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All that glitters is not gold is a well-known saying, meaning that not everything that looks precious or true turns out to be so. This can apply to persons, places, or things that promise to be more than they really are. The expression, in various forms, originated in or before the 12th century[1] and may date back to Aesop.[2] Chaucer gave two early versions in English: "But all thing which that schyneth as the gold / Ne is no gold, as I have herd it told," and "Hyt is not al golde that glareth." The popular form of the expression is a derivative of a line in William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice, which employs the word "glisters," a 17th-century synonym for "glitters." The line comes from a secondary plot of the play, the puzzle of Portia's boxes (Act II - Scene VII - Prince of Morocco):
All that glisters is not gold; Often have you heard that told: Many a man his life hath sold But my outside to behold: Gilded tombs do worms enfold.
Had you been as wise as bold, Young in limbs, in judgement old Your answer had not been inscroll'd Fare you well, your suit is cold.
Panning for gold often results in finding pyrite, nicknamed fool's gold, which reflects substantially more light than authentic gold does.
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Gold in its raw form appears dull and does not glitter. "Not all that glitters is gold" is an alternative formulation.[3][4][5] The inverse of this expression, "All that glitters is gold," is a lyric in the Led Zeppelin song, "Stairway to Heaven", the Smash Mouth song, "All Star" and theDeath in Vegas song, "All That Glitters".
It is also used as lyrics in the song "A Guided Masquerade" by Alesana. A variation of the saying is used in Kid Cudi's song "Pursuit of Happiness", in which it goes: "I'm on the pursuit of happiness and I know everything that shine ain't always gonna be gold."
Glasses breaking, voices shrieking, papers flying; Abigail huddled up in fear. ‘’You’ll die if you leave, don’t leave else you’ll die; be warned,’’ these were the words reverberating in the ears of Abby; as her peers call her. ‘’Oh! Not again; not this time. Leave me alone. Please,’’ she communicated to the voice through her thoughts but the voice kept on replying, ‘’Never, never. Your heart is here, you belong here.’’
Abigail’s mind was filled with reminiscences of the times she used to have fun without the voice telling her what to do and how to do it. She wished she hadn’t met Xavier - the demon behind her life - who introduced her to doom. She was meandering around the perimeter of the school thinking of how her talent would reach the ends of the earth when she bumped into Trevor. ‘’Oh, I’m so sorry.’’ ‘’No, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have been texting while walking.’’ His eyes glistened on her spectacles as he reached for them to give her. ‘’Xavier,’’ he said and she told him her name.
They next day, she was singing in the music room in the school and he was eavesdropping. He started harmonising with her and she turned around in shock. ‘’You know for a nerd, you’ve got a great voice,’’ he said sarcastically. ‘’Oh! A nerd; is that what you think of me?’’
‘’Well, looking back at the day I met you, with those books and glasses; only a nerd goes about the perimeter of the school as if there’s an experiment you need to carry out.’’ At that moment, she stormed out of the room in anger with her musical sheets. ‘’Hey! I didn’t mean to get you vexed, it’s just humorous.’’ ‘’Right, so my looks have become something to laugh about. You know what, you are an obnoxious ego - maniac and you know nothing about me. You don’t know how it feels to have your talent hidden for many years without having a chance to let it out. You have no idea how I feel when I sing and there’s no one to hear me and say something nice.’’ ‘’Years of practice, no wonder you have such an amazing voice. I really was just kidding. By the way, you know the world can hear you in a split second right?’’
‘’What do you mean?’’ she asked perplexed. She had never known how she could reach out to the world. She longed for it all her life. She imagined singing on stage in front of a million people. She imagined the whole world knowing her name. She imagined the fame and abundant fortune. ‘’I mean I can sign you up to the most famous record in California. My uncle is a producer there,’’ he pauses for a short while and laughs. ‘’Is this the thing that has been eating you up?’’ She remembered her mum tell her ‘’Abigail, I am hearing my voice up high and I have to go. Life is hard but you have to strive.’’ She watched her mum being sucked away by the ovarian cancer she had been fighting for years. She remembered her mother’s hair falling off each time she woke up and she became terrified, throwing up all the time until her death.
Her father had taken another woman as his own. She never really liked the woman and her 19 year old son who always molested her. This was her family now and her father never cared even though she always tried to tell him. She hated men. She never wanted to sight them. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she thought of the last words her mother spoke to her before she lost the fight to cancer. Trevor moved forward towards her and he asked what was wrong including the fact that a golden opportunity was staring her in the face and the next thing she did was to cry. ‘’Are you going to come with me or not. This is your chance. We’re talking Columbia records here.’’
