Commonplace

I was listening to some music today, and I realized that some of the stuff I listen to has a lot of significant messages in them. No offense, but mainstream music these days doesn't exactly try to tell us much. It also doesn't help that people insist on spelling the word 'tasty' as 't-a-s-t-e-y' (haha, just kidding...well, not really.)

So what then? I'm not being uptight, I do recognize that some music is for fun...but it can't all be that way, right? I was listening to Thrice, which is a rock/experimental band, and some of their lyrics from the song Cold Cash and Colder Hearts stuck out to me. Here they are:

"They are sick, they are poor
And they die by the thousands and we look away
They are wolves at the door
And they're not gonna move us or get in our way
'Cause we don't have the time
Here at the top of the world
Feeling alright
Here at the top of the world
We hold our own by keeping our hearts cold."

The song ends with the verse
"They are no one
They are nowhere
They are not our problem
Not worth saving
Nonexistent if we keep our hearts cold

They are no one
They are nowhere"

This is the part with the indecipherable screaming. I found this song to be especially fitting with the things we have been discussing in class and via our blogs. Obviously, a way to help relieve world poverty is right in front of us, but the majority of the United States has not contributed and, to be honest, do not care. It shows a lot of hypocrisy to croon at Oprah's work in Africa on TV and then immediately turn a blind eye as soon as we recieve a new iPod. It reaches a new low, of course, when you see the kind of spoiled, ignorant kids on TV a capitalist system has inadvertently supported- a maddening example being MTV's classy My Super Sweet Sixteen. Congrats, you forced your father into buying you a $75,000 Range Rover in which you'll be riding in alone (key word here being "alone").

The example continues with one of my favorite bands, Rage Against the Machine. I'm sorry if this particular musical example is a bit too "leftist" for your taste; however, RATM does not care about political affiliation (they have said that they do not belong to the right or the left; they do not agree with either side and are in more of a socialist position). So if you're a fan of Bush, just hold on. They dislike Al Gore too.

RATM has a song, titled "Sleep Now in the Fire", which was filmed on Wall Street even though it was an illegal act. This lead to the director of the video, Michael Moore, almost being arrested, along with the members of RATM being escorted off the premises. The song parodies how ignorant American people can be. It's really not a joke - CNN had a reporter out on the streets, asking questions about the Middle East. Can you guess some of the responses?

CNN: What do you think about the Hezbollah situation right now?
Woman: I dunno...who cares about those towelheads, anyway?

CNN: Do you think Bush was justified in invading Iraq?
Man: Of course he was! Weren't like, Saddam going to nuke L.A. or somethin'?

And it goes on.

The song's lyrics are a bit cryptic:

"The world is my expense
The cost of my desire
Jesus blessed me with its future
And I protect it with fire
So raise your fists
And march around
Don't dare take what you need
I'll jail and bury those committed
And smother the rest in greed
Crawl with me into tomorrow
Or I'll drag you to your grave
I'm deep inside your children
They'll betray you in my name"

It's told from the point of view of the hypothetical "Man". I think all of you will get the basic meaning of it.

Finally, in order to please some of the non-rock fans, I've found a song from one of my favorite, and most talented rap artists around today - Mos Def. He is an absolutely brilliant lyricist and has really, really good flow. Talib Kweli is also a brilliant rapper. Both of them don't constantly stray towards the kind of crap that some other mainstream rappers talk about, and it's truly refreshing. Here is a song by Talib Kweli, titled "Get By", which is about the harsh realities of the day-to-day for many people. Another song is by Mos Def, named "Katrina Klap", in which he discusses the government's pathetic reaction to Katrina.

I think that it's important to get involved in the events of our nation in any way possible, whether it be by protesting Guantanamo or listening to music with a message. And how can you not have strong opinions sometimes? When someone like Amadou Diallo gets murdered by policemen, how can people just sit there and not react? 41 shots! For Chrissake!