Aida is an opera by Giuseppe Verdi.
Aida or AIDA may also refer to:
Plot
The adventures of a wholesome 'Southern Belle' transplanted into the center of Miami's Latin community. It's a Fish Out Of Water story that gives new meaning to the phrase 'culture shock.' It's humor with a Southern Twang and a Salsa Twist.
Plot
The Red Bear is a drama-thriller that tells the story of freelance conflict photographer Michael Turner, and his experiences documenting the Bosnian War during the early-nineties. Michael's desires to capture these iconic moments on film take him dangerously close to the action at times, and in this one moment he comes a little too close to becoming the subject of one of his award-winning photographs.
I am here to tell you we can never meet again
Simple really, isn't it, a word or two and then
A lifetime of not knowing where or how or why or when
You think of me or speak of me or wonder what befell
The someone you once loved so long ago so well
Never wonder what I'll feel as living shuffles by
You don't have to ask me and I need not reply
Every moment of my life from now until I die
I will think or dream of you and fail to understand
How a perfect love can be confounded out of hand
Is it written in the stars
Are we paying for some crime
Is that all that we are good for
Just a stretch of mortal time
Is this God's experiment
In which we have no say
In which we're given paradise
But only for a day
Nothing can be altered, oh, there is nothing to decide
No escape, no change of heart, no any place to hide
You are all I'll ever want but this I am denied
Sometimes in my darkest thoughts, I wish I'd never learned
What it is to be in love and have that love returned
Is it written in the stars
Are we paying for some crime
Is that all that we are good for
Just a stretch of mortal time
Is this God's experiment
In which we have no say
In which we're given paradise
But only for a day
Is it written in the stars
Are we paying for some crime
Is that all that we are good for
Just a stretch of mortal time
Is this God's experiment
In which we have no say
In which we have no say
In which we're given paradise
Given paradise
she feeds pigeons from the
roof of her house
standing up against the moonlight
throwing seeds into the night
singing
aida
aida
the parents all think she's crazy
not allowed near her yard
where the eight foot weeds
seem to shoot up from the ground
she's got a grocery cart that rattles
when she walks
run away here comes the pigeon lady
and she's singing
aida
aida
aida where are you
the doors the windows all the curtains are shut
there is no sign of life during the daylight
so we sneak around
throwing rocks into her hallowed ground
making up stories about who is aida anyhow
she's locked up in a closet
she's a daughter and she lost her
she's her sister
she's her mother
she's her invisible friend
singing
aida
aida
aida my darling
yeah
yeah
everybody got excuses for me
i'm crazy i'm mean i'm a phony
if i touch you you will die
i don't care if you don't believe me
i dont' care if you want to tease me
i don't break like ice
cuz i'm looking for one person only
she's gone and i'm lonely
so leave me to my vice alright
i'm looking for one person only
she's gone and i'm lonely alright
yeah
aida
aida
aida my darling
where are you
aida
aida
aida
aida
aida
aida
aida
aida
A few more days, we'll be home in glory
Already they'll be getting out the flags
With Memphis high in mode adulatory
Still I only see a lot of snags
For just because I triumphed as a slaver
Brought booty back to Egypt by the ton
Of this and every month, now I'm the flavor, ooh, yeah
And scheduled to do things I've never done
And why should I tell you this, a stranger I just met
A woman who in hours from now I'll certainly forget?
Anonymous and undemanding
Enchantment passing through
My secrets and my confidence are safe enough with you
My days out on the field are all but ended
They'll put me out to grass which means the throne
Bedecked with jewels alongside my intended
I feel as if my heart is set in stone
For just because I triumphed as a slaver
Brought booty back to Egypt by the ton, oh, yeah
Of this and every month, I'm now the flavor
And scheduled to do things I've never done, hey, hey
And why should I tell you this, a stranger I just met
A woman who in hours from now I'll certainly forget?
Anonymous and undemanding
Enchantment passing through
My secrets and my confidence is safe enough in you
Why should I tell you this, a stranger I just met
Someone who in hours from now I'll certainly forget?
