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Stop Back in the eighties radio, it just hurt you

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too and bad. If you ever wondered why people stayed

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in the car when that song came on, and that's

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exactly why, because it doesn't rush you and it doesn't

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resolve neatly. It just keeps you reaching and lets you

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sit with whatever you brought into it. That was radio

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in the nineteen eighties. You know, when people talk about

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the eighties, they usually talk about the music. First. Yeah,

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music mattered, But I don't think the most important thing

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the eighties gave us was a soundtrack. I think the

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most important thing the eighties gave us was freedom, and

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right behind that experience, not curated experience, not optimized experience,

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real experience. You didn't know what was coming next, and

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that was the point. You didn't know what song the

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radio was gonna play, you didn't know who you were

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going to run into at the mall, you didn't know

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how the night was going to end. And that uncertainty

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didn't scare us. On the contrary, it invited us, because

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freedom needs space to exist and experience needs room to unfold. Look,

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here's the honest question. We don't ask enough what did

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we trade that for? And the obvious answer, for me

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at least, it's convenience. We've made things so easy for us.

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Listening to music has never been easier, watching TV has

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never been easier, Having so much content both something that

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we would have never imagined living in the eighties that

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we would have today. Everybody wants to be a movie star,

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everybody wants to have their own channel, and everybody wants

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to be an influencer. Everybody wants a voice and can

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have one. But convenience didn't come by itself. Convenience brought

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friends with it. I believe we traded freedom and experience

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for yes, convenience, and along with it we accept it certainty. Today,

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almost nothing surprises us anymore. We know what song is

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coming up next. We know what the algorithm thinks we want.

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We know where everyone is all the time. And what

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we gained in certainty we lost in discovery. In the eighties,

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discovery was normal. Now it's just rare.

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Now.

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We also traded freedom for efficiency. Everything moves faster. Now,

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everything is optimized, every pause is filled. But in the eighties,

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waiting wasn't a fly. It was part of the experience.

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Waiting made moments feel bigger. Efficiency saved us time, but

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it has cost us depth. And we also traded freedom

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for access. By the way, back then, if you wanted something,

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you you went somewhere, You drove somewhere, you walked somewhere,

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you showed up somewhere. Now everything comes to you and

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to me directly and instantly. And what we gained in

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access we lost in presence. We're everywhere, but we're rarely anywhere.

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And finally, this is the hard one, because I believe

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we traded freedom for control, or at least the illusion

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of it. Because we're all reachable, we're always connected, we're

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always on, and that constant connection makes us feel safe,

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but it also makes us feel watched, measured, managed. In

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the nineteen eighties, you could disappear for a few hours

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and nobody panicked. And that wasn't recklessness. That was space.

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I needed my space and I could have it. And

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today you can't step away from your cell phone because

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if somebody texts you and you don't answer right away.

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With some people, they start questioning your friendship. So when

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people say the eighties felt better, it's not that they're

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saying life was easier for some Maybe it was. I

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think they mean life felt wider, more open, less managed,

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and a whole heck of a lot more human. The

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eighties gave us freedom and experience, and what we traded

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it for was convenience, certainty, efficiency, access and control. And

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I'm not convinced it was a fair trade. This is

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a sound of awareness, sound of growth, the sound of

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seeing things clearly for the very first time. Then late

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00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:23.319
night radio was built for songs like this. Here's the

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police wrapped around your finger. On back to the eighties.

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Radios, my farm, Sholingo.

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Sparing adinground your finger.

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I have come here seeking knowledge they would not teach

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me in Godge.

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I can see that destiny, your soul turns shining bird, Your.

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Where for stuff monies is not joney.

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I know what you'repe to just the same. I will

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listen to your tosh.

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You will see it come to wit.

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Always. That's run your f.

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That's roun your.

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Some want. Did you see me by me?

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Sure?

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Ned you want?

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I want to real.

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Fast when you find your so much busy? Last last, last.

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You, ladies and gentlemen.

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I'm shadowing Stevens and you must listen to back to

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the eighties radio.

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It's the law.

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Stop stop, do.

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Stand listen but gassssste.

