GEN X: What music have you been listening to ?!

[2PhiloVoid]

Politics, politics, politics. During all of my 5 short decades of life I've wondered just how and why there's so much fuss between political Left and Right. They go back and forth, forth and back, over and over again. And again. Now, having learned the things I've learned about the interior of people's minds and hearts, and every time I see yet another election, and every time I see yet another instance of social strife between social groups and/or parties, I roll my eyes to the back of my head and just sing one of my favorite songs from my Gen X childhood ...

Stealers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You (1973)

" Well I don't know why I came here tonight,
I got the feeling that something ain't right,
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair,
And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs,
Clowns to the left of me,
Jokers to the right, here I am,
Stuck in the middle with you
Yes I'm stuck in the middle with you,

And I'm wondering what it is I should do,
It's so hard to keep this smile from my face,
Losing control, yeah, I'm all over the place,
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you ... ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

And sometimes when contemplating our position as sojournors and strangers within a world going "mad," we Christians just have to assert and assume our identity in Christ:

Red - Die For You (2013) [....yes, it's a Christian rock group !]

" I know you hate me
I never meant to make you feel this way
I feel so betrayed
I never thought I could feel condemned
I never thought I could feel all your sin

Oh, I can feel your madness now
Oh, I can feel your fire now
It's what I burn for
It's what I bleed for
I would die for you

You know I'd die for you

I feel exposed, I feel disgraced
I feel a whole new kind of hate
Someone please tell me what I'm supposed to do
'Cause you hate me but I love you !!! ... ... !!! "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Growing up as a kid in the 1970s, I don't remember ever being taught by my family to be "socially conscious".........of anything, really. Neither was I taught to obey the letter of the law in all cases. In fact, when I was young and I was bullied a few times, my dad used to tell me that while he frowned upon me starting fights, he was behind me if someone started one with me. Not only that, but he used to tell me, "Don't be starting any fights! That's not nice, but if someone picks a fight with you, by golly, be the one to finish it!"

Well, my dad meant well. He didn't want to see me get bullied, and some of what he said resonated with me.

HOWEVER, somewhere in the mix of my childhood was this song by Pink Floyd. It was one that, at first, I didn't quite understand, but I loved to listen to it for its synthesizer/sound effect type musical landscape. Just a few years later, as I heard it several times on the radio in the late 70s and on into early 80s, and as I moved into my teenage years, I began to "hear" the lyrics and I couldn't help but ponder over what its enigmatic message might be. What are they talking about? Being that I was illiterate about deeper social issues of all kinds, I didn't understand it. But somehow, when I became a Christian and began reading prophetic books in the Bible, this song took on a new sheen of meaning for me, and I realized that my dad's intentions, while well intended, still ... wouldn't be enough for this life in this world. Yes, "This" world, a world where in which the Corporatized "They" will say to you ...

Pink Floyd - Welcome to the Machine (1975)

" ... So welcome to the machine
Welcome my son
Welcome to the machine
What did you dream?
It's alright we told you what to dream
You dreamed of a big star
He played a mean guitar
He always ate in the Steak Bar
He loved to drive in his Jaguar
So welcome to the machine ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Believe it or not, this old favorite of mine is a kind of social activist response to a few nuanced aspects of the subject matter of the Pink Floyd video above. This song also came out about the same time the very first Star Wars movie was released in which we all got to help Luke Skywalker fight another school of Barracuda, and so.....I have some fond memories of that time and year. Music! Movies! Mu-ha-ha-ha! Oh, yeah. And I was playing soccer that summer!

Heart - Barracuda (1977)

" ... If the real thing don't do the trick, no
You better make up something quick
You gonna burn, burn, burn, burn, burn it to the wick
Oooo, barra-barracuda "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

And I remember thinking to myself in my disheveled social life at the time, "Woe, bro! You've just broken through some of the assumptions I've carried in my head!" Those assumptions probably needed to be challenged, frankly speaking, and I'm glad they were. So, realizing this, I said "Hasta la vista" to those assumptions, mainly because they were of a certain .... !"