So anonymous and undemanding, yeas, you are
Enchantment passing through
My secrets and my confidence is safe enough with you
A woman who in hours from now I'll certainly forget?
Anonymous and undemanding
Enchantment passing through
My secrets and my confidence are safe enough with you
You know nothing about me
And care even less
How could you understand
Our emptiness
You've plundered our wisdom
Our knowledge, our wealth
In bleeding us dry, you long for our spirit
But that you will never possess
The past is now another land
Far beyond my reach
Invaded by insidious
Foreign bodies, foreign speech
Where the timeless joys of childhood
Lie broken on the beach
Present is an empty space
Between the good and bad
A moment leading nowhere
Too pointless to be sad
But time enough to lay to waste
Every certainty I had
The future is a barren world
From which I can't return
Both heartless and material
Its wretched spoils not my concern
Shining like an evil sun
As my childhood treasures burn
Shining like an evil sun
We all lead such elaborate lives
Wild ambitions in our sights
How an affair of the heart survives
Days apart and hurried nights
Seems quite unbelievable to me
I don't want to live like that
Seems quite unbelievable to me
I don't want to love like that
I just want our time to be
Slower and gentler, wiser, free
We all live in extravagant times
Playing games we can't all win
Unintended emotional crimes
Take some out, take others in
I'm so tired of all we're going through
I don't want to live like that
I'm so tired of all we're going through
I don't want to love like that
I just want to be with you
Now and forever, peaceful, true
I wish, I had the courage
To tell you face to face
But I could wait forever
For the perfect time and place
We all live such elaborate lives
We don't know whose words are true
Strangers, lovers, husbands, wives
Hard to know whose loving who
Too many choices tear us apart
I don't want to live like that
Too many choices tear us apart
I don't want to love like that
I just want to touch your heart
How have I come to this?
How did I slip and fall?
How did I throw half a lifetime away
Without any thought at all?
This should've been my time
It's over, it never began
Facing a world, for once not on my side
I simply turned and ran
I try to blame it on fortune
Some kind of twist in my fate
But I know the truth and it haunts me
I learned it a little too late
I know the truth and it mocks me
I know the truth and it shocks me
I learned it a little too late
People have faith in me
I think I once did too
I promise whoever has a hold on our lives
I'll see the bad times through
This should have been my time
It's over, it never began
Facing a world, for once not on my side
I simply turned and ran
I try to blame it on fortune
Some kind of shift in the stars
But I know the truth and it haunts me
It's flown just a little too far
I know the truth and it mocks me
I know the truth and it shocks me
It's flown just a little too far
I try to blame it on fortune
Some kind of twist in my fate
But I know the truth and it haunts me
I grew up in your hometown, at least began to grow
I hadn't got to my first shave before the body blow
Egyptians in the courtyard, my family in chains
You witnessed our abduction which possibly explains
How I know you
How I know you
Before that fateful morning my family enjoyed
A privileged existence for my father was employed
As advisor to the king no less which surely rings a bell
For as your are his daughter, you probably can tell
How I know you
Yes I know you
You know too much and what you say
Is better left unknown
And now I'm just a slave like you
Our lives our not our own
I never have abandoned
And nor I think could you
That spark of hope for freedom
No terror can subdue
My only hope is silence
You've never seen my face
No you remain a princess
In any time or place
You don't know me
Yes, I know you
You don't know me
How I know you
Oh, Oh
Fortune favors the brave
Oh, Oh
Fortune favors the brave
We have swept to glory
Egypt's mastery expands
From the Nile's northern most Delta
To the dry, dry southern sands
The more we find, the more we see
The more we come to learn
The more that we explore
The more we shall return
Oh, oh
Fortune favors the brave
It's all worked out, my road is clear
The lines of latitude extend
Way beyond my wildest dreams
Toward some great triumphant end
We seize the day, we turned the tide
We touched the stars
We mocked the grave
We moved into uncharted lands
Fortune favors the brave
The more we find, the more we see
The more we come to learn
The more that we explore
The more we shall return
Nothing is an accident
We are free to have it all
We are what we want to be
It's in ourselves to rise or fall
This is easy to believe
When distant places call to me
It's harder from the palace yard
Fortune favors the free
Oh, oh
Fortune favors the young
Oh, oh
Every story, tale or memoir
Every saga or romance
Whether true or fabricated
Whether planned or happenstance
Whether sweeping through the ages
Casting centuries aside
Or a hurried brief recital
Just a thirty-minute ride
Whether bright or melancholy
Rough and ready, finely spun