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Step all right, we're back here, back to the eighties radio.

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That was Ben Hayden with dreams. And that's how you

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end a night like this, not looking backwards but looking

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up this. So this song isn't about escaping life. It's

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about remembering that you're allowed to imagine more from it.

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That's what the best of the eighties gave us, not perfection,

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but possibility. You know, I've been talking today about radio,

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about stations and voices, and about way and discovery. There's

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something underneath all of it, though, something bigger than music.

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Because when people say the eighties felt different, they're not

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just talking about a decade. They're talking about what it

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gave us and that raises a harder question, one we

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00:31:20.799 --> 00:31:25.000
don't usually stop long enough to ask, what did we lose?

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You know, the point of all of this tonight wasn't

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to convince you that the eighties were perfect, because they weren't.

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Life was life was still complicated, people still struggled, homes

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00:31:40.119 --> 00:31:45.359
still had tension, hearts still broke. But there was something

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that we had back then that's become harder to hold

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on to now. We had space, space to wait, space

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to wonder, space to be unreachable for a while, and

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we had more moments that weren't documented. We weren't tracked,

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we weren't optimized. They just happened. And I don't think

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that part of us is gone. I think it's just buried,

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buried under convenience, buried under noise, buried under the pressure

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to always be available, always informed, always on. So here's

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00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:28.400
my invitation to you. And it's not dramatic, it's not complicated.

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It starts really, really small. Maybe it's sitting in the

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car a little longer when the song comes on. Maybe

302
00:32:36.039 --> 00:32:38.519
it's letting the radio play instead of skipping a hat.

303
00:32:39.480 --> 00:32:42.519
I don't know. Maybe it's maybe it's driving without a

304
00:32:42.599 --> 00:32:46.359
destination You should try that sometime. Just go out and

305
00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:51.200
drive no music, maybe turn on the music, or turning

306
00:32:51.279 --> 00:32:54.359
the phone face down for a while, or turning it

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00:32:54.599 --> 00:32:58.880
off for a little while, or letting silence exist without

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00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:03.319
fixing it. Maybe it's remembering that discovery doesn't happen when

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00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:08.039
everything is controlled. It happens when you leave room for

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the unexpected. You see, the eighties didn't give us better lives.

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They gave us wider ones. And I believe that we

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00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:19.839
can get some of that back, not by going backward,

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00:33:20.599 --> 00:33:24.319
but by choosing every now and then to slow down,

314
00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:32.039
to wait, and to listen. Because freedom isn't gone, experience

315
00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:36.519
isn't gone. They're just waiting waiting for us to make

316
00:33:36.599 --> 00:33:40.279
space again. You know what's been sitting with me tonight.

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00:33:41.559 --> 00:33:45.000
Not the songs, and it's not the chat of the decade.

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It's the idea that somewhere along the way, we got

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00:33:48.400 --> 00:33:52.759
really good at making life easier and really bad at

320
00:33:52.920 --> 00:33:58.599
letting life happen. But then you didn't call it freedom.

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00:33:59.440 --> 00:34:02.440
You didn't say, wow, this is an experience. You just

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00:34:02.680 --> 00:34:05.759
lived it. You waited for the songs, you waited for

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00:34:05.839 --> 00:34:09.079
the people, You waited for nights to unfold and yeah,

324
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sometimes nothing happened, but sometimes something did and it stayed

325
00:34:16.320 --> 00:34:18.719
with you. And I think a lot of us are

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00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:24.519
tired right now, not just physically but inside, tired of

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00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:29.519
being reachable all the time, of needing a reaction, tired

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00:34:29.599 --> 00:34:32.280
of never really finishing a moment before the next one starts.

329
00:34:33.840 --> 00:34:36.920
So here's what I want to leave you with, not

330
00:34:37.039 --> 00:34:40.320
as a radio guy, not as someone curating a vibe,

331
00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:45.679
just as another person who misses what that space felt like.

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You don't need to change your life, you don't need

333
00:34:49.679 --> 00:34:54.039
to throw anything away. Just try this once in a while.

334
00:34:54.960 --> 00:34:58.920
When a song comes on that hits you, don't skip it.

