WEBVTT

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(In spoken verse) From time to time,

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Would you mind

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Taking me away from it all, just ...

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Going to the sea, just ...

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Letting it lick our feet, just ...

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Pretending to forget,

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Feeling every grain of sand
touch our palms and soles

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Feeling each piece of algae
caress our ankles

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Feeling the whole sky in our hair

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Blowing.

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From time to time,

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Would you mind

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Surprising me at a street corner

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Forgetting I asked you,
saying I'm astonished,

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Pleasantly surprised,

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And after a start I jump

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into your arms

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And after looking deep
into your eyes indiscreetly

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to find something,

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I steal a kiss from you

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to put in my pocket and keep
for when you're gone

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And because I'd feel alone
with all these people around.

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Then I'll take it slowly
in the palm of my hand

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And slowly put it on my cheek, there.

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See?

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Can you feel how soft it is?

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Can you feel it?

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From time to time,

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Would you mind

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Carrying me on your back,

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Whisking me away lightly,
far from the earth

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Where everything is so beautiful,

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Like the traces of your back,
like the curves of your back,

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Melody of my senses,
you can see how I think

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And my feet are so heavy
and my verses are so fleeting

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My "if's" and my syllables
grind me and plow me

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I leave ink footprints on the sidewalk.

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So just for once,

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Could you carry me?

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From time to time,

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Would you mind letting me caress you

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With the tip of my pen,

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With my fingertips?

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I'll redraw your face

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The way one sketches a landscape.

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I'll do it on a misty day
to hide my emotions a little

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And my "what-about-me's"

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My "I's," my games,

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Just for you, just for the two of us.

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You know,

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It's so easy.

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I just have one last request

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I won't keep you much longer

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I just wanted to ask you

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If from time to time you wouldn't mind

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Saying "You and me,"

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Like in the movies

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saying, "We," that's all.

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Saying, "You send me,"

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saying, "You shake me,"

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saying, "You intoxicate me,"
saying "You inspire me,"

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Saying "you" again and again
at the top of your lungs

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because deep in my head
you're overflowing.

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Saying, "Your kisses burn me, carry me,"

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Saying, "I like you,"

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And more, yes.

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From time to time,

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Would you mind taking me away
from it all, you know, just ...

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(End spoken verse)

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(Singing) Going to the sea

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Letting it lick our feet, just ...

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Pretending to forget

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For between you and me

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The one I prefer

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is you.

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(End singing)

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(Speaking) It's with those lines

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that I won The French Slam
Championship in 2005.

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It's true!

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

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You probably weren't expecting
a slam champion to look like this, right?

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So what is "slam"?

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It's an open stage where anyone
in the audience can express themselves.

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You have three minutes
to do whatever you want.

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No props, music or set decoration -

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just words, voice, body.

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A field of free expression,

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where rappers, poets,
storytellers, singers

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or simply word lovers

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can meet, share.

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It's rather similar
to what we're doing here today,

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although TEDx is not a slam scene.

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It isn't! You can't come onstage
after me, sorry!

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Well, except for the people
hidden backstage, waiting for their turn.

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I've always been attracted to the stage,

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since childhood.

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I'd sing all the time

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and imagine doing super-dramas
in costume for my parents.

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I thought only other people
could make a living out of it.

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It was a childhood dream.

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Today, I'm a singer-songwriter

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and performer.

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That's my job.

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Discovering slam at 17 was a catalyst.

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That's when I realized

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how I really wanted to climb onstage,

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I also realized
I wanted to write to be ...

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heard.

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Suddenly everything became possible!

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And when, at 20, I left everything
to make a record,

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I wasn't afraid at all,
that much was clear.

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Today, I refer to that time as the most
spontaneous summer of my life.

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I released my first album in 2009,

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then a second one in 2015.

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Between the two releases,
the world of music changed a lot.

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I self-produced the second album, "Une."

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The songs were ready,
and I didn't want to wait

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for a record company to decide
whether to produce it.

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I ended up being an entrepreneur,

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a ship captain.

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Within that period
of movement, of transition,

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I had to learn a new trade --

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in fact, many trades:

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producer, head of marketing,

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project manager, community manager,

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caught in a whirlwind
of emails, of logistics,

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a flurry of goals and mandatory codes
that you have to follow

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when you want to make a record.

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Gradually,

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I lost control,

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forgetting that, hidden
under the multiple hats,

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I was an artist,

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first and foremost.

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(Singing) All around,

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thoughts dancing back and forth

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All around, thoughts dancing
back and forth

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I put them

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I put them on

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I put them on

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my boat

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I put them

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I put them on

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I put them onto my boat

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My paper boat

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And I let them sail away

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(End singing)

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(Applause)

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My record was released.

