a thought and a hello
backwards.
I met Nicky and Joe today for dinner and strolling. I'm sick and when i laugh I cough, so it was hard to be as lively as I might otherwise be, but it was good times. There might be some sort of photographic proof, here or there.
Also, I get annoyed when people quote figurative texts for their literal meaning. This happens a lot with song lyrics, poetry, and whatnot, since such writing generally means something other than it says, even if it also means what it literally says. The use of Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" as a patriotic "love America" song is a good example.
But what gets me even more is The Who's song "Won't Get Fooled Again." People repeatedly mention that song to suggest that through the wisdom gained from error we will not repeat our past mistakes. Yet the song really is saying that "yes, we will get fooled over and over and over, just like we always have." The overall thrust is somewhat the same: deriding our past mistakes. However, the song doesn't have the hopeful meaning many people ascribe to it.
When I saw Barack Obama speak here in Seattle a month ago, one of the songs broadcast to the crowd before beginning the speech was "Won't Get Fooled Again." I laughed and wondered if Obama (or more likely the local planners) were making a subversively subtle joke that Obama is just more of the same. Somehow I doubt they did.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing. One, perhaps the main, purpose of art/poetry/music is for the artist to say the socially unacceptable by literally saying the socially acceptable. Art is just code. Of course, all communication is code. Some of it is just more easily decipherable than others.
The joke of it all concerning "Won't Get Fooled Again" is that the lyrics aren't even that subtle. Lesson for life: make sure you understand the message of sources you quote.
I met Nicky and Joe today for dinner and strolling. I'm sick and when i laugh I cough, so it was hard to be as lively as I might otherwise be, but it was good times. There might be some sort of photographic proof, here or there.
Also, I get annoyed when people quote figurative texts for their literal meaning. This happens a lot with song lyrics, poetry, and whatnot, since such writing generally means something other than it says, even if it also means what it literally says. The use of Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" as a patriotic "love America" song is a good example.
But what gets me even more is The Who's song "Won't Get Fooled Again." People repeatedly mention that song to suggest that through the wisdom gained from error we will not repeat our past mistakes. Yet the song really is saying that "yes, we will get fooled over and over and over, just like we always have." The overall thrust is somewhat the same: deriding our past mistakes. However, the song doesn't have the hopeful meaning many people ascribe to it.
When I saw Barack Obama speak here in Seattle a month ago, one of the songs broadcast to the crowd before beginning the speech was "Won't Get Fooled Again." I laughed and wondered if Obama (or more likely the local planners) were making a subversively subtle joke that Obama is just more of the same. Somehow I doubt they did.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing. One, perhaps the main, purpose of art/poetry/music is for the artist to say the socially unacceptable by literally saying the socially acceptable. Art is just code. Of course, all communication is code. Some of it is just more easily decipherable than others.
The joke of it all concerning "Won't Get Fooled Again" is that the lyrics aren't even that subtle. Lesson for life: make sure you understand the message of sources you quote.