Whether with a thousand players
Or a lonely cast of one
Every story, new or ancient
Bagatelle or work of art
All are tales of human failing
All are tales of love at heart
This is the story
Of a love that flourished
In a time of hate
Of lovers no tyranny could separate
Love set into motion on the Nile's shore
Destiny ignited by an act of war
Egypt saw the mighty river as it's very heart and soul
Source of life for all her people
That only Egypt could control
Destruction of her southern neighbor, justified
We all lead such elaborate lives
Wild ambitions in our sights
How an affair of the heart survives
Days apart and hurried nights
Seems quite unbelievable to me
I don't want to live like that
Seems quite unbelievable to me
I don't want to love like that
I just want our time to be
Slower and gentler, wiser, free
We all live in extravagant times
Playing games we can't all win
Unintended emotional crimes
Take some out, take others in
I'm so tired of all we're going through
I don't want to live like that
I'm so tired of all we're going through
I don't want to love like that
I just want to be with you
Now and forever, peaceful, true
I wish, I had the courage
To tell you face to face
But I could wait forever
For the perfect time and place
We all live such elaborate lives
We don't know whose words are true
Strangers, lovers, husbands, wives
Hard to know whose loving who
Too many choices tear us apart
I don't want to live like that
Too many choices tear us apart
I don't want to love like that
I just want to touch your heart
May this confession be the start
I once knew all the answers, I stood on certain groundA picture of true happiness, confidence so effortlessNo brighter could be found
I never asked the questions that trouble me todayI knew all there was to know, love worn lightly put on showA conquest on display
And who would have thought his love could be so goodNot me, not meMy secrets and my passions understoodNot me, not me
Who would have guessed he'd throw his world awayTo be with someone till his dying dayNot me, not me
I shall not envy lovers but long for what they shareAn empty room is merciless, don't be surprised if I confessI need some comfort there
And who would have thought his love could be so goodNot me, not meMy secrets and my passions understoodNot me, not me
Who would have guessed he'd throw his world awayTo be with someone till his dying dayNot me, not me
Who would have thought his love could be so goodNot me, not meMy secrets and my passions understoodNot me, not me
Who would have guessed he'd throw his world awayTo be with someone till his dying dayNot me, not me
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Now I believe in lookin' like my time on earth is cookin'
Whether polka dotted, striped or even checked
With some glamor guaranteein' every fiber of my bein'
Is displayed to quite remarkable effect
From your cradle via trousseau to your death bed you're on view, so
Never compromise, accept no substitute
I would rather wear a barrel than conservative apparel
Because dress has always been my strongest suit
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Staying in or hitting townwards from the top and working downwards
I ensure that every stitch is stitched in time
Whether wig or hat or turban whether clad boudoir or urban
Not to strut your stuff outrageously's a crime
And the few who are invited to my wardrobe are delighted
As they wander through my things to find en route
That in negligee or formal, I am anything but normal
Because dress has always been my strongest suit
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Now you don't need a recital of the reasons why it's vital
That tonight my trappings will not be subsued
That from coronet to sandal, no one else is worth a candle
That I couldn't make more impact in the nude
So bring me all my finest, most audacious, mi divinest
Most revealing, most expensive and to boot
Most arresting, most heart-stopping
Most free flowing, most eye popping
Because dress has always been my strongest suit
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Overwear, underwear, anytime, anywhere
Like father, like son
Like father, like son
Don't come on so cocksure, boy
You can't escape your genes
No point in feeling pure, boy
Your background intervenes
Listen good and listen straight
You're not the master of your fate
To this you must be reconciled
You'll always be your father's child
At times acclaimed, at times reviled
You'll wind up doing just what I've done
Like father, like son
Don't assume your vices
Get handed down the line
That a parent's blood suffices
To condemn the child's design
I've done wrong, I can't deny
But at least I know that I
I shouldn't blame that on my stock
Well, this may come as quite a shock
But I'm no chip off any block
I wouldn't wish those words on anyone
Like father, like son
Son, you're nervous, take my hand
All is settled,all is planned
You've got the world at your command
I don't think you understand
I appreciate too well
The squalor at which you excel
It isn't very hard to tell
Evil's a distinctive smell
He's lost all sense of reason and why?
