Jack White: Entitlement

Perhaps Mr. White will write a follow-up song called "Privilege."

[Note: On my interpretation, what follows the "I guess" is plainly ironic; the false reluctance sounded by those words must have been lost on this reviewer.  Once again Socratic irony seems to have done its job.]




"Entitlement"

Every time I'm doing what I want to
Somebody comes and tells me it's wrong
Whenever I'm doing just as I please
Somebody cuts me down to my knees
Yeah, somebody cuts me down to my knees

In a time when everybody feels entitled
Why can't I feel entitled too?
Somebody took away my god given right
I guess God must have gave it to you
Yeah, I guess God must have slipped it to you

Stop what you're doing and get back in line
I hear this from people all the time
If we can't be happy then you can't be too
I'm tired of being told what to do
Yeah, I'm sick of being told what to do

There are children today who were lied to
Told the world is rightfully theirs
They can have what they want, whenever they want
They take like Caesar and nobody cares
Live like Caesar and nobody cares

I can't bring myself to take without penance
Or atonements or sweat from my brow
Though the world may be spoiled and getting worse every day
Don't they feel like they're cheated somehow
I feel like I've been cheated somehow

Stop what you're doing and get back in line
I hear this from people all the time
If we can't be happy then you can't be too
I'm tired of being told what to do
Yeah, I'm sick of being told what to do

I guess nobody on earth is entitled
Not mothers, not children, not kings
Not a one single person on God's golden shore
Is entitled to one single thing
We don't deserve a single damn thing

U2's Bono: Who is Jesus?

Girls Who Are Boys Who Like Boys to Be Girls

The previous post brought to mind the following song from my generation.  One of the main ideas in the song is that what truly matters is being (and doing) what (or who) you love--period.

I love good satire, so I choose to think of this song as satirical.  [Warning: Don't watch in front of kids or your grandma]

Boys and Girls, by Blur
Street's like a jungle
So call the police
Following the herd
Down to Greece
On holiday 
Love in the 90's
Is paranoid
On sunny beaches
Take your chances looking for

[Chorus]
Girls who are boys
Who like boys to be girls
Who do boys like they're girls
Who do girls like they're boys
Always should be someone you really love

Jazz Music is Overrated

Am I qualified to have an opinion on Jazz music?  Probably not.  But that won't stop me from linking to a guy who is qualified (and it won't stop me from putting up a cartoon which makes light of Jazz with an annoying "water mark" on it).  This Washington Post piece, which appeared in the Arkansas Democratic Gazette yesterday, nicely puts into words pretty much what I've thought of Jazz music ever since first encountering it.  I've tried it and found it wanting.

There was a new pizza place in West Lafayette bordering Purdue that my wife and I used to frequent (famous for its "pitcher and a pie" for $10) when there was a jazz band that would usually play on Thursdays.  I admit to liking jazz when it's live and one doesn't have to focus one's entire attention on it.  That's because I like live music. But I can't imagine ever paying for it when there's about any other available alternative.  A couple quotations:

“Jazz might be the stupidest thing anyone ever came up with,” read “Sonny Rollins: In His Own Words” — actually written by Django Gold of the Onion. “The band starts a song, but then everything falls apart and the musicians just play whatever they want for as long they can stand it. People take turns noodling around, and once they run out of ideas and have to stop, the audience claps. I’m getting angry just thinking about it.”

This music has retreated from the nightclub to the academy. It is shielded from commercial failure by the American cultural-institutional complex, which hands out grants and degrees to people like me. Want to have a heated discussion about “Bitches Brew” or the upper partials ? White guys wielding brass in Manhattan and New England are ready to do battle.

A Few Sunday Tunes

Here are some good "My life is (probably) half over" songs. Indulge me.  We'll sing with you too if you're lucky.

Gettin' older

 

  

Bob: 

 

 

OK, this is just for fun:

 

 

Finally, the song I listened to before I married my beautiful wife just sixteen years ago, which now has new meaning:

 

Tour of Duty, Good Guys, Bad Guys, and the End of Time

My sons listened to the Rolling Stones', "Paint it Black," this evening.  My favorite Stones song for sure.  Tonight, I told them it reminded me of the (awesome) TV show, "Tour of Duty" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z6fcd--354

We then watched the opening sequence of Tour of Duty and then Sam asked:

(Sam): Daddy, can we listen to that again?

Me: No, it's time for bed.  We've listened to that twice already.

S: Can we watch that show then?

M: No.  It has too many bad guys in it [i.e., too much violence for a five-year-old].

S: Daddy, did all those bad guys die?

M: No.

S: How many died?

M: I don't know, but not all of them. It's time for bed.

S: But how many?

M: Not all of them.

S: Daddy. Are there still bad guys?

M: Yes, there are still bad guys, Sam.  There will always be bad guys.  Until the end of time there will be bad guys.  BUT there will ALWAYS be good guys fighting against the bad guys.

S: Can I be one of the good guys?  And when is the end of time?  

Pretty Little One

More Steve Martin and Edie Brickell

Sarah Jane and the Iron Mountain Baby

I've been working on drywall lately listening to things like this: