George Perris: A Sunset in Greece

Support for George Perris "A Sunset In Greece" comes from the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.

The Horatio Alger Award has been presented to outstanding Americans who embody the American Dream built on hard work, perseverance and success.

Through them, the Association has awarded scholarships to enable 35,000 youth to pursue their American dream through higher education.

(Musical Introduction) (Greek song) Only once Does the heart beat And from then on It moves on Steadily towards its dreams To hide in someone's arms To be saved Only once does the heart Gives itself, lets go into the fire I spent hours looking at you With deep love And now You're far away Only one voice Can elevate you But if your love is speechless It cries through life You feel your life passing by Two nights and a small light In your morning Only once does the heart Gives itself, lets go into the fire I spent hours looking at you With deep love And then oh how I feared Before the night was over And now... You're far away Good evening or... kalispera as we say here in Greece And welcome to the incredible, magical and more than 2500 years old temple of Aphaea On the beautiful island of Aegina in my home country... Greece I know where you've been I've seen it, time and time again Written on the faces The lonely, left behind, forgotten Travelers of the wind Looking for a place to land You're the fire You're the light That everyone will see So keep your heart wide open And keep your head up high Brighter than a diamond you shine Shine for us all Mmm Shine for us all I know where you go I've been there So I understand Hiding in the shadows Where only you can trust yourself Because there's no one else To say that you're not worth it But you're the fire You're the light That everyone will see So keep your heart wide open And keep your head up high Brighter than a diamond you shine Shine for us all Shine for us all Brighter than a diamond You shine I know where you've been I've seen it Time and time again Picture this A limitless sky A united place with no frontiers Where all your dreams can burst like fireworks Picture water Running through the rays of this life Only to join each little fiber that transcends us Picture faith As an everlasting force That brings fulfillment And never becomes a weapon of prejudice Picture your voice Driven by its need to be freed of silence And to find the embodiment of your expression Picture an idea Giving you a lesson of wisdom no matter whose it is And never holding you back Picture a law Made to protect our imperfections Perceived as a dancing end to intolerance and lack of understanding Picture hope Being the only vehicle to your constant changing grounds And memories as allies of your journey Picture blood Moving from your body to a baby Born not to look like you But just to be blessed by the beauty of two beings Picture a pebble Traveling from shore to shore infinitely Just to prove that we are still existent Picture love Being everyone's hero A hero bound to resilience Powered by the wisdom of endlessness Picture this The possibility of a better world For you For me For us For them Picture a radiant absolute silence As you and I make love Already, I can see the form of another universe Awakening in your smile Picture this And this, And this.

I have a dream A song to sing To help me cope with anything If you see the wonder of a fairy tale You can take the future Even if you fail I believe in angels Something good in everything I see I believe in angels When I know the time is right for me I'll cross the stream I have a dream I have a dream A phantasy To help me through reality And my destination makes it worth the while Pushing through the darkness Still another mile I believe in angels Something good in everything I see I believe in angels When I know the time is right for me I'll cross the stream I have a dream I'll cross the stream I have a dream I have a dream A song to sing To help me cope with anything If you see the wonder of a fairy tale You can take the future Even if you fail I believe in angels Something good in everything I see I believe in angels When I know the time is right for me I'll cross the stream I have a dream I'll cross the stream I have a dream This island... the island of Aegina holds a very important position in history It's just an hour away from Athens or Epidaurus It was here that the first coin in Europe was cut during the ancient times And it was Greece's first capital In fact, the temple of Aphaea which is so graciously hosting us tonight was built before the Acropolis of Athens For all these reasons, as well as its incredible beauty it holds a very special place in my heart Rows and flows of angel hair And ice cream castles in the air And feather canyons everywhere I've looked at clouds that way But now they only block the sun They rain and snow on everyone So many things I would have done But clouds got in my way I've looked at clouds from both sides now From win and lose and still somehow It's cloud illusions I recall I really don't know clouds at all Moons and Junes and ferris wheels The dizzy dancing way you feel As every fairy tale comes real I've looked at love that way But now it's just another show You leave them laughing when you go And if you care (Crying) Tears and fears and feeling proud To say I love you right out loud Dreams and schemes and circus crowds I've looked at life that way But now old friends they're acting strange They shake their heads They say I've changed Well something's lost but nothing's gained In living every day I've looked at life from both sides now From win and lose and still somehow It's life's illusions I recall I really don't know life I've looked at life from both sides now From win and lose and still somehow It's life's illusions I recall I really don't know life I really don't know life at all She's one of my country's most cherished and beloved composers She has written music for movies and she has won many many prizes around the world Please welcome the incredible Evanthia Reboutsika The hands of time turned slowly Yet time passed by so quickly I turned around and saw you You'll see, I will love you for the rest of my life My keys were hanging from the door And my heart was always so afraid But now there's nothing to be afraid of This love will be my sword In your arms everything becomes one The moon and the stars are all connected Your beauty is a crystal clear water I dive in your depth and reach the sky With you I can take on anything Even to forgive myself All my whys and nos flew away In the sky like kites I see myself through eyes as pure and true As if I hold an eternal kiss In your arms everything becomes one The moon and the stars are all connected Your beauty is a crystal clear water I dive in your depth and reach the sky With you I can take on anything Even to forgive myself I turned around and saw you You'll see, I will love you for the rest of my life I don't know how it happens where you are But here in Greece We often all gather around and sing and dance and clap And that's what this next song is all about I'm walking but not through the old path I know I paving a new way I won't count if it's right or wrong I love you and I need to find you again I dive deep in the Mediterranean In the depths of my own soul Tell me, is there another glow in the world That could ever compare with this light I'm asking for my inner sunshine Deep down but also up in the surface Miracles aren't scarce If only you have the eyes to see them I love you and I want to find you again I want to take you to the Aegean Ionian and Libyan seas I swim in the blue ocean And fly from the earth to the sky I dive deep in the Mediterranean In the depths of my own soul Tell me, is there another glow in the world That could ever compare with this light I'm asking for my inner sunshine Deep down but also up in the surface Miracles aren't scarce If only you have the eyes to see them I'm asking for my inner sunshine Deep down but also up in the surface Miracles aren't scarce If only you have the eyes to see them (Musical introduction) (Vocalizing) My next guest is one of my country's national treasures I'm deeply humbled and happy that he is my friend, one of my mentors and above all a voice that I tremendously admire Please welcome my friend Mario Frangoulis (Song in Spanish) Fool is he who doesn't understand Tells a legend That a female gypsy Conjured the moon until dawn Crying she would ask That the day would come For she to marry a gypsy You'll have your man, ebony skin From the sky the full moon talked to her But in return I want The first-born child You breed from him Cause someone who sacrifices her son In order to not being alone Would only barely love him Moon, you want to be mother And you can't find love That makes you woman Tell me, silver moon What are you going to do With a child of skin?

Son of the moon From a cinnamon father was born a child As white as the back of an ermine With grey eyes Instead of olive Albino child of the moon Curse his seal This is a foreigner's child And I won't keep the truth Moon, you want to be mother And you can't find love That makes you woman Tell me, silver moon What are you going to do With a child of skin?

Son of the moon Gypsy man thinking he's been dishonored Attacked her woman, knife in hand "Whose son is this?

You've cheated on me" And she wounded her deadly Then he walked up the mount With the child between his arms And forsook him there Moon, you want to be mother And you can't find love That makes you woman Tell me, silver moon What are you going to do With a child of skin?

Son of the moon And in those nights the moon is full It will be because the child is in a good mood And if the child cries The moon shall wax To serve as a cradle And if the child cries The moon shall wax To serve as a cradle...

Son of the moon Thank you Mario Mario Frangoulis!

Academy Award winner Michel Legrand was one of my heroes one of my favorite composers of all time I had the incredible chance to work with him we did a few concerts together and with him I learnt what it means to chase perfection even if you know you're never going to get it I hope that wherever he is he's happy and the next 3 songs that are his are dedicated to him There's not a morning I begin without a thousand questions running through my mind That I don't try to find the reason and the logic In a world that God designed The reason why A bird was given wings If not to fly and praise the sky With every song it sings What's right or wrong Where I belong Within the scheme of things And why have eyes that see And arms that reach Unless you're meant to know There's something more If not to hunger for the meaning of it all Then tell me what a soul is for Why have the wings Unless you're meant to fly And tell me please why have a mind If not to question why And tell me where Where is it written what it is I'm meant to be that I can't dare To have the chance to pick the fruit of every tree Or have my share of every sweet imagined possibility Just tell me where tell me where If I were only meant to tend the nest Then why does my imagination sail Across the mountains and the seas Beyond the make-believe of any fairy tale Why have the thirst if not to drink the wine And what a waste to have a taste Of things that can't be mine And tell me where where is it written what it is I'm meant to be that I can't dare To find the meanings in the mornings that I see Or have my share of every sweet imagined possibility Just tell me where where is it written Tell me where Oh if it's written anywhere God Oh God May the light Of this flickering candle Illuminate the night the way your spirit illuminates my soul Papa, can you hear me Papa, can you see me Papa, can you find me in the night Papa, are you near me Papa, can you hear me Papa, can you help me not be frightened Looking at the skies I seem to see a million eyes Which ones are yours Where are you now that yesterday Has waved goodbye and closed its doors The night is so much darker The wind is so much colder The world I see is so much bigger now that I'm alone Papa, please forgive me Try to understand me Papa, don't you know I had no choice Can you hear me praying Anything I'm saying Even though the night is filled with voices I remember everything you taught me Every book I've ever read Can all the words in all the books Help me to face what lies ahead The trees are so much taller And I feel so much smaller The moon is twice as lonely And the stars are half as bright Papa, how I love you Papa, how I need you Papa, how I miss you Kissing me goodnight (Musical introduction) (In French) For the last few days I have been living in the silence Of the four walls of your love Since you went away the shadow of your absence Is after me every night and leaving me every day I don't see anyone anymore I have emptied everything around me I don't understand anything anymore Because I'm nothing without you I have denied life Because I have no illusions About our love Listen to the song If it takes forever I will wait for you For a thousand summers I will wait for you Till you're back beside me till I'm holding you And forever more I'll wait for you Anywhere you wander anywhere you go Every day remember still I love you so In your heart believe what in my heart I know That forevermore I'll wait for you If it takes forever I will wait for you For a thousand summers I will wait for you Till you're back beside me till I'm holding you And forever more I'll wait for you For you I'll wait I'll wait and wait For you And forever and ever I'll wait For you I'll wait for you Like a volcano that's about to erupt And has been asleep for seven generations I have received the light and I can take the fire in my chest (Greek song) Like a volcano that wakes up From a deep dream And whatever builds mountains Cries to be born Like a volcano that wakes up Asleep for seven generations Lava Oh lava My blood is hot Just a few relatives Distant cousins Tell me is there anyone left For us birds Just a few relatives In the depths of the mind Lava Oh lava Body of the sky I have received the light And that's where the heart usually takes you I didn't take it under consideration All the world's darkness I understood I have received the light And I can take the fire in my chest I didn't take it under consideration All the world's darkness I understood Like a volcano that wakes up From a deep dream And whatever builds mountains Cries to be born Like a volcano that wakes up Asleep for seven generations Lava Oh lava Christ's tear With lava I received Everything that the crowd whispers And even if they seemed crazy All the cries of people I understood I am the light Na na na na Na na na na Na na na na Na na na na This next song is one of the most beautiful songs ever written I think in the history of mankind And you know in these troubling times that we're all going through This is the message we wanted to send to you tonight That there's hope There's a place for us Somewhere a place for us Peace and quiet and open air Wait for us Somewhere There's a time for us Someday there'll be a time for us Time together with time to spare Time to learn Time to care Someday Somewhere We'll find a new way of living We'll find a way of forgiving Somewhere There's a place for us A time and a place for us Hold my hand And we're halfway there Hold my hand And I'll take you there Somehow Someday Somewhere (Greek song) Just pretend we are Adam and Eve Before anyone told us "don't" I'd tell you climb on to my bike So that I can take you to the sea We would choose two trees To engrave a heart And we would lay our towel under the sun Two first borns in the sand The sea will be yours Your body will be mine And our love will be ours It will burn secretly our eyes The sea will be yours Your body will be mine And our love will be ours It will burn secretly our eyes The sea will be yours And I will be a stray note That found its paradise Into your arms (Background music) Support for George Perris "A Sunset In Greece" comes from the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.

The Horatio Alger Award has been presented to outstanding Americans who embody the American Dream built on hard work, perseverance and success.

Through them, the Association has awarded scholarships to enable 35,000 youth to pursue their American dream through higher education.