She hated the fact that he was so nonchalant towards everything. Anyways Columbia was staring her in the eyes and she knew she couldn’t say no. She followed him into the car and she didn’t utter a word. Soon they got there and as soon as she entered the building, she felt an eerie aura of anxiety mixed with a feeling she couldn’t quite describe. Everywhere seemed black and possessed and Xavier led her into a dark room that was red with smoke. As soon as she entered the room, she became possessed and she couldn’t control her brain; every part of her body became numb. She found her legs leading her into an incubator. Soon, she was outside her body and she watched her body being rotated in the incubator and the spirit of her own body came back inside her. Xavier told her that they were going to record that same day and she accepted the news both in shock and ecstasy. ‘’But we don’t have a song yet. What should I sing?’’
‘’When you get to the microphone, just start speaking.’’ Later, they got into another room and there, she met Xavier’s ‘uncle’- the devil himself. His nails were dark, his hair was rough, his eyes were white - plain white - and his teeth were sharp with a pointed edge. But there was something strange; she didn’t feel any fear. ‘’Grab the paper in front of you and recite it in the microphone when you get to the recording studio,’’ his uncle spoke to her and it was a husky voice. She hurried to the microphone as she had been running for a while towards her dreams. ‘’Ra ra ma le ta wis co le bu re sinko-,’’ her voice got louder and louder with every line of incantation. ‘’Ew liww lles. Ew liww niw sluos rof eht lived. Xes dna yenom si tahw ti si lla touba. Sey Sey. Lla liah eht lived.’’ These words are shocking when recited backwards.
The microphone was a skull with two horns. The studio itself was shaped like a pyramid with one window. She found herself speaking and tunes were being played. Soon, there was a song that attracted the attention of a spirit. The spirit came to feed on the voice and the song itself. This was the ritual to sell many albums and get fame. Abigail was very naïve and wasn’t aware of what was being done to her. She was a tool to the devil; a tool to make souls come to the devil. She became the world’s most wanted singer and from all angles, she was enquired about. She became a big time billionaire; a result of the songs that devoured souls and turned minds against what they believed in; songs that ate the minds of her fans and controlled their thoughts; songs that possessed the lives of young children. It was unbelievable. As Abigail grew, so also the devil in her grew and ate her up on the inside. Her live became a merry-go-round when the paparazzi could not let go of her.
Her moves were tracked and she became uncomfortable with the fame she longed for. The money was good but the loneliness was torture. Her life had been sold to the devil for a life of fame. Her family was an exchange for the clout she now possessed. She soon realised that there was trouble. It was a nostalgic feeling of the times she had before she met Xavier. She remembered the time she entered the studio and what had happened to her. She wasn’t aware of what exactly happened to her that day but she didn’t want it anymore. She wanted her family even though they were not always there for her. They still had some good times together. This was another dream she longed for. She drove straight down to Xavier’s house and asked if this is what happens when you gain fame and he replied positively.
‘’No! Don’t you get it, it’s different. I feel strange on the inside. It’s like someone speaks to me. I don’t even write my songs, I just speak into the microphone. I don’t even know what I sing until I hear my songs. Does this happen to every artiste?’’ ‘’Yes Abby, every artiste belonging to Columbia records; you’ve got what you wanted now, a life of fame - a life where everyone would know your name; a life filled with good times and money.’’ ‘’Not a life without a family Xavier; I am lonely. I don’t know what’s wrong with my family. I miss them Xavier. My body is changing, can’t you see? I even have this strange tattoo on my back and I don’t even have an idea how it got there.
Things are not normal in my life Xavier. Tell me what happened on the day you took me to Columbia studio. Please!’’ she was crying now. Xavier thought he could tell her since there was no going back and she would keep on relishing this new life of hers. ‘’Well, let me just say you belong to the devil now. When you serve the devil, you win souls for him through your songs when a lot of people buy your albums.’’ Abigail was laughing now. ‘’Yeah, right. How exactly could that have happened?’’ ‘’Let me take you back Abby, you wanted fame and you cried for it; to me, that was a sign of desperation and I led you to your direction. You’re welcome if that’s your way of saying thank you.’’ ‘’You’re serious aren’t you?’’
All That Glitters Are Not Gold. (2016, Nov 21). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/all-that-glitters-are-not-gold-essay
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