Living Colour - TYPE (1990)

" Stereotype
Monotype
Blood type
Are you my type?
Minimalism
Abstract expressionism
Postmodernism
Is it?

We are the children of concrete and steel
This is the place where the truth is concealed
This is the time when the lie is revealed
Everything is possible, but nothing is real

Corporate religion
Televangahypnotism
Suffer till you die
For the sweet-bye-and-bye
Science and technology, the new mythology
Look deep inside
Empty ... ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Words. We all know that what can be seemingly meaningful in a single word might not also be what is ideally found in the lived experience of that same word. This is the case with a word like "relationship." This truth between word and reality tempers and permeates our social interactions, this is especially so through the social tensions that we all just can't seem to master; it's even often present and seen within our interactions with a significant other...............or with God. However, somewhere in all of the emotional miasma that floats among and in our efforts at mutuality is the notion that we'd like for another person to not only show up and express themselves, but to ...

Rhianna with Mikky Ekko - STAY (2013)

" All along it was a fever
A cold sweat, hot headed believer
I threw my hands in the air, said, "Show me something"
He said, "If you dare, come a little closer"

Round and around and around and around we go
Oh, now tell me now, tell me now, tell me now you know ... ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

The human memory can really be an amazing thing. Sometimes anyway. Take a small case in point: I still remember where I was when I first heard the following song. I was driving down the usual highway to get home when I heard Suzanne Vega start do-whopping repeatedly on the car radio. And I thought, "Dang! What a stupid song! Who would write this schlock and record it?" Fortunately, I kept on listening beyond the first 20 seconds, and although I didn't know it at the time, I'd go on to remember this song as one of my favorites from the 1980s....

Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner (1984, 1987)

" ... .... There's a woman on the outside
Looking inside, does she see me?
No she does not really see me
'Cause she sees her own reflection

And I'm trying not to notice
That she's hitching up her skirt
And while she's straightening her stockings
Her hair has gotten wet

Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doodoo, doo
Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, duhdoodoo
Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doodoo, doo
Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, duhdoodoo

Oh, this rain it will continue through the morning
As I'm listening to the bells of the cathedral

I am thinking of your voice ... ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I love my country---the U.S.A.---and I can honestly say that there's not another place or another time I'd rather live in than here and now. I love the food here. I love the comforts. I love the general freedom. I love the music. Heck, I even love a good number of the people (and I try to love those who seem to not want to be loved by me, too ... but I won't elaborate on that here.)

So, my life here is good (or at least it has been for the last 26 years or so). However, I've a small gripe. Maybe two. Our nation prides itself on seeing itself as the seeming ethics leader of the modern world; in its short history of the last few hundred years there have even been those who have claimed this is a "Christian nation," whatever that truly is or would be definitionally. Yet, despite this, we've become a nation that is materialistic and self-centered in the middle of having a more or less spiritually inclined population. We see sex as a part of regular commerce [how odd!]. We claim the moral high ground in the world, but we still have racists spouting their vitriol in various social segments, racists who can't seem to get over their prejudices even when they claim religious piety. We also see folks clamoring for rights, but when they get them, they just start doing whatever their little hearts desire, here, there and yonder. So, I think at best, we'd have to be honest with ourselves and admit that where true Goodness is concerned, we're kind of "so-so" and "lukewarm" on a number of serious social issues and ethical fronts. In fact, for us to be as obtuse as we often are, both spiritually and morally, with Good and Bad mixed together, it's kind of like we're driving with only ...

The Wallflowers - One Headlight (1997)

" ... ... She said it's cold
It feels like Independence Day
And I can't break away from this parade
But there's got to be an opening
Somewhere here in front of me
Through this maze of ugliness and greed
And I seen the sun up ahead at the county line bridge
Sayin' all there's good and nothingness is dead
We'll run until she's out of breath
She ran until there's nothin' left
She hit the end, it's just her window ledge

Hey, come on try a little
Nothing is forever
There's got to be something better than
In the middle
But me and Cinderella
We put it all together
We can drive it home
With one headlight ... ..."