335
00:35:00.159 --> 00:35:02.840
When you get somewhere and that music is still playing,

336
00:35:03.000 --> 00:35:07.119
don't rush out of the car when you're alone for

337
00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:12.920
a moment, don't fill it immediately. Let the moment finish.

338
00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:17.719
And that's remembering how to be present. And if we

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00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:21.079
can get even a little bit of that back, that freedom,

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00:35:21.519 --> 00:35:27.920
that experience, I think will be okay. All right, let

341
00:35:27.960 --> 00:35:30.039
me leave you with this one last song. No talking,

342
00:35:30.199 --> 00:35:35.280
no rushing, no explanation. Here's Peter Gabriel in your Eyes,

343
00:35:36.079 --> 00:35:37.280
back to the eighties radio.

344
00:35:50.239 --> 00:36:04.519
A good song. Sometimes us and this puntedness feel smart.

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00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:09.199
We're no want.

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00:36:12.400 --> 00:36:24.159
I drive in my cry, we shall I commend to

347
00:36:24.440 --> 00:36:25.519
the phase.

348
00:36:25.760 --> 00:36:33.559
War all my instincts. They return.

349
00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:40.280
He grabbed the side, so swilders.

350
00:36:40.719 --> 00:36:49.559
Without noise, with love my head, I reach up meside.

351
00:36:57.119 --> 00:37:04.360
In your eyes the light they I am complete, yes,

352
00:37:04.840 --> 00:37:05.559
to see the.

353
00:37:05.679 --> 00:37:09.199
Doing A thousand churches, a.

354
00:37:09.599 --> 00:37:13.519
Less resolution knows of all the.

355
00:37:13.760 --> 00:37:15.880
Movements, souls.

356
00:37:17.079 --> 00:37:19.280
All a lie and.

357
00:37:22.400 --> 00:37:28.280
Hona be that will do't want to touch.

358
00:37:28.159 --> 00:37:31.440
The light to I've seen your eyes.

359
00:37:56.840 --> 00:38:04.559
I don't like to see some touch me so much

360
00:38:05.320 --> 00:38:15.079
wasted and a smile and keep sipping away. I get

361
00:38:15.280 --> 00:38:19.400
s time working so bad.

362
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:20.599
To us.

363
00:38:25.360 --> 00:38:27.199
Out of to the time.

364
00:38:29.400 --> 00:38:32.719
To keep me awake and alive.

365
00:38:36.280 --> 00:38:37.639
In all my instincts.

366
00:38:39.119 --> 00:38:45.880
They return and grand beside. So soon wilburn.

367
00:38:46.960 --> 00:38:53.639
Without a noise, without my bride, I reason from it

368
00:38:53.800 --> 00:39:08.239
its side, rise.

369
00:39:10.079 --> 00:39:12.679
Your ris, your.

370
00:39:15.320 --> 00:39:20.360
Your eyes, the night to meet your eyes, uncle, bete

371
00:39:20.760 --> 00:39:26.800
your eyes to see the gowing the thousand churches, as

372
00:39:27.239 --> 00:39:27.679
to get a.

373
00:39:27.800 --> 00:39:32.079
Solution to rise from all the fruitless searches.

374
00:39:34.159 --> 00:39:35.320
Oh, let's see.

375
00:39:35.119 --> 00:39:38.159
The light, and they.

376
00:39:39.440 --> 00:39:44.519
Oh, I want not be that as I want to

377
00:39:44.760 --> 00:39:46.320
judge the light the heed.

378
00:39:46.679 --> 00:40:02.159
I see your eyes, yours in your eyes, pin.

379
00:40:02.199 --> 00:40:02.400
Up that.

380
00:40:05.960 --> 00:40:06.559
Believe that.

381
00:40:16.239 --> 00:40:25.679
Somebody tell me somebody.

382
00:40:27.800 --> 00:40:42.519
Snapping, take me back to the gold and take me back.

383
00:40:42.920 --> 00:40:48.840
I won't go and take me back till nine.

384
00:40:49.480 --> 00:40:57.079
Mother and so SI who control and Ja