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I managed to find help,
partners to accompany me,

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I received a lot of praise but …

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something was wrong.

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I felt disappointment,

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frustration

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and even guilt.

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I felt I had somehow failed

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when, at my level,
it was quite the opposite.

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How did I get there?

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I compared myself.

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I constantly compared my project
to other people's.

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I felt they managed better than me;

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I was fooled by all the images of success

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that you see on social networks,
on the Internet.

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In fact, many people
must have thought the same about me

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when visiting my Facebook page,
always full of good news.

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We only highlight the positive.

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We almost never talk about our trials.

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And suddenly, we feel
we are the only one facing difficulties.

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But of course that's not true.

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We all face them.

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We might be better off
talking about them more often, right?

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Me, I never did enough.

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Though I worked from morning to night
seven days a week -

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never enough.

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I spent my time on the phone
or on my computer.

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I wasn't spending any time writing.

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For me, the captain,

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it was a terrible inner storm.

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And a downpour.

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I was - am - so proud of this album.

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I loved every bit of it!

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And despite that,
I saw my glass as half empty.

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I focused on what remained to be filled,

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rather than on the road already traveled.

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I'd get up in the morning
with this question looping in my head:

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What's the point?

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It was time to sound the alarm

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and respond to it.

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At one point, I just couldn't enjoy
my success anymore,

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even though my childhood dream

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was right there, before very my eyes.

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I released 2 CD’s, I won prizes.

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I sang at major festivals
in beautiful venues like the Olympia,

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took part in many wonderful projects

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and above all,

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I make a living out of my art.

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How lucky I am!
It should be absolute bliss!

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But at one point,

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I forgot who I was and why
I was doing all those things.

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But the important thing
is to realize it, right?

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It's normal to doubt.

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It's not a straight road.

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It's hectic. It's a journey.

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Today, I want to look at my glass,

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see it as half full,

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and love this half, find it beautiful.

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I want to continue to write,

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cultivate my singularity

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and stop comparing myself to others,

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because that's what paralyzes me.

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Most of all, I don't want to lose sight
of that one reason so fundamental,

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that it's the answer every time
I ask, "What's the point?" -

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because I love what I do
more than anything else.

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Because I love looking for
the right words,

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listening to how they sound.

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Because I love sharing them
onstage with my voice,

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my hands, my face and my bare feet!

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Because it is vital for me

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and I can't imagine doing
anything else with my life.

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That's why I make music,

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not to achieve this vision of success

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that the world wants to impose on us.

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I have succeeded.

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And it's icing on the cake
if, within my words,

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people recognize themselves.

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(Singing) When silence screams

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It becomes deafening

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Tiny sounds

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Become a giant's cries

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Our words are compasses,
our guides on the ocean

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Words as continent

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That's what we'll keep

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When the clouds speed by
and we can't touch them

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On the tender island blue
impossible to land

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Our words are three-masted ships
sailing in these clouds

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Our words like sailboats

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That's what we'll keep.

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And when the sky weeps,
darkening with sobs

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So the sounds, the colors,
get caught in the scrolls

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Our words at arm's length
are our weapons, our torches

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Our words as flags

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That's what we'll keep.

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When the doors are closed
and we're left outside

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Knocking helplessly
with our hands, our bodies,

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Our words will remain there,
etched into the decor

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Our words like treasure

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That’s what we'll keep.

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When my lips are sealed
and I don't know what to say

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When I don't know what to do but cry,
even though I want to smile

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My words softly slide to avoid the worst

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My words like sighs

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That's what I'll keep.

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When we'd like to keep
every memory, every name

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To remember everything, every feeling

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Words are our struggles,

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Words are ...

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emotion

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Our words like songs

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That's what we'll keep.

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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That's it,

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that's all I want to keep,

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this little taste of being onstage,

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this need to convey with my voice,

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sharing words that inspire.

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It's kind of what we've done
together this afternoon.

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That's what matters to me.

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And I'm sure that you, too,
know the answer

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to your "What's the point?" -

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that one idea stronger than any other,

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that will always be there to guide us
when we lose our way.

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Mine, the work of 20 years,

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my dream since I was a little girl,

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I don't want to forget it anymore

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or all of these victories
that belong only to me,

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and to my path full of twists and turns.

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As long as they remain,
I will be able to go on,

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despite the doubts and obstacles,

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the rough sea.

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Perseverance and passion are my allies.

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So let's raise our half-full glasses

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and rejoice that so much room remains
to keep on filling them.

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To us!

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(Applause)