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Ever get the feeling that no matter what you say, some folks are either going to mistake your meaning for something other than what you meant to say or they'll misconstrue what you say because what you have to say isn't what they wany to hear? I have days like that, and on those days, I just pray ...

The Animals - (Oh Lord) Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (1965)

" Baby, do you understand me now?
Sometimes I feel a little mad
But don't you know that no one alive can always be an angel
When things go wrong I feel real bad.

I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood

Baby, sometimes I'm so carefree
With a joy that's hard to hide
And sometimes it seems that, all I have to do is worry
And then you're bound to see my other side

I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood ... ..."

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Occasionally in the act of entering into the process of interpreting some text, one finds an additional extra-textual context inherently within an existing text, with the reading of that text becoming not only more interesting but more complex.

In the following video, my text is intended to be a song, but there is an extra-textual text within the total text, and it's one that I not only find interesting but it resonates with me politically and socially, one for which I feel a sense of solidarity, especially in today's stressed environment.

On one hand, there's the vocals of singer David Mustaine belting out, quite esthetically, what is now a classic metal song form 1986, a song that I was a fan of at that time. On the other hand, there's the political valuation of brother David Mustaine's message, one that is somewhat the same today as it was then but is now expressed with even more inlaid religious contexts than before, and I relate with him both then and now in asking ...

Megadeth - Peace Sells, but Who's Buying? (1986)

"What do you mean, "I don't believe in God"?
I talk to him everyday
What do you mean, "I don't support your system"?
I go to court when I have to
What do you mean, "I can't get to work on time"?
Got nothing better to do
And, what do you mean, "I don't pay my bills"?
Why do you think I'm broke? Huh?

If there's a new way
Oh, I'll be the first in line
But it better work this time !!

What do you mean, "I hurt your feelings"?
I didn't know you had any feelings
What do you mean, "I ain't kind"?
Just not your kind ... ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Sometimes, a song is laced with what is not only poetic expression but also with what can be an encrypted message of social conscience. One example of this kind of thing is (I think) found in the following little piece by the Doors. I heard the song a few years ago, and I thought it was talking about riots and social unrest. As it turns out, and with just a little extra hermeneutical insight, it was about something ... else, different but still very much a serious social concern for many ...

So, from the poetic mind of Jim Morrison we get an almost Christian-esque poem, one kicking with prophetic verve as it hops around in its various notes. (Yes, the full song is in this video. Just be patient and wade through some of the hermeneutical material ... ).

The Doors - Peace Frog (1970)

​

 

[2PhiloVoid]

When I was nine, I might have wondered, was Disco music like love?: What happens if you get too much of it? What happens if you get to little of it? One way or the other, I guess something happens when a hard rock band, one that's nearly heavy metal, pushes it ... [and no, there's no extra commentary about it].

Sweet - Love Is Like Oxygen (1978)

" Love is like oxygen
You get too much you get too high
Not enough and you're gonna die
Love gets you high

Love is like oxygen
(love is like oxygen)
You get too much you get too high
(you get too much you get too high)
Not enough and you're gonna die (gonna die)
(love is like oxygen)
Love gets you high

Time on my side
I got it all
I've heard that pride
Always comes before a fall

There's a rumour goin' round the town
That you don't want me around
I can't shake off my city blues
Every way I turn I lose ... ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I don't know 'how' they did it, but this video captures the social feel of my life and time as a teenager in the 1980's, while living in the burbs. In fact, I find the resemblance to any persons in the video, whether living or dead, to be virtually uncanny ... Gee! They even got my hair and glasses 'right.'

Rush - Subdivisions (1982)

" Sprawling on the fringes of the city
In geometric order
An insulated border
In-between the bright lights
And the far, unlit unknown

Growing up, it all seems so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided
Detached and subdivided
In the mass-production zone

Nowhere is the dreamer
Or the misfit so alone ... ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Some days, it just feels like I wake up once again to a ...

