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

[2PhiloVoid]

I really couldn’t think of an Orwellian song at all. I guess I’ll just take the easy/lazy route and throw up another Kansas song lol. Oh and they must have been struggling with their Christianity lyrics on this one “Nothing lasts forever but the Earth and sky”

Excellent choice there, Jok! Ok, so we might not go Orwellian, but I might bring in this "post-apocalyptic" song that my mother all too frequently indulged in (...she had bought the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, afterall). She listened to this so much so that I grew to quickly love the music of this group, feeling an urge to point to the sky whenever I'd hear their songs. I'll also just say that it's this kind of music that makes me feel like I just want to keep ...

Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive (1977)

" Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk
I'm a woman's man, no time to talk
Music loud and women warm, I've been kicked around
Since I was born
And now it's alright, it's okay
And you may look the other way
We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man

Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive

Well now, I get low and I get high
And if I can't get either, I really try
Got the wings of heaven on my shoes
I'm a dancin' man and I just can't lose
You know it's alright, it's okay
I'll live to see another day
We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man ... ..."

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Y'know, occasionally, I can appreciate the non-believer's and/or seeker's despondency toward the Christian message. Occasionally. Why? Because in doing so one can learn about the psychological intricacies apparently driving that person in his or her life. Take the voice, power, talent and person of the LATE Chris Cornell. In such a case as his, sometimes the things that come out of looking with insight and analysis into his feelings and views lead to a number of ...

Audioslave - Revelations (2006)

" ... ... You know what to say, you know what I said
You know what I dream sleeping in my bed
You hold all the keys, you know all the roads
Why don't you guide me in if I'm such a lost soul?
I'll spin it 'round, I will make you ill
Since I'm so broken down, why don't you fix me? ... ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

There are a few songs that seem to be simple. Yet, in their seeming simplicity, those songs express so very much. Witness the following song, sung by a duet composed of the daughter of the late Chris Cornell and Ryan Tedder, of the band, One Republic. It's such a beautiful song ...

Toni Cornell & Ryan Tedder - Hallelujah! (2017)

Amen!​

 

[2PhiloVoid]

And so it is. People hurt. People fail. People fall. And people become and remain lonely. Why is this? Well, when I was a child, I found out why by asking the Beatles, and they proceeded to tell me about ...

Beatles ... Eleanor Rigby (1966)

Oh, awesome song!

 

[Jok]

And so it is. People hurt. People fail. People fall. And people become and remain lonely. Why is this?

This does suck. But for some of the lucky ones it’s different. Even in hard times their hands are steady, their eyes are clear and bright, their walk has purpose, their steps are quick and light, Like They’re Rocks!

 

[2PhiloVoid]

This does suck. But for some of the lucky ones it’s different. Even in hard times their hands are steady, their eyes are clear and bright, their walk has purpose, their steps are quick and light, Like They’re Rocks!

That is so true, Jok! You and I both know why those folks withstand the hard knocks in life and still remain steady "like a Rock," don't we? It's because they know they'll ...

The Afters - Live On Forever (2016)

" Dark days are gonna go away
They won't have the final say
These bones were always gonna fade
'Cause we were made for another place
The moment of our final breath
When all our fears are put to rest
Every tear will disappear ... ... ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

OH, I often lament the prior things that we don't know but need to know in order to come to a better understanding of some human expression, such as those in the following article for starters:

The Story Behind 'Sympathy For The Devil. [The Legends of Music, Dec. 28, 2018]

Otherwise, if we're not careful, we might spontaneously find ourselves entertaining the sentiment that we're not being given an invitation to have ...

The Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil (1968)

 

[2PhiloVoid]

At some point in your life, you may have felt like you've made a deal with the Devil. Perhaps he had something on the table that you felt you just couldn't refuse. The deal sounded good. Maybe it looked good, too, and in some way, maybe it may have been. The tricky part about dealing with the Devil is the effort it then takes to fully understanding the connotations of all the "details" that....well....he says you've need to realize you've gotten yourself into. And from what I recollect about those times he's come to re-collect my soul, I keep remembering ...

Mad At The World - That's What he Said ! (2017)

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I don't like to admit a lot to the world, but I will admit that when I'm sitting back in my chair, enjoying a nice, cool, breezy day, drinking and eating to my hearts content, I might pull out an old book and read something; I'll read a bit of history or of philosophy or hermeneutics or the like. I even mull over various cultural analyses.

But there are times that I just like to stir things up a little for myself, and while pondering my own fancy, I'll instead pull out one of the Old Testament prophets--maybe Isaiah--and I'll imagine what it must have been like to be a bystander in ancient Israel seeing one of these naked, grimy, punky guys show up, spewing what must have been some very egregious rhetoric. I wonder if it felt something we'd feel today if someone showed up and began poking words us about something we'd all hate to see happen ... I can only imagine. It wouldn't go over very well. I guess in the case of my favored song choice for this post, it's a good thing that it's ONLY a song, perhaps a future looking but still fictional song about a...

Megadeth - Post American World (2016)

We see each other through different eyes
Segregating ourselves by class and size
It's me against you in everything that they do
This planet's become one big spinning disaster

If you don't like where we're going
Then you won't like what's coming next

What will we look like?
In a post American world
Why cower to all those
Who oppose the American world?

When you walk away from that which makes you strong
You only fool yourself; you only weaken your cause
There's creeping hate if you resist the false narrative
Crushing all the dissenters who still think for them selves ... ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Thanks Mom, thanks Dad for playing that 8-track tape in our car during various little road-trips we all took as a family. That was all great, and I remember hearing the following song from the John Denver album you bought when I was five. When I heard that album, with every song on it, I felt transported, floating in a homely, tranquil state of "golden peace."

