WHITE SPACE | Life Is Not Instant Coffee

Published : Aug 05, 2024 21:15 IST - 5 MINS READ My favourite Danish song is from 1973: it was sung by Poul Dissing, with lyrics by Benny Andersen, and it is supposed to have been written by a fictive persona, Svante, a “half-drunk, half-in-love, half-bald, half-fat” poet. The stanzas point out that “life is not the worst one has” and end with the refrain: “And in a while, the coffee will be ready.” There is no instant coffee in that song. I have nothing against instant coffee, but good coffee, like everything good in life, takes time. Part of the appeal of a song like “Svantes lykkelige dag” is that it reminds us that we need to slow down and watch life as it happens around us. As against that hegemonic tradition, we have someone like Svante, the half-fat, half-in-love, half-bald poet, a man not very successful and not always wise, who nevertheless knows that “life is not the worst one has”, that you cannot run after life or happiness.