Jamiroquai - Virtual Insanity (1996)

"Oh yeah, what we're living in (let me tell ya)
It's a wonder man can eat at all
When things are big that should be small
Who can tell what magic spells we'll be doing for us
And I'm giving all my love to this world
Only to be told
I can't see
I can't breathe
No more will we be
And nothing's going to change the way we live
'Cause we can always take but never give

And now that things are changing for the worse,
See, its a crazy world we're living in
And I just can't see that half of us immersed in sin
Is all we have to give these
Futures made of virtual insanity now
Always seem to, be governed by this love we have
For useless, twisting, our new technology
Oh, now there is no sound for we all live underground
And I'm thinking what a mess we're in
Hard to know… ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I have to say that a little bit of disco, especially if it exudes a little feminist mystique, never hurts anyone. When I was 6, I definitely didn't think listening to this song hurt me ... Truth be told, I found it to be en-rapturing. No, looking back on that time as a young kid, I'd say that if anything, this song just made me want to up and ...

Silver Convention - Fly Robin Fly (1975)

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I guess one could say I've always had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder against the World, ever since I was a teenager, and ever since I started reading the Bible---really reading the Bible and then noticing what's really going on in the world. But for those who might wonder why this is so, is it truly any wonder why I might be a little bit of a ...

Supertramp - Cannonball (1985)

" You're tellin' lies, so don't you criticize
Yeah I got used, all messed up and abused
You let me down, with all your runnin' round
Still you pretend and try to call me friend

Don't say a word, I know just what I heard
Yeah you've been loose, you just got no excuse
Just feel my rage, why can't you come of age?
I felt it all, just like a cannonball

Then you got mad, you said that I'm all bad
So what's the use, you lied and that's the truth
You took the key and drove right out on me
I never knew put all my trust in you

Okay, that's it, I'm leaving now, I quit
I was unwise, so don't apologize
I paid the price, for taking your advice
I felt it…

You can say what you want all day
But I've never been so outraged
I'm washing my hands of you
How could you be so untrue
You know I can't stand no more
You know I can't stand no more
I can't stand no more, can't stand no more! "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

It's amazing what a little existential angst can do to a person, isn't it? It can just creep in even after what seems like a 'good day.' It can appear like some kind of psychological oxidation upon one's mind, and it's in those moments that I not only become more alert to the value of spiritual yearning, but I realize I need to focus more on the ways in which I can enable myself to "be" ...

The Blue Stones - Shakin' Off The Rust (2019)

lyrics enclosed within video ​

 

[public hermit]

It's amazing what a little existential angst can do to a person, isn't it? It can just creep in even after what seems like a 'good day.' It can appear like some kind of psychological oxidation upon one's mind, and it's in those moments that I not only become more alert to the value of spiritual yearning, but I realize I need to focus more on the ways in which I can enable myself to "be" ...

The Blue Stones - Shakin' Off The Rust (2019)

lyrics enclosed within video ​

Geat song!

 

[2PhiloVoid]

It seems like some things should be simple, but attempting to be simple--as in being a "simple man"---isn't simple. It's not in this day and age anyway, is it? I wish it could be. I also wish my own mother could have told me a little more about how to be simple in a not so simple world, but she did and said what she could, and for that, I'm grateful. God rest her soul.

Lynyrd Skynard - Simple Man (1973)

" Mama told me when I was young
Come sit beside me, my only son
And listen closely to what I say
And if you do this it'll help you some sunny day"

Oh, take your time, don't live too fast
Troubles will come and they will pass
You'll find a woman and you'll find love
And don't forget, son, there is someone up above"

And be a simple kind of man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh, won't you do this for me, son, if you can"

Forget your lust for the rich man's gold
All that you need is in your soul
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied ... ..."

 

[Caliban]

Iggy and the Stooges--Search and Destroy