Now, as I listen to the song years later, I can honestly say I still very much like it. Yet it causes me some dissonance because I know my family was never like this, and I also know that I, myself, will never be a 'golden hearted' individual in this lifetime, or at least not like some truly great guy named ...

John Denver - Matthew (1974)

" ... ... Growin' up a Kansas farmboy
Life was mostly havin' fun
Ridin' on his Daddy's shoulders
Behind a view beneath the sun
Well, I guess there were some hard times
And I'm told some years were lean
They had a storm in forty-seven
A twister came and stripped them clean

He lost the farm and lost his family
He lost the wheat and lost his home
But he found a family Bible
Faith as solid as a stone ... ... ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

And then with heavy breathing and a bit of shame, and whether other people liked it or not, I savored this strange notion, and I then said to myself, "Self ... !"

Mad At The World - You Are Free (2017)

 

[2PhiloVoid]

If I could have 60 seconds to gather the attention of the entire world, and if I could get off of my chest just one thing I'd like to fully express to everyone everywhere all at once, I'd say something kind of like ...

Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty - Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (1981)

"Baby, you'll come knocking on my front door
Same old line you used to use before
I said ya, well
What am I supposed to do
I didn't know what I was getting into

So you've had a little trouble in town
Now you're keeping some demons down
Stop draggin' my
Stop draggin' my
Stop draggin' my heart around ... ... "

 

[Jok]

the tricky part about one's own dealing with the Devil is the effort it takes to fully understanding the connotations of all the "details" that....well....he says you've got yourself into.

You may be right. Have a nice day.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Oh, Hermeneutics. What a word! Just the sound of it could cause some mental agony. It sounds kind of esoteric. It sounds kind of complex. It can sound to some folks like an expensive, maybe even an unnecessary academic "add-on" to all of the other ideas that are out there in the world.

But again, Oh Hermeneutics! If only I had known what it was and what it promoted when I was a young man, I might have appreciated not only some of the fiction I watched and read but also some of the music videos I saw and heard. I may have even come to see how some of those music videos, such as those by Peter Gabriel which use clay animation, are rather brilliantly conceived and socially meaningful. But instead, I just watched in abject confusion. Fortunately now, what with all that I've studied over the years---some of which has included hermeneutics (i.e. the art and science of human interpretation)---I can now appreciate the seemingly obscure meanings of some of Peter Gabriel's videos.

Take, for instance, the following of Peter Gabriel's music videos. When I watch and listen to the brilliant piece below, I realize it's not a mere cacophony of confusing emotional vignettes, but rather it's a suggestion as to how to clear (and clean?) one's emotional mess. In fact, I'd say that it's in line with the biblical notion that sometimes in order to even begin to clean our minds and hearts of some of the grime and turmoil that the world infuses into us, we may have to go ...

Peter Gabriel - Digging In The Dirt (1992)

" ... ... Don't talk back
Just drive the car
Shut your mouth
I know what you are
Don't say nothing
Keep your hands on the wheel
Don't turn around
This is for real
Digging in the dirt
Stay with me, I need support
I'm digging in the dirt
To find the places I got hurt
Open up the places I got hurt

The more I look, the more I find
As I close on in, I get so blind
I feel it in my head, I feel it in my toes
I feel it in my sex, that's the place it goes ... ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Sunday. It's just another day. It's like any other day. It's a day for me to contemplate and focus upon the ...

Norman Greenbaum - Spirit In The Sky (1969)

[.....uh, yeah. Rock On! ]​

 

[2PhiloVoid]

It was early 1977, and I was just going along, minding my own business as an 8 year old kid, soaking up the usual sci-fi and comic books and doing my 2nd grade homework ... and then WHAM-O!!! STAR WARS trailers hit the television screen, and they did so repeatedly. Needless to say, once the Imperial Star Destroyers finally flew across the screen at the local movie theater, and I witnessed Luke Skywalker and friends going in for the attack against Imperial forces, my childish views of spirituality and ethics would be forever given a face-lift by George Lucas. Not only that, but that Summer my favorite radio station would be playing the following MECO disco hit almost every hour on the hour:

Meco - Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band (1977)

 

[CrossTheTaiga]

^Thank you. Now I see The Force as an awesome glitter ball, and Luke being a menace in his bell bottoms and funky plateaus. With the emphasis on funk.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

There may come a time in a Christian's life when various forces---either spiritual or philosophical---cause him to stop to reflect about some aspect of the world that he had, up to that point, only recorded as a mental note to be played over and over again, taken for granted. Maybe at some later moment in that reflective process, to the chagrin of some folks on the outside of his mind, he'd just say, " STOP!!! WAIT !!! ... "

The Cardigans - Erase / Rewind (1999)

" Hey, what did you hear me say?
You know the difference it makes
What did you hear me say?

Yes, I said it's fine before
But I don't think so no more
I said it's fine before

I've changed my mind
I take it back
Erase and rewind
'Cause I've been changing my mind
Erase and rewind
'Cause I've been changing my mind
I've changed my mind

So, where did you see me go?
It's not the right way, you know
Where did you see me go?

No, it's not that I don't know
I just don't want it to grow
It's not that I don't know
I've changed my mind
I take it back ... ... "

 

[2PhiloVoid]

^Thank you. Now I see The Force as an awesome glitter ball, and Luke being a menace in his bell bottoms and funky plateaus. With the emphasis on funk.

I'm glad that you've now been able to "take a step into a larger world," as Obi-wan Kenobi would like to have said.

 

[CrossTheTaiga]

I'm glad that you've now been able to "take a step into a larger world," as Obi-wan Kenobi would like to have said.

Larger world...ah, the Intergalactic Soul Train you mean Gracíes my friend.