Some foreign slut
Not only is that treason
Some doors are slamming shut
Now just like me he's found
That flesh can excite but will enmesh
Once we rid him of this blight
Once this harlot's out of sight
Then I think he'll see the light
He won't walk back to daddy, he will run
Like father, like son
Like father, like son
Like father, like son
I am here to tell you we can never meet again
Simple really, isn't it, a word or two and then
A lifetime of not knowing where or how or why or when
You think of me or speak of me or wonder what befell
The someone you once loved so long ago so well
Never wonder what I'll feel as living shuffles by
You don't have to ask me and I need not reply
Every moment of my life from now until I die
I will think or dream of you and fail to understand
How a perfect love can be confounded out of hand
Is it written in the stars
Are we paying for some crime
Is that all that we are good for
Just a stretch of mortal time
Is this God's experiment
In which we have no say
In which we're given paradise
But only for a day
Nothing can be altered, oh, there is nothing to decide
No escape, no change of heart, no any place to hide
You are all I'll ever want but this I am denied
Sometimes in my darkest thoughts, I wish I'd never learned
What it is to be in love and have that love returned
Is it written in the stars
Are we paying for some crime
Is that all that we are good for
Just a stretch of mortal time
Is this God's experiment
In which we have no say
In which we're given paradise
But only for a day
Is it written in the stars
Are we paying for some crime
Is that all that we are good for
Just a stretch of mortal time
Is this God's experiment
In which we have no say
In which we have no say
In which we're given paradise
Given paradise
But only for a day
I'm sorry for everything I've said
And for anything I forgot to say too
When things get so complicated
I stumble, at best muddle through
I wish that our lives could be simple
I don't want the world, only you
Oh, I wish I could tell you this face to face
But there's never the time, never the place
So this letter will have to do
It's knowing what they want of me that scares me
It's knowing having followed, I must lead
It's knowing that each person there compares me
To those in my past whom I now succeed
But how can whatever I do for them now
Be enough, be enough
Aida, Aida
All we ask of you
Is a lifetime of service, wisdom, courage
To ask more would be selfish, but nothing less will do
Aida, Aida
Your robe should be golden, your robe should be perfect
Instead of this ragged concoction of thread
But may you be moved by it's desperate beauty
To give us new life for we'd rather be dead
Then live in the squalor and shame of the slave
To the dance, to the dance
Aida, Aida
All we ask of you
All we ask is a lifetime of service, wisdom, courage
To ask more would be selfish, but nothing less will do
Aida, Aida
Aida
Aida, Aida
Aida, Aida, Aida
I know expectations are wild and almost beyond my fulfillment
But they won't hear a word of a doubt or see signs of weakness
My nigh on impossible duty is clear
If I can rekindle my ancestors' dreams
It's enough, it's enough, it's enough
(Aida, Aida, Aida, Aida, Aida, Aida)
Take me in my dreams recurring
Cheerful as a childhood dance
Into one more taste of freedom
One more longing backward glance
In the sway of somber music
I shall never, never understand
Let me slip into the sweeter
Chorus of that other land
The gods love Nubia, the beautiful, the golden
The radiant, the fertile, the gentle and the blessed
The pain of Nubia is only of the moment
The desolate, the suffering, the plundered, the oppressed
The gods love Nubia, the glorious creation
The songs roll sweetly across the harvest plain
The tears of Nubia, a passing aberration
They wash into the river and are never cried again
The gods love Nubia, we have to keep believing
The scattered and divided, we are still it's heart
The fall of Nubia, ephemeral and fleeting
Sad to say our mighty ruler
Is not really in the pink
Hopes could not be minuscular
That he'll come back from the brink
Not to beat around the bush
He looks like heading for his box
At the risk of seeming pushy
We must plan for future shocks
According to the Hawk God Horus
Our most regal invalid
Is not that much longer for us
Build another pyramid
Build it, build it
Another pyramid
Build it, build it
Though all doctors and physicians
Have been summoned to his bed
It'll soon be top morticians
We'll be calling for instead
With each wheeze the nation's humming
Egypt shakes with every cough
No two ways about what's coming
No discussion, bets are off
Soon our monarch will have filled the tomb
Just like his fathers did
Summon Egypt's greatest builder
[Unverified] another pyramid
Build it, build it
Another pyramid
Build it, build it
We hate to depress the nation
But our leader has been told
He should scrub his next vacation
Even put tonight on hold
This is where his loyal priesthood
Has the chance to do him proud
Holy leaders at the least should
See him happy to his shroud
He must have a vault that's grand by
Any standards floor to lid
Put five thousand slaves on standby
No, no, no, no
Nothing is easy
All I have to do is forget how much I love him
All I have to do is put my longing to one side
Tell myself that love’s an ever changing situation
Passion would have cooled and all the magic would have died
It’s easy as life
I try to forget how much I want him here
Let my tears slowly disappear
I cannot forget that my emotions die
Oh, I don’t even want to try
Nothing in life is ever easy
Nothing in love will ever run true
My heart will never stop believing
I still believe in what love can do
All I have to do
Is pretend I never knew you
On those very rare occasions
When you steal into my heart
Better to have lost you
When the ties were barely binding
Better the contempt
Of the familiar cannot stop
It’s easy as life
I try to forget how much I want him here
Then my dreams slowly disappear
I cannot forget that my emotions die
Oh, I don’t even want to try
Nothing in life is ever easy
Nothing in love will ever run true
My heart will never stop believing
I still believe in what love can do
It hurts to think about you
When I want to touch you
And how we would have been
If you were here with me today
Those very rare occasions
They keep on coming
All I ever wanted
I’m throwing it away
Nothing in life is ever easy
Nothing in love will ever run true
My heart will never stop believing
I still believe in what love can do
Nothing in life is ever easy
Nothing in love will ever run true
My heart will never stop believing
It's so strange he doesn't show me more affection than he needs
Almost formal, too respectful, never takes romantic leads
There are times when I imagine I'm not always on his mind
He's not thinking what I'm thinking, always half a step behind
Always half a step behind
I'm in every kind of trouble, can't you tell, just look at me
Half ecstatic, half dejected, all in all I'm all at sea
Easy terms I thought I wanted, fill me now with chilling dread
You can never know the chaos, of a life turned on it's head
Of a life turned on it's head
I am certain that I love him but a love can be misplaced
Have I compromised my people in my passion and my haste?
I could be his life companion, anywhere but where we are
Am I a leader? Am I a traitor? Did I take a step to far?
Did I take a step to far?
Did I take a step to far?
I am certain that I love him but a love can be misplaced
Did I take a step to far?
So strange he doesn't show me more affection than he needs
Did I take a step to far?
I am certain that I love him but a love can be misplaced
I'm sorry for everything I've said
And for anything I forgot to say too
When things get so complicated
I stumble, at best, muddle through
I wish that our lives could be simple
No I don't want the world, only you
Oh I wish I could tell you this face to face
But there's never the time, never the place